How to Meditate Like a Lion
#12 Drip, Drip, Drip the Bucket Fills
Even though mindfulness meditation technique is really simple, we all know it’s not easy.
Here is a partial list of why meditating might not feel easy on any given day:
You have a wild mind.
You have a tired mind.
Your mind likes to move and be still—on it’s own rhythm.
Spacing out happens which can lead to totally forgetting what you were doing,ie, meditating.
The world - job, family, food, sunny day—are calling you, seducing you.
Your expectations were not met. You thought it would be peaceful. Soothing. Downregulating.
It’s said that we can find some spaciousness within our busy mind, but that usually only happens if we are sticking to the technique—placement, recognition and placement.
Between recognition and placement, there is a tiny gap.
In that gap, things happen:
Nothing
We feel the residue of what we were thinking about
We feel a pull to go back into that thought/emotion/story line/fantasy/planning
OR
We start to criticize ourself. This is the closest target for our frustration. And we are all too familiar with the habit of self-criticism. So we go there.
And this creates an unkind loop of thinking toward yourself—Why do I have so many thoughts? Why can’t it relax my mind, I know I’m not doing this right, I’m a bad meditator.
All of this is beside the point.
There is a Tibetan saying that when you are meditating you should be like a lion and not a dog.
If you throw a rock (they didn’t have balls back then…) with a dog, the dog will run after the rock.
If you throw a rock with a lion, the lion will go after the thrower.
This doesn’t mean attack yourself. It means let go of the ball. Let go of the thought. Come back to yourself. Refresh your posture and begin again. No need to chastise your self for thinking or for the kind of thoughts you are having. Let all that go.
Be a lion.
Meditation Prompt:
The exercise of noticing when you are being self-critical can be done in the field. Because it happens anywhere, all the time. This is a good habit to shift. Critical thinking is not the same thing as ganging up on your own self!
When you notice that you are talking to yourself in an unkind, judgey way, let go of that thought. Right then, in mid-thought.
Try to avoid judging your judging or judging those thoughts.
Instead, think of that moment of criticism as coming from the familiar little ogre who whispers these negative things in your ear. Just say, “Oh, you again. We’re not doing that right now,” and brush them off your shoulder.
Then come back to your lion self by organizing your spine, breathing in and out and seeing what’s right in front of you.
NEXT WEEK ON ASK ME ANYTHING: (Dec.14)
What is the Difference Between Motivation and Intention?
UP NEXT ON DRIP DRIP DRIP: (Dec. 21)
The Year End Practice of the 4Rs or How to Habit Unstack
Here are some of my favorite posts from my archives:
Rivers and Dots of Awareness - Sept. 21
How to Recognize the Results of Your Meditation Practice August 24
Why I Like Being Ordinary - August 17
Upcoming Practice Opportunities:
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Start the year out with 5 days of consistent practice. Short, sweet and effective. This will set you up for your own practice in 2024.
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We will start a new session of the Lifting the Gaze sangha on February 1, 2024. The sangha has been a touch point, a home, a refuge for us in 2023 as we have shared meditation practice together, studied the Satipattadhana Sutra (the Mindfulness Sutra), shared a lot in group discussions and done a little stretching and breathing, too.
In 2024, we will begin to study the Bodhisattva Way of Life together. This is a foundational teaching and guide to walking the talk of our aspiration to be more kind and compassionate in our daily life.