Monday, September 14, we will meet online.
Dear Friends,
This week, we will meet Monday evening, September 14, from 7-8:30PM ET online; Wednesday morning, September 16, from 7-8AM ET in person at our meditation space (3812 Northampton Street NW); and Friday, September 18, 12-1PM ET online.
On Monday, our evening meditation will be facilitated by Susie. She shares:
There is something quietly powerful about becoming aware of what we have not been aware of.
We all have blind spots.
They are the places in our lives where we cannot quite see ourselves clearly—where we do something repeatedly without asking why, where we spend our precious time and energy without realizing what we are giving away, or where an old pattern quietly makes decisions for us.
And because we cannot see the blind spot, we cannot see the habit that lives there.
Thich Nhat Hanh spoke often about habit energy—the patterns that can move us almost automatically. He taught that habit energy can be stronger than our conscious intention, causing us to repeat actions even when we know they do not serve us. Thay says, “Habit energy is a mysterious force that silently governs our speech and actions…”
However, he did not teach us to fight these patterns. Instead, he invited us to recognize them with mindfulness. When habit energy arises, we can simply acknowledge it. We can breathe. We can smile. We can become present to what is happening.
This is where transformation begins.
The Blind Spot
A blind spot is not necessarily something terrible. Sometimes it is as simple as reaching for our phone whenever there is a quiet moment. Perhaps we repeatedly check email when we are anxious. Perhaps we say yes when we really mean no. Perhaps we keep ourselves constantly busy because slowing down makes us uncomfortable. Perhaps we spend hours thinking about what might happen instead of being present with what is happening. Or perhaps we have become so accustomed to a particular way of living that we no longer question it.
These patterns consume energy, and because they often happen automatically, we may not even recognize how much of our life is being directed by them. We may think we are choosing, but sometimes, we are simply repeating.
Mindfulness Turns on the Light
This is one of the gifts of meditation. We sit quietly, breathe, and begin to see. It is not necessarily something dramatic. Sometimes we simply begin to recognize a pattern that has been operating beneath our awareness for years.
I do this when I feel uncertain.
I reach for that when I feel uncomfortable.
I keep myself busy when I do not want to feel something.
I become distracted when I need to make an important decision.
I spend my energy here, even though my heart is asking me to go somewhere else.
This seeing is not a judgment. It is awareness.
Thich Nhat Hanh described mindfulness as an energy that helps us become clearly aware of what is happening within us and around us. With mindfulness, concentration, and insight, what was hidden can begin to become visible. And once we can see something clearly, we have a choice.
We Do Not Have to Obey Every Habit
One of the most beautiful aspects of this practice is that we are not our habits. A habit may arise, but we do not have to follow it. A thought may arise, but we do not have to believe it. An impulse may arise, but we do not have to act on it.
We can pause. We can breathe. We can bring our attention back to this moment.
Thich Nhat Hanh taught that when habit energy arises, the practice is simply to recognize it and use the energy of mindfulness to embrace and transform it. This is a very different approach from trying to force ourselves to change.
We are not at war with ourselves. We are learning to see ourselves.
What Is Asking for Your Attention?
Perhaps this week, instead of asking yourself, “What habits should I break?”, sit quietly with a different question: What am I not seeing? Where does my energy disappear? What do I do automatically? What do I repeatedly do even though I know it does not nourish me? What am I avoiding? What keeps me from hearing the quieter voice within? And perhaps most importantly: What might become possible if I stopped spending my energy on what no longer serves me?
Beneath our habits, beneath the noise, beneath the constant movement of our minds, there is something quieter. There is wisdom. There is the voice that knows what matters. There are dreams and intentions that may have been waiting patiently for us to become still enough to hear them.
Mindfulness does not give us a new voice. It helps us hear the one that was already there. Thich Nhat Hanh often returned to the simple practice of arriving in the present moment:
“I have arrived, I am home.
In the here, in the now.
I am solid, I am free.”
Perhaps this is where we begin. Not by changing everything, not by fixing ourselves, but by arriving, by becoming present enough to see and compassionate enough to look deeply.
With each breath, we can bring a little more light to the places we have not yet seen. And with that light comes freedom.
With love,
Susie