Spinning is not my thing. I went yesterday, just to spend a little more time with Prad before his taking off for India. Half-way through the class, rebellious body let its discomfort be known. Mind took in the information, and instructed a glance at the clock. I realized I had a choice. I could go on resisting the experience, and fantasizing of a near end. Or, I could go with the reality of each moment, opening to sound of music, sensation of sweat dripping, burn in the gluts, happiness from perfectly aligned body, and yes, fatigue, also. Only this moment. I chose the latter . . .
This is my idea of how to set conditions in the mind for right effort. A moment to moment choice to be fully present.
What is your view? How do you facilitate right effort in your practice?
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Effort in practice is coming naturally ... I dont have to try any more, not much. I have forgotten what it used to be like in the beginning, before I overcame doubt. For other things, like say sitting at a party ... needs a lot of effort, and each moment makes its presence felt...sometimes inner displeasure comes and takes over any/everything, sometimes the resistence is just a reminder, pointing at something am intuitively missing!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful Pooja!
ReplyDeleteI actually meant practice in all encompassing way, to include all of our awake moments . . .
... its lovely to see you enagage so well, I mean not just aariving at mindfulness but also to be aware that there is pain and to arouse the right factors to centre oneself, the mechanism. Kind of paves way for progress.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Being part of online sangha including this blogging community has been a huge part of practice and a great source of support!
ReplyDeleteOH yes, this is good! Acceptance and diving right in to what is going on, as you did in your spinning class, was such a foreign concept to me. I grew up surround by much violence, so hyper-vigilance and resistance were my state of being. Not until I went into the 12-step program did I hear "acceptance is key"--I was like "WHAT?, can't be ... you'll die!"
ReplyDeleteIt took me awhile to learn that "acceptance" did not mean "victim". From a state of acceptance, I could then make a decision. Resistance kept me stuck.
I had to start by noticing my feelings. That was my first step--it has been one big, long step.
Thank you for sharing, Lori. I very much appreciate all the work you must have done to get to that point of being able to relax into the moment. Lots of rewiring . . .
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