Effortlessness

When you sit and watch television, you don't make any effort. That is why you can sit there for a long time. When you sit in meditation, you struggle a lot, and that is why you cannot sit for very long. Please imitate the way you sit in the living room. Effortlessness is the key to success. Don't fight. Don't try hard. Just allow yourself to sit. This relaxing way of sitting is also resting. Allow your body to rest.

When you pour fresh juice into a glass and let it stand for fifteen minutes, all the pulp and particles sink down to the bottom of the glass. If you allow your body to sit in a relaxing, peaceful way, it calms your body and also your mind. Sitting like this allows you to enjoy your in-breath and out-breath, to enjoy being alive, to enjoy sitting here. To enjoy your in-breath and out-breath is a miracle, the miracle of being alive.

-- from "The Path of Emancipation" by Thich Nhat Hanh