Echoes

We can spot them sometimes. The patterns and habits that echo back, over and over again, like reruns: The times when some 'innocent' conversation gets lassoed into a teetering, off-the-rails train ride by a wave of agitation. Or intimidation holds us hostage, keeping us (yet again!) from that thing we've wanted to try for a long time. Or a moment of lashing-out shocks us into noticing that something has just gone on here that wasn't planned, wasn't wanted, and yet somehow was chosen anyway! And furthermore, this does NOT feel like the first time.

Meditation mirrors life (and also, it IS life). We choose our seat, our stance, our next steps, our resting spot. We often begin with the most mindful of intentions. And at some point in our Being practice, as in our Doing life, the mind is sure to take us on its own ride. More often than not, when we pause and pay attention to what's happening, we'll notice it: That thinking-ride looks and feels as familiar as the room in our house in which we spend most of our time.

We've been here before. If we pay attention, we can feel it in our bones, our breath, our muscles, and heart. As humans, we live always with the mental, physical, and emotional echoes of our unique life experiences - whether we "know" it or not. Meditation practice helps us catch the echoes, recognize their signals, bodily and mentally, and ride with them, embodied, with presence, acceptance, the grace of kindness.

In this new year, may the echoes of mindful presence guide your own Being through moments of challenge, and may that presence reveal to you each moment of beauty as a light that has been lit to help guide you home.