A coaching cue in weight training is a very short phrase a trainer will say to an athlete to correct the athlete's form during a lift. Very short, so it won't interrupt the athlete's flow, but will give a precise direction. Some coaching cues are "head up", " bar close to legs", etc...
Zen Master Seung Sahn, founder of the international Kwan Um School of Zen, had many short phrases he employed as teaching tools, and they could be considered coaching cues for meditation, and for life. These include, "Only go straight", "Don't know", "What is this?", and "Just do it!" (well before Nike came up with that slogan!).
Another is "Don't check!", and, employing this as a "meditation coaching cue", it really helped my practice during a recent online retreat, and subsequently.
I've been practicing a rather free-form meditation style for awhile - just allowing whatever appears to appear, then fade away. I've been employing a few other "coaching cues" as appropiate in the situation: "What is this?" (i.e., "What's happening right now?"), and "Don't know..." (i.e., "Return to clear mind").
"Don't check!" means "Don't examine / critique / doubt what you're doing - just do it!". During meditation, especially when starting the session, I noticed that, in trying to "do it right", I was really 'checking': trying to see if I was being open, allowing things to come into my awareness, without forcing / making them come in.
Employing the "Don't check!" coaching cue, the checking ceased, and my natural awareness just allowed things to come in, and fade out. A much more relaxed way to practice!
I also noticed that a mostly unconscious hierarchy of things to notice that I'd been subscribing to - better to notice sounds and body sensations than thoughts and emotions (too easy to get lost in thought from the latter) - disappeared, and anything was allowed in. This allowed more insights to appear!
I've continued to employ this "coaching cue" - "Don't check!" when checking appears, and, often, at the start of a meditation session. I also use it in daily life, when I notice that "checking mind" ("Am I doing this ok?"; "What should I do next?", etc.) appears. The result: returning to my natural, clear mind, intuiting what to do next, and acting in a smooth flow from one moment to the next.
All part of practice and living to awaken and thus be more able to help this world!
(photo by Tim Mossholder)