Lightening Up My Heart

[sage]

i tried a meditation this morning, and i felt like a failure with it until i talked to pam and she said she felt the same way after her first time. i found that my mind wandered SO MUCH and i couldn't stay focused

The first time I meditated I was absolutely miserable. It was 20 minutes of the most rampant thinking I think I've ever done. When I was finished, I was so angry at myself and so frustrated it was really strange!

It's true that your ability to meditate will improve with practice. it is ALSO true that there will be days when your mind is clearly working with it's own agenda and you will not be able to bring it back to the present for more than a mere second or two.

The point partly is that that is OK. It has to be. Why wouldn't it be?

I highly recommend "your buddha nature" by Jack Kornfield. It's a set of audiotapes on the ten perfections. It also has a guided meditation on at the end of each side of the tape. It's available on amazon and soundstrue and ebay and probably a bunch of other places, too!

Sage