I’m hearing a lot of talk about the merits of meditation these days.
And… I still hear a lot of people who are still uncomfortable with the the idea. It’s probably fair to say that “meditation” may carry some baggage.
Mostly, it’s a simple misunderstanding.
The term or label is just that… a name… something people call it.
But, it’s also very simple at its core…
In “A Welcome Moment of Quiet,” a recent blog post on gapingvoid.com cited a study in Biological Psychiatry that shows that meditation can change your brain, making life feel a little bit different – if not markedly easier.
The scary sounding part is it “can change your brain.” But, they mean that in a good way.
The cool part is that it can make life feel easier. Who doesn’t want that?
What is meditation anyway? Quiet thought? Yes. Reflection? Yep. Quiet time? Sure. Thought? Yeah, but it’s also the absence of thought… the clearing of one’s mind, deep relaxation.
From the Ask Altucher interview with Hal Elrod, author of “The Miracle Morning” – “Meditation. Prayer. Breathing. Whatever it is for you…
…the idea is to quiet your mind, back out the chatter, and start the day with calm thoughts.”
Of course, there’s the spiritual part. But, for now… let’s keep to meditation at its core. This is one of the things that can scare some people away, especially with guided meditation.
There’s this fear for some that our minds will be influenced. That we’ll somehow be changed forever by some strange force in the universe. It may be irrational, but it can feel real.
Here’s a simple meditation that’s not really… you know, meditation.
I call it “breaking down the noise.” I’ll explain in a “moment.”
There’s so much noise around us all the time, day and night. It’s almost impossible to escape.
I even saw a story on a recent television news magazine that explained how noise propagates itself well beyond cities. Deep, deep into faraway places that you would think only nature owns. Not so anymore.
Let’s start by thinking of meditation as simply a moment of silence. Okay, okay, the idea is to do ten to fifteen minutes for most of us. It’s okay if you need to work up to that.
So, there’s noise practically everywhere and all the time. No escaping it. But try this… (No, I’m not poking fun here. This works. Most of us live in crowded places where it’s not always easy to find a quiet place).
When the weather is nice, I like to do this outside on my deck.
Step 1 – Find a comfortable place to sit. Ideally, you want to be in a neutral position. By that I mean no crossed legs or arms and no contorted poses.
Step 2 – Let your eyes find a point in the distance. Begin to notice the sensations in your body. When you’re ready, let your eyes close.
Step 3 – Turn you mind inward. Begin to be aware of your breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth. After a few breaths, you will begin to feel tensions start to ease.
Step 4 – Let yourself find a natural rhythm to your breathing. Observe the rising and falling…
Step 5 – Listen to the noise (yes, the noise). Slowly let your mind disassemble the noise picking one familiar sound. Once you’ve identified a few individual sounds, continue to separate them one by one.
Step 6 – Let your thoughts come and go. Feel the sensations, the tensions dissolving away. Continue for long as it’s comfortable for you.
Step 7 – Bring your attention back to your breathing. Start to focus your attention back to the world around you. Slowly open your eyes. Welcome back… as a more relaxed you.
There, you did it. Meditation for a noisy world!
What do you think? How do you find some quiet among the noise?
Leave a comment and join the conversation…
Leave a Reply