The Closer You Get, The More You Let Go: On Deepening Your Practice

There comes a point in mindfulness practice when it starts to click. Sometimes called a flow, it is a time in practice when the instructions or tools of practice have been so internalized that the meditation seems to do itself. There appears a sense of peace in allowing things to be as they are, letting them come and go as they please, with minimal interruption from your end. Your unshakeable determination to find greater wellbeing is bearing fruit.

But this too shall pass.

And it does. Before you know it, another storm has set in. Chaos has shaken up your inner world and another conflict has thrown your body into states of tension and resistance. Here we go again. You sharpen your tools once more and get to work. You soften your temper, you rev up your compassion, you call upon your nurturing self, and you start to harbor all the feelings that are coming up lovingly. You invite them in for tea. They stay for a while, they do what is needed, and then they too leave. And so, we move on.

But something has changed in the process. You aren’t the same as you were before the storm. Something has moved inside of you, reshuffled itself to settle in better just as your body does through the alignment of your spin because you have let it by paying closest attention to your breath.

You have changed.

And so, nothing remains to be the same. Things have moved around to show you the reality that you live in and this time you are more susceptible to seeing it. Your windshield has cleared up a tiny bit more and you are not as distracted by your own thoughts and fantasies. This time you can maybe look around and really see the nature of the world around you.

And this is the path you must continue on. Because when everything else comes and goes, through the revolving door of your mind, only the reality of your being remains. And there is only one way of being able to see it – by letting go of everything you thought you knew.