con-centr-ate

One important way meditation is a perfect preparation for medicine work is that with that regular practice we can habituate ourself to proper – meaning calm – reaction to failure. In an honest, thorough look inside we notice thousands of times as our attention drifts away from chosen sign – be it breath we were to follow, or even awareness itself we chose to observe – and is lost for shorter or longer periods in thought stream. What we do when we notice – we come back, we try to concentrate again. Not fall into drama, self pity, self criticism as it would be another distraction, another side stream. As with any practice, by repetition we get better, we create a habit. Now, in the midst of ceremony, where we will be assaulted by uncomfortable realization about ourselves or even annoying cascade of those, we will be better equipped for proper reaction – just observe, let it be, do not ignore but also do not feed. Choose where your attention goes. If there is one thing not really talkative indigenous shamans advise in the chaos of ceremony, when someone looses him/herself to chaos, is that : concentrate. It is all about concentration.