Posture Of Mind

Student:  

How can I improve my daily meditation practice, my legs hurt and I had taekwondo so I only did 27 bows, and didn't do any silent meditation at all.

    Yesterday pain turns into
    Todays pain
    Tomorrow I will do my best

Zen Master Jok Um:

Almost everyone I know on the path has the same question, so welcome to the family. 

I encourage you not to frame this as improvement, for reasons I think are already clear for you. Rather, consider how to find time in the day for anchoring the mind in your fundamental stillness. A little bit of sitting every day goes a very long way. Pick something that's too ridiculous not to do in terms of how much time you spend, whether it's in a chair or on the floor with your legs crossed. A couple of minutes every day is better than long periods at unpredictable times. That way, you're also practicing consistency, rather than inconsistency and making up for what you didn't do before, to allow you to not do it again and then try to make up for that. Which do you prefer?

Know that you're practicing posture of mind with body posture as a means, not an end. You can practice posture of mind anywhere in any posture of body. You're right, though. The activities of intentional practice are vital. What you can improve is how you discover opportunities and follow through on this.

Take care,
Ken