“My root condition still seems to be lucidity, alertness”
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Join us tonight as our weekly Monday meditation resumes at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
I picked another short meditative reading from Trembling, Still by Stephen Jenkinson. Concerned about his neurodegeneration due to Parkinson’s, Jenkinson describes a visit to his banker. I find him both dramatic and sharply funny, and I find deep contemplative value for all of us in this passage. The line that sticks with me is this one: “My root condition still seems to be lucidity, alertness. I just can’t find the vernacular sometimes to make the ‘we see each other, right?’ connection” (p. 140).
Our foundation instruction is to keep the breath in your awareness. Your body has been breathing all day, mostly without your noticing. We bring this automatic bodily process into conscious awareness, letting the body breathe in its own way and feeling the sensations of breathing. We will continue to develop focus using different anchors, including the breath at the nose, the movement of the diaphragm, and other sensations in the body.
To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage:
Last Updated on October 19, 2026 | Published: October 19, 2026