Meditation Demystified: What is Meditation and How Do You Practice?
7 Ways to Ease Meditation into Your Daily Routine
Over the years meditation has increasingly evolved into one of the most transformative practices. Practically everywhere you look there’s some mention of its benefits. From mediation apps, and programs, the list literally and figuratively goes on.
In fact, it has become so widespread that you can even access it via various in-flight meditation platforms. Only very few resources address (the elephant in the room) the wave of mental chatter, and incessant thoughts that are likely to arise from the moment you close your eyes.
Despite your best intentions, dropping into the practice is sure to trigger a swirl of unrelenting mental activity that’s likely to make relatively new practitioners believe they are doing it all wrong. If one is relatively new to the practice it’s very commonplace for one to believe that practice may not be an ideal fit, simply because the assuming the outward look of meditation is very different from experiencing all of of the unpredictable mental chatter that arises in practice.
If you by chance have found yourself wondering WTF it means to practice, and how is one supposed to know if they are doing it right, you are not alone. This piece with delve into what meditation is, how to do it, as well as 7 ways to ease into your daily routine.
Attentive Awareness
Meditation is the practice of going within to pay undistractable attention to all that is taking place on a moment-by-moment basis. At any given time, our attention is simultaneously dispersed in many different directions all at the same dam time (i.e., multitasking). According to societal norms, multitasking is a celebrated skillset that signifies agility and productivity, which are some of the most sought-after essential career skills. In every sense of the word, we as a collective spend an exorbitant amount of time residing in every other tense (past, and future) but the present.
We’re either juggling parental responsibilities or attending to our many responsibilities, and obligations, all the while working to steer clear of burnout, as we do everything we possibly can to maintain some semblance of work life balance. This is just a small glimpse into the many random things that anyone of us can have going on at any given time. Even showering leaves space for excessive thinking and contemplation. Essentially, if left to our own devices there is little to no time to reclaim control over where we’re placing our attention. By being in a perpetual state of constant doing, we essentially reside more in our imaginations than in the present moment.
Our attention is often so dispersed that it’s commonplace for our minds to live in our imagination, with our attention bouncing anywhere from the past, back to the future, and back again, all in one fell swoop. We’ve become so accustomed to living in our heads, that any attempt to journey within and sit in practice, is met with a flood of distracting mental activity, that snatches our attention away from our intended focus.
This raises an interesting question, what does it mean to be in the present? So glad you asked. At any given time there are variable sensations, feelings, emotions, and the like that are constantly taking place within our physical bodies. The more attentive we are to the external activities, and actions, that occur outside of ourselves, the less available we are to experience all that flows in, as, and through our awareness.
Why Meditation?
Meditation is paying indestructible attention to all that is unfolding on a moment-by-moment basis. Thanks to the invariable distractions that simultaneously competes for our attention, it is often easier said than done. Most are familiar with the idealized meditative postures and positioning, however, beyond the poised postures, meditation is achieved by settling both the mind and body into a calm state. The practice calls us to pull our attention away from all of the many things that may distract us from residing in the present.
One would think that simply being able to focus on any particular task equates with being in the present. However, the key to residing in the present moment lies within calming both the mind and body and closing our awareness to all that is outside of us, along with objectively observing all that is unfolding within the scope of our awareness, without judgement or attachment to a preferred outcome.
Observation empowers you to transition from a state of identifying your thoughts, beliefs actions, fears, worries and anxieties to merely observing and accepting it as something that’s passing through your awareness. Much like the clouds that pass through the sky, our thoughts flow through our awareness in that same manner. Meaning if you simply observe and accept each moment as it unfolds, without trying to change, force, resist, suppress, identify with what is passing through, it will simply pass through your awareness unencumbered. When holding on to the very things that cause us discomfort, we interfere with it freely passing through our awareness, creating suffering. In essence, what we resist persists. In other words the more we replay thoughts of discomforting experiences, the more we regulate ourselves to live in the past. Releasing judgment, and accepting all that passes through our awareness frees us to reside within the present.
