Two foundational attitudes that can support our meditation practice are non judging and non striving. When the judging mind is active and unexamined, it can really get in the way of our coming into contact with our direct, present moment experience. The vehicle of the judging mind is story. That constant internal narration can pull us away from our lived experience and cause a lot of suffering.

If we engage with the arising of judgement through the lens of our mindfulness practice, we can simply notice when the judging mind is active, become aware of the stories it is telling, and not be so quick to take those stories as truth. The space that gives us is priceless.

When becoming aware of the ways we engage in striving in practice, it can be helpful to look for those places where judgement has been sparked. Looking into the places where you imagine your experience should be different can sometimes point you toward striving. When the “should” of practice is dropped, we can begin to accept things as they arise without needing them to be any particular way. When we approach our experiences with this openness and equanimity, we begin to allow ourselves to be just as we are. When we stop feeling the need to change our experience, we can sometimes access an unconditional acceptance of ourselves as well. We begin to experience ourselves as enough. We can have an experience of ourselves as whole in that space between the story of who we think we are and the present moment manifestation.

Wholeheartedly,

Kim