I presented a two-hour workshop last Tuesday evening at Feldenkrais NYC that was titled Mindfulness/Feldenkrais. Mindfulness-related workshops have been taught previously at Feldenkrais NYC (and also under our former identity, The Feldenkrais Institute) several times before, but this was my first time presenting on this topic.
I have begun various forms and practices of mindfulness meditation many times over the past 40 years but none of the practices ever “stuck” for me before I began this current practice a little over four months ago. Since I made the decision (again) to begin a daily meditation practice last September, I have missed only one day of sitting to meditate. I am proud of that. I am always proud of anything that I manage to do involving an ongoing regimen of self-discipline because I don’t have a lot of that. If there is some external motivator like, “I’m doing this for my job,” or a predetermined time frame like, “I’m going to do [whatever] every day for a month,” I can usually stick to most things I set out to do when those external motivators or time limits are present. It makes me a little sad to admit that, in the past at least, simply beginning and keeping up with an ongoing practice of anything solely for its own sake (or solely for my own sake) has been extremely difficult for me.
But every moment presents another opportunity to change. I do my best to live with as few regrets as possible, to keep in mind as often as I am able, that many times, something that might be viewed as a past mistake can also be seen as a current opportunity to make a different choice. So, I feel that in regard to this still quite young personal practice of daily meditation, I’ve made that different choice. I make it anew every day. And I’m happy to say that, so far, my enthusiasm remains high. Most days, I look forward to my meditation periods. I see no signs that my enthusiasm is abating. In fact, if anything, I become more interested each day in engaging in the process and being a witness to what unfolds.
I believe that the biggest aid to changing my own mind and will about this daily engagement with meditation has been the teacher I’m following. I subscribe to the online meditation course called, Waking Up, created and taught by Sam Harris. The course (that seemingly, like all meditation practices, continues without end) is not free. I find the subscription fee well worth its $100 annual price tag and if money is a hardship, the course is made available for nothing, simply by making a request. What is free, if you’re curious and would like to try it out, is one month’s access to all of the Waking Up course. If you’d like to take a look, click this link to start your 30-day free trial.
The course can be accessed either through the wakingup.com website or by downloading the Waking Up app from the usual places. In case there might be some question about my motivation for this blatant promotion, I get nothing in return if you take a look, sign up, or anything else. I’m doing this because I find it helpful and I believe the more of us who engage in mindfulness practice, the better our society will become.
Oh, and yes, I have not forgotten that this is ostensibly a blog related to the Feldenkrais Method®, so more on my thoughts on the synergy between mindfulness meditation and the Feldenkrais Method in an upcoming post. Hope you are healthy and happy!
