How do I know if I'm trying too hard?

Question

MyRoshi · Accepted Answer

Trying is fine; watching yourself try is the exhausting part. When you sit, there is breathing, a sound from the street, an ache in the knee. Then there is a second voice grading all of it: good sit, bad sit, am I doing this right. That voice is not your practice. It is the weight you carry into it. Next time you sit, notice the grading. Don't fight it. Just let one full breath go by without a score.