The present moment

[DJLSFC]

Hi All, when I practice, after 5 - 10 mins of breath awareness, I`m continuously being drawn away from focusing on just my breath or a body sensation and being pulled more towards a general focus on the current moment where my breath fades into the background and I pay more attention to thoughts, sounds, sometimes sights, body sensations, smells, anything I can sense really.

Has anyone else had this at all ? I quite enjoy it and hopefully I`m on the right track.

Cheers, Dave.

[DJLSFC]

Can I just add, it feels to me almost a proper way of becoming aware the present moment.

[Matt Y]

Hi Dave,

That sounds like a fruitful direction in which to head. I consider everything that 'comes up' in meditation to be 'fair game', and find a broad focus to be more interesting and enriching than an overly narrow one.

Matt.

[DJLSFC]

Thanks Matt, it just seems to me now that there is more to being present than just breathing.

Could it, maybe, be the end result of why you practice formal meditations? If you get to a point where this becomes second nature to you in daily life, do we need to carry on with formal practices. I'm not trying to say I`m anywhere close to having this is second nature, I`m just curious if its a direction one could follow.

Dave.

[JonW]

Surely the reason it becomes second nature is down to practice. Stop practicing and welcome back, monkey mind. Maybe?

[DJLSFC]

Yep, thats what I was thinking John, but if it becomes second nature, do you think you could practice in another way rather than formal meditations to top yourself up ?

[DJLSFC]

Jon even

[JonW]

I always say that it's good to keep things fresh. Sitting meditations topped up with regular body scans, walking meditations, mindful movement etc. Also, lots of reading around the subject, podcasts etc.
It's pretty much all-consuming for me. My entire life is about meditation.
Cheers,
Jon

[Matt Y]

I would certainly agree that there's a lot more to the present moment than just the breath. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that if you were only with the breath, then you'd be missing out on a LOT of the present moment.

I'd also agree that as you become more experienced it would be quite natural to take your mindfulness practice 'off the cushion', experimenting with what I call 'colonising space'; by which I mean bring mindfulness to all kinds of different situations, scenarios, activities, and behaviors.

For instance, do you know (or notice) which leg you put through your pants in the morning first. Do you notice when you turn taps on or off? Do you notice when you enter or leave a building? Are you aware of what thoughts you have about the people you meet, or see as you go about your day. How do your moods fluctuate and on what basis? How are you affected by light, colour and sound?

The list is endless, and if you do it with a playful attitude, it can be a fun way to develop awareness.

The saying, "Meditation follows a happy man like a shadow: wherever he goes, whatsoever he is doing, he is meditative" might suggest that one might eventually dispense with a formal practice; but I suspect such a man would probably still 'sit'; it would just be something very natural — a part of life rather than some special thing he does.

[JonW]

"The list is endless, and if you do it with a playful attitude, it can be a fun way to develop awareness."

Great point. Always worth remembering that mindfulness can be fun. It's full of juice.
Jon