Change

September always feels like a time of transition to me. The midday sun can still be quite warm, but nights are getting cooler and although it's still possible to ignore, the leaves are starting to change. I often find myself feeling a little melancholic, wanting to hold on to summer. Just a little more!

Of course the truth is that things are always changing. It's not just the changing seasons, but changes in our moment-to-moment experience, physical changes as we age, changes around us. The question is, how do we relate to change - whether it's wanted or not wanted - and what can mindfulness teach us about our habitual responses?

So the next time you sit down to meditate, you might pay attention to this. How does your experience change from one moment to the next? Perhaps it's a new or different sensation in the body, sounds coming and going or changing in quality, thoughts or emotions arising. Do we experience this change as pleasant or unpleasant? Is there resistance, a pushing away, or a holding on, wanting more? Do you recognize patterns that apply to other areas of your life? It may help to approach this with an attitude of gentle, warm curiosity. Not trying to make anything happening, but just knowing what is happening.

Change will inevitably happen as life flows on, but perhaps something can shift in how we relate to change if we become curious about our experience.