‘We all lead busy lives’ - is a common refrain and commonly true for many of us. However, it can also become an excuse for not doing the daily life practice.

It can set up a dichotomy between our Buddhist practice and the things we do throughout the day. To begin with, some may be thinking that daily life practice is just Zazen (sitting meditation) but it is also meditation in activity, not just when we are formally sitting. The truth of the matter is that daily life practice can help us in our activities by focussing the heart, mind and body together, being at-one with what we are just now doing.

I recall a doctor saying to Master Daiyu that he found it difficult listening to what his patients were telling him because he was constantly aware of how many others were waiting to see him and that he had so little time to spend with each. To his shock, Master Daiyu suggested, as a remedy, that he spend five minutes between each appointment doing Zazen. Later on, he returned and confessed that whilst he had not taken five minutes, he had taken two minutes to come back to the breath. What he had found was that even this short period of time was enough to clear his mind so now he did not have to keep asking the patient what they had just said. It was an interesting lesson in counter-intuition, that taking a moment to re-centre the heart and mind could actually save time and ease the situation to make it flow better.

So, what other methods could we use from time to time to help us ‘take a moment’ to pull ourselves together and re-enter daily life practice?

One breath in. One breath out. - Sitting on a bus, standing in a queue, waiting for the lights to change or for a lift/elevator. Small moments appear quite naturally during the day, and as we wait we can exhale and then take in one deep breath. As this is done, feel the breath entering the nose, sweeping down into the lungs and invigorating right the way down to the soles of the feet. This is followed by a slow exhalation that reverses the pathway from the soles of the feet up the body and out through the nose once more. The body feels emptied out and calm.

Pressing the palms together - A sign for prayer or paying respect, in Japanese this is called gassho. The hands are pressed flat together palms touching and fingers together in front of the chest. One Zen Master called this, “the bringing together of body and mind/heart.” It is such a simple action and yet, it has a remarkable effect, inducing the centering of the heart. Settle into that collected state for just one moment and then move back out into the world, just a little more at-one with it.

Excuse yourself to bow - If bringing the palms together is not enough then 3 or more bows may be necessary to empty out the heart more thoroughly. This one is particularly useful if feeling low or anxious.

Lean into listening - As if you were slightly straining to hear someone telling you something important in a noisy room, lean the body slightly forward and go into the act of listening as widely open as possible to all sounds without discrimination. Lean into this listening until the sense of self attenuates or even may disappear. Do not react to the sounds just allow them to enter in and flow away.

Walking with Heart and Soles - Rather like leaning into the listening, when you find yourself hurrying about, slow your pace of walking down to an amble. Allow the focus of attention to sink down to the soles of your feet. Stay with the sensations and lean into the changing sensations of your feet as they move and hold your weight, find a suitable rhythm that feels natural.

Try some of these out and see what works, maybe you can come up with others using your own ingenium. Notice that they all use the body as the object of a brief meditation. This is because the  body does not think, it feels sensations with no thought, just bare naked attention that is settling and centering.

Keep taking that moment.