January 14 – Just relax

Dear Friends,

I’m going to share a bit of advice from Sayadaw U Tejaniya, a Burmese monk. Before becoming a monk, he was a householder and merchant, so he can relate well to the challenges that people like us deal with.

Here’s a paragraph from the first chapter of his recent book When Awareness Becomes Natural: A Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life:

JUST RELAX

The first instruction I will give a yogi who is new to this practice is to relax and be aware, to not have any expectations or to control the experience, and to not focus, concentrate, or penetrate. Instead what I encourage him or her to do is observe, watch, and be aware, or pay attention. In this practice it is important to conserve energy, so you can practice continually. If the mind and body are getting tired and tense, then you are putting too much energy into the practice. Check your posture; check the way you are meditating. Are you comfortable and alert? You may not have the right attitude. Do you want something out of the practice? If you are looking for a result or want something to happen, you will only tire yourself. It is so important to know whether you are feeling tense or relaxed; check in repeatedly throughout the day; this also applies to daily practice at home or at work. If you don’t do this, then tension will grow. Whether you are tense or relaxed, observe how you are feeling; observe the reactions. When you are relaxed, it is much easier to be aware; not so much effort is required, and it becomes an enjoyable, pleasant, and interesting experience.

What is your experience with this? In your effort to mindfully do your daily activities, are you putting in too much effort and tiring out? Can you bring, what he later refers to as a “light awareness” to these tasks instead?

The weekend is a good time to relax, so my suggestion is to play with the amount of effort you are putting in to being aware of your activities. If you do it with a lighter touch, can you still be aware and not get so tired?

In the Daily Life Practice Retreat, Andrea Fella leads a brief guided meditation on “are you aware?” So this is an opportunity to do a more formal practice and experiment with the effort that’s required to be aware:
http://www.audiodharma.org/talks/audio_player/6531.html (note – no ending bell)

Feel free to share your experience here on the blog.

With best wishes,
Andrea