so when we are persistently stimulated in this stressful culture, tension increases. With long exposure to this, there is some damage done to the body through a hormone called cortisol. There’s the story about “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.” Everyone notices the last straw—what about all the other straws that accumulated over time? Recurrent stressful experiences are the straws that add up—the results might be irritability in traffi c, exhaustion at night, or the inability to resist eating or drinking too much—those are the last straws. Paying persistent, gentle attention to the sensation of breathing with open curiosity about the “texture” of the sensations doesn’t generate adrenaline. Staying with the breath allows the accumulated straws of tension to release. When the mind wanders away from the breath, we can just be mindful of that change of focus and feeling, and, instead of clinging to the distraction, mindfully rechannel attention back to the breath sensations. When this process goes on for suffi cient time, the straws of stress are unloaded and the whole body/mind system settles into a clear and tranquil process involving a stable focus of attention that isn’t “wobbly”
or distracted, and the body/mind process is tranquil and peaceful. This quality of attention acts like a buffer to make the mind less easily reactive to stressful events. Many people learn to play a musical instrument or cultivate a skill like tennis or making pottery. Initially their practice is not very skillful, with a lot of mistakes. However, with daily practice and good coaching, they can play beautiful music, send a “killer serve” into the opponent’s court or create a beautiful piece of pottery. Learning meditation can become frustrating—how easily the mind wanders away from the breath! As soon as this wandering is noticed a moment of mindfulness occurs, and then mindfulness brings attention back to resting with breath awareness. With practice, we can learn to be as skillful with peaceful, clear mindful- awareness as someone who has mastered the art of musicianship, tennis or pottery. The only thing I carry with me through life is subjective awareness. What could be more important to invest in than training the heart/mind for making a beautiful life? When I began practicing mindfulness-of- breathing meditation nearly 35 years ago, I was “warding off the demons” of anxiety and depression. Over the years, this has
shifted more and more towards “feeding the angels” of calmness, clarity, patience, generosity and compassion. I hope reading this will inspire you to consider a similar path for yourself. I wish you well.
Peter Carlson is the founding teacher of the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, a nonprofi t organization since 1993, and understands Buddhism as a profoundly spiritual
psychology and has been teaching Central Floridians mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation for over 25 years. He is also is a licensed mental health counselor (MH 2330) in private practice in Winter Park. The next introductory course offered by OIMG and taught by Peter focuses on The Noble Eightfold Path, a Buddhist system for creating a balanced and loving life. It will be held at the Winter Park Women’s Club (intersection of Interlachen and Fairbanks, across from the Rollins College campus) from 7 to 9 pm, beginning July 11. For more information, go to
Orlandoinsightmeditation.org
June 2016
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