Imagine a person meditating.
You're probably picturing something like this:
Maybe you're imagining some props, or tools, to help a person achieve some zen. Here's a crystal (amethyst), some sage, and Mala beads. Look familiar?
None of this = meditation.
A person can sit on a pillow surrounded by burning sage, hands in mudra, eyes closed, for hours and never actually be meditating. Inversely, meditation sometimes looks nothing like what we imagine when we think of meditation. Moreover, literally anyone can do it, and you're probably doing it without even knowing it. How, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.
Let's start by un-defining meditation. Firstly, meditation is *not* (necessarily) "emptying your mind". There's a reason Western practitioners have popularized the term "mindfulness". Look at the word. Your mind should be full (which is not the same as busy). I've spoken to some people who find it difficult to "let their mind go blank". One common reason for difficulty with this technique is that, A: it is hard, and B: it can trigger negative responses from past trauma. For that reason, I wouldn't recommend it for most beginning meditators. Yes, some meditators do like to try and find a state of relative freedom from thoughts, but that's only one style of meditating that might work for some people.
Meditation is also *not* a productivity tool (sorry, capitalist CEOs who think that mindfulness courses mean squeezing more tasks out of your already overburdened employees). In fact, recent studies have revealed that meditation has the opposite effect. Fun fact: if you teach people to get really in touch with their feelings and personal truths, they might discover that they don't find filling out forms in triplicate as fulfilling as you might think! Bosses of the world: if you want to keep your cogs grinding along in their corporate wheel efficiently and without complaint, it's better not to help them become enlightened. Keep those minds nice and dull, and you'll have a much better time oppressing the workforce.
So.
What is meditation?
According to Yoga International:
"Meditation is a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totally different from the normal waking state."
There's nothing there about sitting in lotus, or counting on beads. There's nothing there about mudra fingers or closing eyes. Of course, for many meditators, these particular methods can be helpful, but there's more than one way to pet a cat, and I'm going to give you some ideas that can help you bring meditation into your daily life.
1. Go for a walk. Seriously. Just go for a walk by yourself. Don't listen to music or audio. Don't have a destination. If you can, leave your phone at home. If you can walk barefoot, even better. As you walk, just pay attention to everything you see, smell, hear, and feel. Stop any time you like. Smell a flower. Examine a rock. Feel the wind on your face. Don't like walking? Run. Swim. Bike. But go outside for a while and move yourself gently in no particular direction with no particular intention.***
2. Focus on an object. You can do this sitting, standing, lying down. You can play some quiet nondescript music if it helps. Find some object to stare at (maybe an amethyst crystal, maybe a pink eraser) and just look at it. Touch it. Hold it. Admire it. Smell it. Do that for 5 minutes.
3. Breathe. (This one seems obvious, but seriously, people forget that this is a technique). You can do this sitting, standing, lying down. Practice various breath counts: 4 counts in, 4 counts out. Try holding your breath in. Try holding your breath out. Focus on your breath and only your breath. Do that for 5 minutes.
4. Mantra. In Sanskrit, 'mantra' means 'liberation of the mind'. In practice, it involves repeating a phrase (either out loud or in your mind) over and over again (traditionally 108 times). You can choose a classic Sanskrit mantra, or make one up in English (also known as an 'affirmation'). One of my personal favorites is 'I am peace'. You can do this while still or while in motion (like walking, for example).
Have you ever done one of these things (I bet you have)? Then you're probably meditating already. But the thing is, these techniques by themselves aren't meditation. They are pathways to meditation. The most important thing to do is to start paying attention. Pay attention to your thoughts. Don't try to hang on to them or push them away. Notice them. Give them only as much space as they need and then let them move on. If you do run out of thoughts to think, start to notice your feelings. Don't try to hang on to them or push them away. Notice them. Give them only as much space as they need and then let them move on. See if you make any realizations while you're at it. Maybe you will, and maybe you won't. Do this until you feel at least a little more 'yourself' than you did before you started.
That's it. That's meditation. Will you reach the highest level of enlightenment by walking around your block or staring at a rock while counting breaths? Maybe. Probably not, though, and that's okay. You'll reach some level of heightened awareness, and that's enough. For now.
Be careful, though. Once you start, it's hard to stop. It's pretty addictive, and it feels dangerously delicious to walk around on this planet heavily meditated.
I highly recommend it.
Sources:
***Please do NOT try meditative open-water swimming alone, though! (seems obvious, but it never hurts to be thorough)
