When we meditate we honor ourselves and our bodies by reconnecting to ourselves and disconnecting from the noise of worry, to-do lists, tension, etc. I used to think that when my mind wondered to people I was worried about and my ever increasing task list it meant I was doing meditation wrong.

I have come to understand the gentle bringing back to body and breath is the practice - is the gift of meditation. And, if I am gentle and mindful, the things that distract me from body and breath give me the opportunity to be grateful and compassionate. Am I worried about a person? As I gently bring myself back to body and breath and wind and ground - back to now - this moment, I can also be grateful that this person is in my life; I can send them healing and hope. If my list of what needs to be done is a distraction, I see these many things and I offer compassion to myself and gently bring myself back to body and breath and wind and ground. These distractions are not keeping me from mindfulness, not stopping me from meditation, rather this gently return to the now is the work of practicing awareness.

This was lead by Laura Mayo, the Senior Minister of Covenant Church and is active in Houston interfaith work. She is a member of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State clergy advisory group, The Coalition for Mutual Respect (of the ADL), The Faith Leaders Coalition, and Interfaith Ministries’ Multi-Faith Council as well as being a clergy surrogate at Memorial Hermann Hospital. She is a Rothko Chapel Board Member where she has led meditations. Laura is regularly published in the Belief section of the Houston Chronicle, and has been interviewed several times on Houston Public Media’s "Houston Matters” radio show. You can find those articles and interviews on the Covenant Church Press page.