The importance of gentleness

It's very important to be gentle with ourselves when we meditate and not force the mind in a harsh way back to the meditation support. This point is made by meditation teacher Gabriel Zappia in his online article on beginning meditation:

The most common question I get when I teach someone to meditate is "What do you mean by "think the mantra gently and easily?" My best answer is an analogy. When you read you take the effort to look at the page, to focus on the page and the words. And you intend to discern the meaning of the words. That is usually enough and the meaning comes without much effort, yet there is some effort involved. Thinking the mantra is similar in that you direct a similar level of effort (which is very little, yet it is there) toward thinking the mantra. You do not force yourself, brow furrowed, to think the mantra to the exclusion of all else. Just let it come, and if that is not enough, then encourage your mind to think it with a small effort.

This is the middle way, isn't it? Some effort, of course, is necessary. To think otherwise would be silly. But we let it be a relaxed, moderate effort. That way we encourage spaciousness in the mind rather than rigidity.