2 Meditations: Gently Carving New Pathways, New Ways of Being
- katyromita
- May 20
- 2 min read
People (myself included) usually come to meditation because they want to feel different, better.
Often, the expectation is that the experience of meditation - the actual time spent sitting on the cushion meditation - can provide that better feeling. Sometimes it does! Sometimes we get an "aha" insight or we feel deeply relaxed. And, that is awesome!
Other times, we have "monkey mind." We spend the entire practice trying to corral our busy thoughts. This is also awesome! It might not feel like we think meditation "should," but it is this practice of coming back, over and over again, to the present moment that actually leads to feeling better in our lives -- not necessarily while we are meditating, but once we are off the cushion and living our lives.
Think about water dripping on to stone. Over time, the repeated drip of water carves a chanel into the hard stone. In a similar way, the repeated practice of dropping our awareness onto our breath carves new channels - literally creates and strengthens neural pathways in our brain - for presence and compassion. It is hard to measure in the moment, but the repeated practice of presence - repeatedly practicing the habit of returing back to the moment - is what leads to the habit of showing up more fully, more compassionately in our day-to-day lives.
When we least expect it, the benefits of meditation will appear - maybe it's in a tough conversation, maybe it's when we wake in the middle of the night, maybe it's when we are sitting in traffic - meditation creates the habit of seeing reality more clearly, as it is in the moment, and acting compassionately from that place of clearer seeing.
A 17-minute practice recorded live on Friday, 5/22/26. Go to 2:33 to skip the intro and get right into the meditation.
And, an 18-minute practice recorded live on Wednesday, 5/20/26. Go to 2:26 to skip the intro and get right into the meditation.
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