We practice to develop skillful reflexes in response to our human condition. Use body as a reference point when unplugging from mind’s unskillful habits and reactions. Meditation is an occasion to sense the quality of ungrasping and letting go.
We use a meditation theme like mindfulness of breathing to bring about the factors of awakening. These factors are not things we can do, they come about under the right conditions. Tend to the heart and body energies, bringing them together to hold your ground against the hinderances and make way for the factors of awakening.
As we begin our meditation, establish a reference that helps us to be with rather than be in. Be the ‘knower of the worlds’, aware of the danger and getting stuck. Body can be that reference, it gives a sense of here-ness. Widen awareness and be choosy with attention.