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In the Autumn of 2015, at a teacher training retreat at the Nirakara Mindfulness Institute outside Madrid, I heard MBSR™ Facilitator Trainer Robert Smith tell a well-known story about distraction. A young western hippy travels to the Himalayas to learn the art of meditation. He practises ten hours sitting practice per day in order to complete his month long course. All day every day a cockerel crows outside the practice hall while the young man silently fumes. Nearly at the end of the course he can take it no longer. He complains to the teacher. Practice is impossible with this damned squawking. In an unusually passionate exchange, the teacher tells the young man he has learned nothing and must start again from the beginning. The truth is distractions are much easier to deal with than people think. In March 2015 Calmworks ran the first module of a Leadership Programme at Mindshare in Covent Garden. There were seventeen maiden meditators in the room. During the first fifteen-minute sit a loud cacophony of heels passed outside the door. After the practice we asked who had heard this. Over half had not. Distractions are a gift. Find somewhere noisy where no one will bump into you, spill something on you or knock you over. Sit. Breathe. Close your eyes. Analyse each distraction like a scientist. Once you have comfortably identified it, let it go. Come back to your breath. Repeat. And enjoy.
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