Basic Pursuits

One of the greatest benefits to any meditation practice it the abilility to experience presence.

Presence is merely the state of your mind being present in the space and time that you are currently in. Sounds simple and it is. But it's really hard.

The mind usually churns out thoughts about the past, the future and what could be happening somewhere else. Being able to bring the mind to the present surely has advantages. We all pursue these advantages every night in the state of dreamless sleep.

O sleep, O gentle sleep,
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee,
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down
And steep my sense in forgetfulness?
~William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I

Zenhabits offers a great idea for keeping focused and relaxed: minimeditations. They're easy to do, take a small amount of time, and offer benefits far greater than the effort expended.

Writer Brian Tanaka suggests watching the breath as a vehicle for releasing tension. That's great. For me it's a little faster to find the areas of tension in the body and breathe into them.

Have you ever noticed how every thought that you have has an "echo" in the body? This echo is felt as tension. For example your boss is telling you that you are not giving it your all and you know that you are.  The muscles in your throat tighten so much you can barely talk.