Johnathan Woodside Meditation

"Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing."

― Ajahn Chah

♬ http://youtu.be/9Kj73GZjiuc

"You need to acknowledge anxiety every time it comes up. Watching anxiety will help you understand something and this will allow your mind to let go. Remember that the purpose of vipassanā meditation is not to relieve you from what is happening, but to help you understand what is happening."

— Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Step away from the pace of everyday life and join us for a quiet weekend of practice at the peaceful St. Benedict Center in Schuyler, Nebraska, from May 14–17.

This silent retreat, Realizing Freedom: Acceptance and Liberation, explores how mindfulness helps us meet experience with openness and understanding. Through meditation practice, Dharma reflections, and periods of silence, we cultivate a continuity of mindfulness that supports insight and freedom in the midst of daily life.

The weekend includes guided meditation, periods of silent practice, and teachings that help deepen awareness, steady the mind, and encourage a wise relationship to our experience. Whether you are new to meditation or have been practicing for many years, the retreat offers a supportive environment to slow down and reconnect with what matters.

Spaces are still available. Visit the MOI Retreats page to learn more and reserve your place for this weekend of practice and renewal.

https://mindfulnessoutreachinitiative.org/retreats/

I recently reread the final section of “East Coker” from Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot.

It struck me in a way it never had before.

Not as a reflection on poetry.
But as a reflection on practice.

"So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years—
Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l'entre deux guerres
Trying to use words, and every attempt
Is a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure
Because one has only learnt to get the better of words
For the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which
One is no longer disposed to say it. And so each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion. And what there is to conquer
By strength and submission, has already been discovered
Once or twice, or several times, by men whom one cannot hope
To emulate—but there is no competition—
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again: and now, under conditions
That seem unpropitious. But perhaps neither gain nor loss.
For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business."

Eliot’s words are not really about poetry. They are about practice. About sitting down in the middle of confusion and choosing to investigate rather than turn away.

He writes:

“Each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling,
Undisciplined squads of emotion.”

This is meditation.

Not the idealized version. Not the Instagram version. The real one.

We sit down.
We intend to be steady.
And immediately we meet imprecision of feeling.
Undisciplined squads of emotion.
A mind that does not obey.

And so each sit becomes “a wholly new start, and a different kind of failure.”

Anyone who has tried to establish a daily practice knows this terrain.

But then Eliot says something that feels almost like a line from the suttas:

“There is no competition—
There is only the fight to recover what has been lost
And found and lost again and again.”

This is the path.

Clarity is found.
Then lost.
Found again.
Lost again.

Calm is touched.
Then reactivity returns.

We glimpse steadiness.
Then forget.

The work is not to win something new. It is to recover what we keep overlooking. To rediscover presence. To rediscover balance. To rediscover the simple capacity to know the mind as it is.

And then the line that matters most for anyone considering practice:

“For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”

This is exactly what 30 Days To A Steadier Mind is built upon.

Not perfection.
Not achievement.
Not becoming someone else.

Just the trying.

Each night in March, we meet.
We sit.
We begin again.

Some evenings the mind will feel steady.
Some evenings it will feel like shabby equipment in a general mess of imprecision.

It does not matter.

There is no competition.
No ranking of meditators.
No measuring of progress against someone else.

There is only the willingness to show up. To investigate. To recover what has been lost and found and lost again.

If Eliot had turned his attention not toward language but toward awareness itself, he might have written the same poem.

The middle way is not dramatic. It is daily. It is patient. It is humble. It is a quiet raid on the inarticulate terrain of the heart.

For some time now, I’ve been offering a weekday meditation practice called the Month-Long Meditation Challenge. While the practice itself has remained steady, I’ve realized the name no longer reflected what we’re actually doing together.

So I’ve renamed this offering:

30 Days to a Steadier Mind
A Month of Practicing Ease with the Mind You Have

Nothing essential has changed about the practice. We still meet on weeknights for 30 minutes of silent meditation. There’s a brief check-in at the beginning, and on Fridays there’s time for questions and reflection after the sit.

What has changed is the clarity of the invitation.

