What if your meditation practice is actually keeping you stuck?
What if sitting with awareness isn't the destination,
But just the doorway?
Let that sink in.
We spend so much time cultivating stillness,
Watching thoughts being present.
But let me ask you,
What are you doing with what you find on the cushion?
Are you using it to change how you move in the world?
Meditation is not the goal.
It's the training ground.
It's the mirror.
But life?
Life is the real practice.
Let's take a moment to arrive fully here.
Wherever you are,
Let your body settle.
If it feels right,
Gently close your eyes.
And take three slow,
Conscious breaths with me.
Inhale.
Feel the breath arrive.
Exhale.
Let the body soften.
Inhale.
Notice the stillness underneath.
Exhale.
Let yourself land here.
One more breath in.
Be present.
Exhale.
Be open.
For many of us,
Especially those who've been practicing for a while,
Meditation can become its own kind of comfort zone,
A place we go to feel grounded,
Clear,
Present.
And that's beautiful.
But what if we're mistaking the cushion for the whole path?
Meditation is a sacred space,
But it's not a sanctuary from life.
It's a place to see clearly,
Not to escape.
The real work begins when we stand up,
When the insight we gain in stillness meets the chaos of the world.
And I want to share a story from my own path.
I started meditating over 30 years ago.
I didn't know what I was doing.
I just knew I wanted peace.
Something in me believed that meditation was the way,
Even if I didn't fully understand it.
Back then,
There were no guided meditations,
At least none that I knew of or had access to.
So I bought some books.
I taught myself.
And I began by memorizing the Prayer of St.
Francis.
That prayer became my focus,
My anchor.
I would sit and recite it again and again.
And for those few minutes,
I did feel peace.
But here's what I didn't realize at the time.
That peace wasn't reaching my life.
It was limited to the cushion.
I was doing meditation,
But not yet living it.
It wasn't until much later that I understood it's called practice for a reason.
The real transformation happens not while we sit,
But when we take the tools off the cushion and apply them in real life.
My first big realization came one day when I was pulling out of a parking garage with my son.
He must have been,
I don't know,
Maybe seven or eight at the time,
Sitting beside me.
As I started to ease into the street,
A car came flying past way too fast,
And I had to slam on the brakes.
Before I could react,
My son yelled,
Idiot!
And I was stunned,
Amused,
And to be honest,
I was a little horrified because I knew exactly where he learned that.
From me.
That was a wake-up call.
It hit me.
If I wanted different outcomes,
If I wanted to model presence,
Patience,
And peace,
It couldn't just happen while I was meditating.
It had to happen while I was living.
From that moment on,
I started to practice in real time,
On the road,
In conversations,
In conflict.
I started using what I was learning on the cushion in my life,
And over the years,
It's only deepened.
I've learned that I don't have to be sitting to be mindful.
I don't have to close my eyes to find stillness.
I can call that same state of presence,
Of peace,
Into anything I'm doing.
And I'll tell you this,
The day I started applying mindfulness to my driving,
I knew I was on to something.
Because if I could be calm in traffic,
I could probably be calm anywhere.
And now,
I bring that same steady presence to difficult conversations,
To stressful moments,
To relationships,
To work.
Because meditation isn't the goal.
Living with the awareness it gives us,
That is the goal.
You're not here just to meditate.
You're here to become.
To take your inner clarity and express it through how you speak,
How you love,
How you show up,
Especially when it's hard.
So choose one insight,
One truth you've met recently in your practice.
Maybe it's a pattern you're ready to let go of.
Maybe it's a quality you want to strengthen.
Hold that in your awareness now.
Let it move from concept to commitment,
From insight to embodiment.
Close your eyes once more if you're comfortable.
Bring that insight or intention to your heart.
And take one deep breath in.
Let it settle into your body as you exhale.
Picture yourself carrying that awareness into the next moment of your day.
Feel yourself living that insight.
Not perfectly,
But honestly.
Maybe it's patience,
Or truth,
Or love,
Or letting go.
With each breath,
Allow it to anchor in a little deeper.
Inhale,
Embody.
Exhale,
Integrate.
And when you're ready,
Softly open your eyes and walk forward,
Not just as a meditator,
But as someone who lives their practice.
