Aligning (With The Sweet Spot): Practice Morsels

How do we align to the sweet spot?

So when we go to sit down for formal meditation practice,

How do we align everything?

What's the best way to do this?

And why should we do this?

Well,

For those who are not familiar with this concept of alignment,

We can look at it first on a physical level.

When we sit down,

How well is the spine aligned upright?

From the front,

Back,

Side to side,

This straight up and down alignment with head,

Shoulders,

All the part of the back.

And so what else can we bring into alignment?

Well,

How about our day leading up to when we're sitting down and then the day going forward.

So what's led up to that?

How can we bring that into alignment with this sitting body or breathing body right here?

Bring all the obligations and planning and future things back from the future into the here and now.

Align them with the body and how is the heart mind?

What is the mood like,

The attitude to practice?

What is our intentions for practicing,

Our aspirations,

Our determinations?

And then the object,

Most importantly,

The object of meditation,

Whatever practice we're doing,

Bringing that into alignment too.

And of course the mind and emotions and then this notion of a sweet spot came from the anapana spot,

Which is this one way of practicing mindfulness of breathing around the nostrils and the upper lip.

I like this notion of a sweet spot though.

This is an English term that means when you hit the sweet spot,

It's all good.

That's what we're aiming for.

But because I don't like the sense of a target though and getting it wrong.

So this notion of alignment is helpful to put in there too.

How can we align to the sweet spot?

And then once the meditation is going,

How can all this just melt away,

Drop away and just be the meditation,

Doing the meditation practice?