Susan Piver (a Buddhist meditation teacher) used the above title for her email today — it began: Q: Susan, I have trouble committing myself to the cushion… please address this. A: We all have difficulty with this. I totally understand. When you sit on the cushion, you’re agreeing to sit down with the unknown. Sometimes […]
One of the ideas-to-explore I jotted down has to do with my semi-routines. I complain that I don’t have many actual habits. Toothbrushing, for example. I make a conscious choice to brush my teeth each day. (Or don’t. But I’m not supposed to talk about that; discussing details of my sex life is more acceptable […]
Weaving through all my reading, I’ve pulled out this thread: a steady habit embeds something that pulls you into it. Why? For starters, will (pushing) is tied more to conscious thought. Paraphrasing from Your Brain at Work [8], conscious thought happens in your prefrontal cortex, which is the newest and most energy-hungry part of the […]
Half an hour ago, I was out at the mailbox pulling weeds & feeling cranky. Not because of the weeds—I’m skilled at ignoring them—nor the mailbox. It was That Voice, muttering, “Weren’t you going to spend this time practicing your meditation habit? And doing another blog post? Why are you weeding instead?” Being contrary, I […]
