Meditation: #1: A series

What is it? How to do it? Why do it?

Meditation

#1 in a Series

It’s the newest craze! Sure, we’re all a little stressed lately with life threatening disease lurking behind every contact, social unrest threatening our neighborhoods and our trust, and economic uncertainty. Anxiousness is normal.

Meditation offers a release, a coping mechanism, a hope for returning to normal, and a method of dealing with the stress we are all feeling. The question that comes to mind is...what is meditation, and how do you do it?

When first learning about meditation, it seems contrary to everything our culture is based upon. Instead of pushing forward and finding solutions to every problem, meditation seems to promote stepping back, and letting your subconscious bring solutions to you rather than seeking them externally.

Historically humanity has been using meditation as a coping strategy for thousands of years. To be less stressed by events, it encourages you to allow yourself to be more focused and more aware of the nuances of those same stressful events. We live in the world we perceive through our senses and our mind. To see how meditation fits into our world, let us explore what meditation IS and is NOT!

First, meditation is NOT a quick fix. Anyone with a new puppy knows that training the puppy requires patience, consistency, and repetition. This applies to the training of your mind. Because meditation requires you to train your mind, it is NOT a quick fix. Meditation IS a training activity.

Unlike adopting a puppy and bringing it home, no accessories are required for meditation. No collars, leashes, treats or props are needed. You already have everything you need. You have your mind.

Just as you find that puppies are easily distracted, are always busy doing something, and have boundless and restless energy, so you will find your mind possess these same traits. It is easily distracted: What was that noise? This couch is too low! That music is annoying. Your mind is busy: What shall we have for dinner? Is Junior causing trouble at school? Can I fix the noise in the car? There are a million things to think about! Your mind is busy and occupied all the time: How long will this take? There are a million things to do! I have places to be!

All of those things running on an endless loop through your mind are distractions and awareness of external input. All you really need to focus on to meditate is:

1) Avoid thinking of something.

2) Focus on just being—breathing in and out.

When you are doing those two things—that is actually NON-AWARENESS. And that is meditating. NOT so hard, right? Or maybe it is really, really hard!

If you find yourself drifting into how to plan the school carpool pick up and do all your errands...you have gone into AWARENESS and are out of meditation. Don’t despair, just start again. Remember the puppy training? It takes time, patience consistency and repetition. This is not a graded activity. There is no right or wrong. Just take a deep breath, focus on your breathing in and out, don’t focus on externals, and start again.

Let your thoughts come ...and go. Don’t focus on any one of them. Let it go and return to breathing and just be.

You will find that:

3) Meditating is not focusing on problems or solutions.

4) There is no right or wrong.

5) You can always start again without guilt or fear of failure.

6) Meditation is NOT the key to happiness or to anything else.

7) It IS a way to increase your calm and ultimately, your perspective.

Question: Do I need a Zen Room? or a specific meditation space?

Answer: While it is a lot easier to NOT focus on externals if you are in a place of relative quiet where the children are not running in with demands for your immediate attention, and where sirens and door slamming and loud talking are not constant, meditation requires very little in special accommodations.

Like puppy training, consistency is good. In fact, it is beneficial. Same time, same place all help to minimize distractions and increase peace. Doing the same thing

for about the same amount of time can aid in developing your practice.

Question: What if I don’t have the right clothes?

Answer: What you wear is NOT important. No special wardrobe is required, although clothing or shoes that are restrictive or uncomfortable will serve to distract you. Think of them as if they were a cat running across the field while you are trying to get your new puppy to focus on the hand signal for “COME!” Remember, this time is for you, no one is watching, or judging your success or depth of involvement. Meditation is just for you. It is not about what you are wearing.

Question: How do I do it? Sitting, standing, lying down?

Answer: Just as no special clothing is required, no particular posture (apart from physical alignment and relaxation) are required. Meditation is NOT about how you are sitting. If you are like me, sitting cross-legged on the floor is just torturing my joints and my ankles and is not all that relaxing.

Sit in a comfortable chair, but sit in it correctly. Don’t slouch and then get a cramp in your back or neck. Find a comfortable, healthy position where nothing hurts and your hands and arms and feet and body are comfortable.

Question: How long do I have to do this every day?

Answer: Just as there is no special wardrobe or location required, no time limit is right or wrong. Generally, 10 minutes is an acceptable starting point. Your busy day can accommodate this brief refreshing of your mind. Your life will thank you for it.

Remember if you

notice that you have drifted into thinking of something you plan to do next, start over and take a fresh breath and clear your mind.

It is better to repeat your meditation and mind clearing daily, than to do one long

session, then skip it for the rest of the week. If 10 minutes seems long, drop back to 5 minutes, but keep your repetitions consistent until you feel ready to extend

the time.

Remember the puppy? Ten minutes of “sit,stay” may be too much. Try 5 minutes and work up to 10 and before you know it, the whole process will be automatic

and as easy as pie.

Question: Why should I try meditating anyway?

Answer: You know what meditation IS and what it is NOT. You know what to wear and what not to wear. You know how long and have let other’s opinions about time go by the wayside. Now the question has become: Why do it at all? What are the benefits other than having 10 minutes to yourself? The answer to why, and the benefits are totally subjective. That means that everybody is different. Generally the reasons people set aside time to meditate are to feel calmer, to feel happier and more focused, and to have less stress

Notice that all these reasons are internal and mostly indefinable. They are all unique to you and your life. There is no right, or wrong reason to meditate. There is no success or failure to the practice. Like the puppy training, consistency and repetition are key.

Rewards are not instantaneous. Its not like drinking a glass of water to quench a thirst. Once and done. It is more like being consistently hydrated, all the time. Be patient with your commitment to the practice of meditation. Over time you will appreciate the time spent and the calmness it brings to your day and to your life.

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Comments? insights? Karenmac1999@hotmail.com

Coming: Origins and varieties of Meditation: Article II

Plus guest articles by experts in the field of applied meditation: Fung Shui by Kim Julen and others.

Stay tuned!