Fine. It's not a sham. But they aren't better then us. I promise. And their minds aren't empty. Or particularly blissful.
When you aren't meditating, meditation can seem foreign and feel like a waste of time. Admit it, even if you have a practice, from time to to time the extra 10 minutes of sleep wins out. Or that beer. Or walking the dog. Or TV. Or kissing. So many things to do instead of sit there!
Here's what this post is NOT:
-It is not a list of all the incorrect assumptions people have about meditation (but I bet those are really funny).
-It is not a list of even SOME of the various meditation practices out there.
There are LOTS of ways to meditate. I'm just going to tell you why it's important that you do and how I do it.
Why Do It:
Meditation, however you do it, is proving to have a whole host of benefits that come with it. Not just a kickass attitude in the face of hard days:
-It helps relieve chronic pain.
-It makes you better at relationships.
-The parts of your brain associated with stress get smaller and the parts of your brain associated with compassion and self-awareness get bigger. Harvard says so. Harvard doesn't lie.
-There are some studies that say that it affects HOW YOUR CELLS METABOLIZE. I don't know what that means really, but it sounds super important.
Nerd moment: It's SOOOOO interesting to be alive in a time when we are able to poke around in the human brain and human body and witness the benefits of meditation (or prayer or yoga or whatever you do).
What I Do:
I try to sit every day. My friends who got me to start trying to meditate called it that. Just "sitting." It took the pressure off of. Worst case, if I sat there reviewing all the crap I hadn't dealt with on my to do list instead of "meditating," at least I successfully sat there.
So I try to sit every day for 10 minutes but usually I hit about 4- 5 days a week (fine sometimes it's 3). If I'm feeling particularly squirrely I'll just do 5 minutes. A good day has 20 minutes for me.
I sit in a chair, not one of those fancy cushions, because I like the back support, and I sit up straight. I keep my hands on my legs and I stare softly at the ground a little ways in front of me and I just breathe. Because Pema says to breathe. Yes, I practice mindfulness meditation as taught by Pema Chodron.
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| image credit: http://billmoyers.com/guest/pema-chodron/ |
I pay attention to every out breath by counting to 20 out breaths three times (60 in total) and then I stop counting and just notice the out breaths and I spend 10 minutes just noticing every time I find myself thinking. Which I do ALL THE TIME.
Pema stresses being kind to yourself when you notice that you are thinking. Don't treat it like a game of Buck Hunter and try to destroy every thought you notice. Just watch it drift on by or try to let it go so it can go away when you realize you're holding on to it.
My meditation practice has taught me how to recognize my split second feelings/thoughts that lead to more feelings and thoughts that make me crazy over the course of a day. Or night.
I've been using Insight Timer to track my progress and time my meditations for almost 2 years now and I really like it. Find me and you can be my Insight Timer friend :)
Where You Can Start:
If that's all too involved and meditation still seems like too much of a brain/time commitment, maybe try this instead:
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