One of my favourite Tom Robbins books is Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, one of the reasons being that the antihero *fiercely* extols the virtues of ‘sitting’ as an antidote for his ‘vivid’ life. Wading out from a series of intense back-to-back 40-day practices, I’m taking a leaf out of Switters’ book, and have taken to just sitting in mindfulness meditation every morning.

The comfy (and sometimes not so much) armchair of mindfulness

In an ideal world, this is what my mindfulness meditation practice looks like: First, I become aware of my body, resting heavy on the sheepskin. Then that awareness moves into any sensations. Then I focus in on the subtle movement of my breath rising and falling in my belly. And using my breath as my anchor, I watch. I watch those thoughts, memories and fantasies that obliterate my efforts to remain present. I watch for those sounds – birds, clock ticking (argh!) – that help to remind me where I am and what I’m doing. I watch for that delicious sense of profound presence that eventually unfurls up my spine and expands out across infinity. Hello infinite self. All this is, of course, spiced with those inevitable ‘chitta’, those little disturbances that ripple out across the surface of my mind.

It feels good to take time out to integrate the effects of my practice, but my mentor reminded me yesterday that’s it’s important to not get stuck there in the comfy/uncomfy armchair. So I won’t be lingering too long. But for now, I’m enjoying being a fierce kundalini yogi home from a hot climate.

Sat nam!