Happy Morning through Presence

My dog Biscuit, a golden doodle, has a habit of padding into my office while I'm meditating and giving me a good snarfle in the face as her first act of the day.

This is a little disruptive to the meditation I have going, but, as I decided this morning to snarfle her back, rather than ignore her as I sometimes do, I thought, "well, this too is a kind of meditation."

By immersing ourselves and really paying attention to almost any act, we can activate a sense of focus, the kind of "be here now" presence that brings awareness to our lives. And being present to something as simple and uncomplicatedly joyful as hugging a pet (or a child) or watching a bird run around the yard is a way of being present to the happiness in life.

For me this means really paying attention, to the noises my dog makes, to her doggy smell, to the texture of her fur, as well as to the feelings that arise in me when I give her a hug. Not a bad meditation for a Monday morning.