Thich Nhat Hanh gems
When you practice sitting meditation, the first thing you do is to bring peace to your breath and to your body. Pay attention to your in-breath and out-breath. Your breathing will naturally become more peaceful and smooth and it will also become very pleasant. Sit solely for the joy and nourishment of sitting.
Stop thinking and just be with your breathing. Breathing mindfully brings your mind home to your body. Bring your awareness to your body, relax your body and release any tension that is there. Your body is a miracle. When you can touch the wonder of your body, you have the opportunity to touch Mother Earth within you as a wonder, too, and healing begins straight away - we don’t need to wait ten years for healing to take place. Many of us have become sick because we’re alienated from our body and from the body of the Earth. So the practice is to go home to Mother Earth to get the healing and nourishment we so desperately need. Mother Earth is always ready to embrace us and help nourish and heal us. And as we heal, we’re helping the Earth to heal at the same time.
We tend to think that we have to do something to heal the Earth. But sitting with mindfulness and concentration is doing something. We don’t have to fight in order to feel the benefits of sitting. Just allow yourself to sit quietly. Allow yourself to be yourself. Don’t do anything. Just allow the sitting and the breathing to take place. Don’t strive; relaxation will come. When you are completely relaxed, healing will take place on its own. There’s no healing without relaxation. And relaxation means doing nothing. There is only breathing and sitting. Don’t try to force your breathing. Just allow it to follow its natural rhythm. We just enjoy our in- and out-breath. Healing begins when you aren’t trying to do anything. This is the practice of non-practice.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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