The Morning News

This is a good time to check your morning news: in other words, the news of what’s going on in your body, what’s going on in your mind.

When we do a guided meditation, we take you through the body section by section. There’s no need to do that every time you meditate, but do it at least once a day. How are things going on in your head? The eyes? The ears? The sensations deep in the head? How are things going in your neck?

Down through the torso, down through the legs; then from the neck again, down the shoulders and the arms: Check and see how things are going. If there’s anything that needs fixing, you can use the breath to fix it.

Of course, check the mind. Sometimes the mind is telling you what you’re going to do after the meditation is over. You can drop that thought. As for thoughts that you’ve been carrying around in the morning, let those go as well.

As the Thai ajaans would say, if you find your mind leaning forward or back, try to set it up straight. If it’s leaning to the left or right—in other words to things you like or don’t like about the world outside—tell yourself the world outside doesn’t matter right now. The important news is what’s going on inside your body as you sense it from within.

So take a thorough survey, because nobody else can tell you this news. You’re on the front line. You’re the best authority of what’s happening right now. All too often, we don’t pay attention to what’s happening right now in the body and the mind. We’re paying attention to things outside. As a result, we miss the territory for which we’re really responsible.

The world outside will tell you what they’re doing is more important than what you’re doing, so drop everything you’re doing and pay attention to them, because you’re just a spectator for their activities. But you’re not. You’re an actor as well. You’re an agent. And agency starts inside: how you breathe, how you talk to yourself, the perceptions you hold in mind, the feelings you focus on.

This is where the real news is happening. And you’re in the best place to see it.