Today I worked efficiently, gave additional money in support of racial justice, signed comment letters and petitions, meditated, walked, shared calls to action on social media, picked beans, cherry tomatoes, and herbs in the garden, and made soba noodles in spicy peanut broth with herbs and green beans.
When meditating and practicing in a group, if I am feeling settled and grounded myself, it does not disturb my practice that others near me are fidgeting or not fully present. Just as I can meditate on a bus or in a waiting room, I am responsible for descending into my own inner space. If I am unsettled myself, then I am more likely to notice others fidgeting. But it is not their fidgeting that disrupts my practice, but that I am having a day when it is hard for me to center on my own.
It is true, though, when practicing with a group, that sometimes we will all be deeply centered and then the power of the group can bring all of the individuals to a deeper experience.
