For the past three years I have been talking about and practicing mindfulness and meditation. Sally and I both practice transcendental meditation every morning and evening for 20 minutes each time. We are both as busy as can be in our life and work and it’s been amazing how naturally we have been able to fit in this amount of time each day. When I share this, advocating for the psychological and health benefits of meditation I often get resistance. It’s either skepticism about its validity or, more commonly push back against ever being able to fit this into my daily life. The term “Zen” is now in the common parlance and most have a sense of what it means. It suggests common, retreat and withdrawal from life’s agitations. No one can disagree that this is valuable. But incorporating this into a structured process sometimes seems unrealistic. But there are multiple ways of thinking about this And experience its benefits.
One thought that comes to mind is fishing. Yes, that’s right, fishing.
Growing up in New York and Long Island water was everywhere. The unique feature of Long Island especially is the easy proximity to the sandy beaches of the Atlantic to the south and the Long Island Sound to the north. As a kid our transportation was a bike and friends would often take a summer Saturday and, carrying our fishing pole in one hand and peddle up to the inlets around Oyster Bay. I don’t ever remember catching one fish. But we never rode home disappointed, because the joy was in the fishing. We laughed our way up and back immersed in the distractions and ease of mind that comes from being a part from whatever stresses were part of our young kids life. In these moments we are in retreat from our ongoing worries and persistent anxiety. What can be your Zen experience?
