The main reason I was originally hesitant to attempt meditation years ago is because of my ability to get distracted. And I’m pretty sure the main reason I abandoned my meditation practice in the past few months is because of my tendency to get distracted. Not getting distracted is hard!
Today’s meditation reminded me that distractions are normal. Everyone gets distracted, whether we’re meditating or working or having a conversation. And in meditation, all we need to do is notice that distraction and bring ourselves back into the moment without getting too frustrated with ourselves.
A perfect example of this in the real world happened today in my yoga class. I was in a balancing pose that I typically struggle with. Usually I focus my vision on a stationary object to help my balance, but today I kept getting distracted by the yogi next to me who wasn’t doing the same pose as the rest of us. I was so distracted that I fell over. Three times.
I could feel my frustration levels rising, and the more frustrated I got with myself, the less balance I had. But finally, after recognizing the distraction and how it was affecting me, I found my breath again and I was able to focus on something other than the woman next to me and bring myself back into the pose, back into the moment. My moment, not hers. And suddenly I was balanced, holding the pose until we flowed into the next one.
It’s always ok to start over.
