I have been gathering up all my old meditation newsletters and I have noticed that some of my themes do keep getting repeated. I do apologise if you've noticed too! I guess I normally write about what is coming up for me, and some of these themes seem to need a lot of practice!

And after all, mindfulness itself is about the most repetitive thing there is. In its essence it consists of:

Pay attention
Notice when the mind has gone elsewhere (at some point, hopefully not at the end of the meditation)
Return to paying attention
Repeat steps 2 and 3 a few billion times.

Now some people would say this sounds rather boring. And I remember finding it teeth-achingly boring when I first started. I remember wanting to thump the teacher at the front and shout at him "ring the bloody bell!" when I was sure he'd forgotten to do so. Luckily I was on a 5 day retreat at Gaia House in Devon so there wasn't much else to do except meditate and drink tea... I drank a *lot* of tea.

And yet mindfulness and meditation aren't boring at all when the mind is fully engaged in them. And the more you do them the more you feel. You can start to feel areas of the body that to begin with were just blank spaces, the breath becomes more subtle and lovely and the whole sense of energy and life in the present moment can fill you with awe. And I remember that's why I carried on after my first retreat. I had moments of awe in that very first retreat, despite all the tears of frustration and difficulties. Seeing the stars and feeling utterly blown away by the beauty of them. Seeing a robin looking cheekily at me as it perched on the table right next to me and feeling the beat of its wings in my chest as it flew away. Feeling the happiness of just being alive walking on the grass breathing in the air. Feeling the loveliness of holding a cup of tea, the blessing of the hotness that melted away the tension in my body as I felt it. And realising that I had been missing my life. And that if I had to do this utterly boring practice to train my mind every day with the breath then I was going to do it!

So why not give yourself some space to be mindful today, whether it's for a few breaths or a few minutes. A walk, or just sitting, or a cup of tea, or whatever it is for you. Take a step back from the busyness of the mind, from the rush to get things done to just breathe. Take some time to experience the feel of the sun or the rain, the wind against your skin. Some time to be in your body and to enjoy your life.

After all, you don't want to miss the good bits.

And add to your to-do list "book meditation retreat" ;-)

Wishing you some beautiful moments of mindfulness,
Anna xx

And repeat...