Enlightening Snow

Puffy white flakes descend from the sky like sifted flour. Icycles hang heavy on bowed power lines. I am blessed to have been given permission from my compassionate boss to work from home today. I am perfectly capable of navigating the roads in blizzard-y conditions, but today I am choosing to avoid the possibility of car or bodily damage today. The risk is too great.

So I sit stretched out on my futon with my laptop perched on my legs, fingers rapidly tapping the keyboard. I am facing the living room's picture window, and my periferal vision keeps getting interrupted by the pure whiteness of the falling flakes. I look up, and I am hooked. I sit mesmerized at mother nature's creative genius, and I begin to zone out. I am practicing dharana without even trying. Dharana is the fifth limb of yoga (there are 8 altogether, which when practiced together lead you to enlightenment), and it simply means meditating on an object. The possibilities are endless as far as what kind of an object to use. In my teacher training we practiced a meditation while staring into the flame of a candle, trying hard not to blink. Focusing on your breath (a popular form of meditation) is another form of dharana. It helps to bring you out of your mind and into a space of freedom, openness and lightness. I used to think that meditation had to be done in a cross-legged or lotus position, hands on knees, eyes closed, and you had to try to shut your mind off somehow. These expectations seemed very uncomfortable and pretty much impossible to me. But I am learning that there is a wide depth to meditation techniques, and this revelation brings me great joy.

All of my attention is focused on the falling snow, and I observe it without judgement, letting my thoughts flow in and out of my mind with gentleness.

What are some other objects that could aid in meditation?

Choosing love and safety,
Grace