Welcome to your practice for day #3. I'm excited to be back with you for practice as we continue to explore opening up to ourselves -- our whole selves-- on the meditation cushion.

(So that perhaps we might become more open towards ourselves off of the cushion, too.)

If you've ever had the experience of sitting down to meditate only to find your mind racing, darting, drifting or wandering -- you're in really good company.

In traditional Buddhist stories and texts, the unsettled mind is often equated to a wild beast -- a monkey, a feral boar, and an untamed horse being some of the more common analogies for our unruly + chattering minds.

I personally like to think of my mind as being similar to a rowdy toddler -- aka: Max from Where the Wild Things Are-- tugging at my pant leg for my attention, throwing brief but powerful tantrums, and chasing every shiny thing that enters the room.

For today's practice, I offer us all 3 simple phrases to extend to ourselves in the moments when our attention goes feral, and it's time to return to the breath in a loving but firm way. *Think: benevolent stewardship

It's also a wonderful practice for beginning to shift the way that we speak to ourselves on --and off-- the cushion.

If you want to skip my introduction and get right to the action, you can forward the video to the 2 minute and 30 second mark. Just grab a comfortable seat, and perhaps a pen + paper to capture your own insights after meditation, and click the video below.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start.