Blogging about meditation is an interesting process because inevitably during the meditation, whether walking or seated, I will think “I need to write about this…” and I get pulled out of being present and then I realize what’s happening, which is the natural occurrence of the Mind, and I drop back in again or try to. What’s important is that I am aware of it and I try again. Just as with the breath.

I will sit today after I teach and later tonight during a workshop with Sharon Salzberg at Jaya Yoga Center in Brooklyn, where I live. I began the challenge this morning by doing a walking meditation, and as Sharon has mentioned - with my eyes open. My ears were open, too. My skin was open. I was aware of the simultaneous honking of geese and police sirens and where I felt those sounds in my body. I noticed the grim display of a recent car fire, the caustic scent of plastic and metal was still in the air and I inhaled the sadness of it and let it go. An entire Land Rover was so horribly ravaged that the intensity of the heat melted away the rear bumper of the Subaru parked in front of it. And then, looking up I saw the gossamer threading of an oriole’s nest hanging tear-like from a slender branch. I was reminded of the constant flow of change and conditionality not only around me but through me. Stepping forward into the park, I felt where my weight was unevenly placed on the outside edge of my foot. I brought my attention to the arches of my feet, the roof of my mouth, the crown of my head and how the air felt different on my hands then upon my lips.

I was aware of being aware of all of these things. This is a good start.