This practice isn’t about challenging yourself, fixing the mind, or achieving particular states.
It’s about learning how to relate to experience with steadiness, ease, and kindness, one day at a time.

Over the years, I’ve seen how regular, simple practice can support:

emotional balance

greater clarity

and a more workable relationship with thoughts and emotions in daily life

The new name reflects that more honestly. If you’ve been looking for a way to practice consistently, without pressure or striving, you’re warmly invited to join us.

Learn more or join the next month here:
www.johnathanwoodside.com/steadier-mind

As we turn toward the new year, many of us feel the quiet invitation to begin again — to steady the heart, renew our commitment to the path, and return to the practices that nourish clarity and peace. For those who are ready to deepen their meditation in 2026, I want to offer my wholehearted encouragement to join January’s Month-Long Meditation Challenge.

Each night, we gather for a simple 30-minute sit. Nothing elaborate — just the rhythm of showing up together, observing the mind, and embracing the Dharma one evening at a time. Over the past months, this group has become a true online sangha: a small circle of committed practitioners supporting one another through consistency, accountability, and the warmth of practice held in community. We begin with a brief check-in, settle into silence, and on Fridays I offer time for Q&A and guidance to help you meet the practice with steadiness and understanding.

Right now, we have close to ten practitioners who come month after month, and the growth in their practice has been both noticeable and remarkable. I would love to see this community expand to fifty or more — not for numbers alone, but because I know how transformative it can be to have a dedicated place to return to each day. Many of you receiving this already meditate on your own. If you’ve been longing for a supportive, reliable online home for your practice — a place to be held by community, not just willpower — this may be the year to join us.

To make it even easier to begin, I’m offering a “bring a friend / referral” incentive for January. If you sign up and invite someone you know who meditates — or someone who wants to begin — you're welcome to share the Zoom link with them. When we begin the January challenge, those who bring a friend will have a chance to introduce them during our check-in. Practicing with a friend can be deeply supportive, strengthening accountability, and it helps the group grow in a natural, heartfelt way.

Signing up couldn’t be easier. Visit the SHOP on my website (you’ll find the link at the top of the homepage), navigate to the Month-Long Meditation Challenge, and select January. Once registered, you’ll receive the Zoom link and details for our nightly sessions.

If you feel supported by this newsletter, the Dharma teachings, or our time together through the year, I invite you to consider making the Month-Long Meditation Challenge your next step. And if you are already part of the group, please help spread the word — share the invitation with a friend, a colleague, or anyone who might benefit from a consistent and welcoming online sangha.

May the closing of this year be gentle, and may the months ahead offer many opportunities to sit, to soften, and to see clearly.

✨ December Month-Long Meditation Challenge ✨

Begining December 1st

What if the final month of the year wasn’t spent rushing… but arriving?

This December, join the challenge designed to help you cultivate steadiness, clarity, and inner peace — not as a lofty goal, but through lived practice.

Learn more & join here: johnathanwoodside.com/meditation-challenge/

What’s included:
• 🧘 Nightly online group meditations (Monday through Friday, 30 minutes of silent practice together via Zoom at 9:00 PM CST) 

• 💬 Access to an online community space for daily check-ins and connection with fellow practitioners 

• 🕊️ Brief introductory reflections at the start of each session + a Friday Q&A session 

Whether you’re new to meditation or returning to it, this month is your invitation to pause… reflect … and begin again.

We start Monday, December 1st
Comment below or send me a message if you’d like to join — I’d be honored to practice with you.

Let’s close this year not in exhaustion — but in awareness.
🙏

So many of us are rushing through life—caught in cycles of stress, striving, and constant noise. Yet beneath all that, there’s a quiet space within you that’s already still, steady, and clear.

Meditation isn’t about escaping life. It’s about waking up to it—learning to meet each moment with awareness and kindness.

If you’ve been meaning to start meditating (or return to it), I’d be honored to support you.
I offer personalized one-on-one guidance and group practice opportunities designed to help you cultivate peace, insight, and resilience in daily life.

It doesn’t matter where you’re beginning. What matters is that you begin.

👉 Visit johnathanwoodside.com