Workspace

She closes her eyes and sets herself up to meditate.
The short term goal is to remain motionless for twenty four minutes, so she pushes her frizzy hair away from her face, she layers the pillows just right, she fluffs the blankets so they don’t press on her toes.
Despite the preparations, there is always an uncomfortable sensation and instead of focusing on the mantra, her mind becomes occupied with her numb limbs or the persistent whistling of her nose. Hard as she tries, something comes up each day.
One day she realizes- she is wasting time. Avoiding the uncomfortable is not the Work.
In fact, she’s messing up. She’s trying to avoid an opportunity she could USE.
Once she gets that, she stops making such a fuss.
She arranges herself quickly, and begins. Her arms quickly go numb, but she notices it like an observer, not someone who’s invested in the comfort of the body.
When a sensation arrives, she takes it as an opportunity, a beautiful opportunity to practice containment and remaining calm.
The "problems" –the sensations- will always keep coming, no matter what she does to prevent them …the nose will itch, the bills will come, friends will die, the earth will crumble…there is nothing to prevent this, there is only the Work.
The ingenious machine will always find something to struggle against, but when we can see it coming, when we can recognize the habit and use it to practice and work, then we are in the Workspace.