So how do we close our awareness to all that surrounds us? So glad you asked, the key is to direct and lower the gaze to the tip of your nose, or simply close your eyes. Lowering the gaze disrupts and blurs our visual focus making it that much harder to focus on anything outside of ourselves. Whereas, closing our eyes to the external world around us frees us to instantly redirect our awareness.
In order to truly center our awareness in the present, we must root our attention in the very functionality that can only occur in the present, the breath. Unlike the nature of thoughts and mental chatter, we cannot thrust our breath into any other tense, but the present. With each passing moment, life force energy fuses with the breath as it courses through our bodies supplying us with all the necessary essential elements to sustain us to thrive. This functionality is perpetually unfolding every second of the day. Only it essentially goes unnoticed as we are often unaware of all that is occurring within us. When we redirect our awareness it empowers us to reacquaint ourselves with all that is occurring within. The breath can only occur in the present, not the future, or the past.
The mind and body are synchronously interconnected. For every active physical movement, the mind likewise busies itself with mental activity. In turn, the busier the body the more the mind occupies itself with mental chatter. Ever notice how preoccupied you are with doing any and everything you can to remain productive, all the while you feel more consumed with an increasing amount of the stress as you contemplate the increasing number of things that you have yet to accomplish. This essentially increases stress, anxiety, fear, as well as every other feeling and emotion, that brings your worthiness into question. Regardless of what outside forces may lead you to believe, you were born enough, you are enough, always have been, and always will be.
7 Ways to Ease Meditation into Your Daily Routine
1. Increase Awareness
Each and every day there are people and things that persistently rally for our attention. Be it work, family, relationships, responsibilities, or obligations, it will always seem as if our awareness is better suited to anything else other than ourselves. As if contorting ourselves to fit others perceptions and expectations of who we are, takes priority over ourselves.
Tuning in to what we experience within each moment, increases our self-awareness of what is passing through.. Meditation supplies us with the space to journey within to observe all that is actively flowing through our awareness, releasing judgment, and accepting all that is observed as is. Whereas, mindfulness empowers us to extend this practice into our day-to-day lives, beyond solely residing in the inner spaciousness of our consciousness of practice. Mindfulness equips us to present with walking, exercise, working, menial tasks, as well as every other thing that we do.
2. Sit in the Silence
Listening goes beyond merely using our ears to hear. Our mind, body, and spirit, are always communicating with us. We just simply must tune in to what it’s calling for us to do. This message will likely come by way of our intuition as it guides us to our highest good. If a feeling arises that you must rest, do less, or designate time for yourself, listen.
“When your body speaks, listen. Even when it’s a whisper. Ask for clarity. It will repeat itself.
—Jasofmoon
3. Observe the Breath
The breath is an ever-present facility that continuously merges with life-force energy to support us to live and thrive. Unlike the waywardness of our thoughts, the breath can only reside within the present. Rooting our awareness within its every present flow roots us within the present moment. Without force, allow yourself to sit within the calm stillness, and observe the breath.
4. Accept What Is
Our minds are in a persistent state of action and activity, replaying past events, and experiences at will. Of which there will likely be experiences that you’d rather forget. Thoughts and memories are infused with vibrational frequencies that can either increase or decrease our energetic frequency making must harder to objectively observe all that flows through our experience.
5. Release Any Guilt
Naturally, there are countless things that you can release. However, whenever you experience difficulty there will likely be times when the totality of your experience feels too overwhelming to find an ounce of mental fortitude to engage in the practice. As with most things that misalign with what we believe we should feel, guilt is likely sure to follow.
Anytime you feel guilt arising, allow grace, and release any feelings of guilt. As with the clouds that float across the sky, any number of things will cross through your awareness that can make you feel guilty. There will be seasons where life is not all rainbows and butterflies as we experience the ebbs and flows of life. Know that is ok to miss the mark and experience feelings that may not feel comfortable. Grant yourself permission to release any guilt, as many times as need be, and know that this is exactly why it’s a practice.
6. Forgive Yourself
Forgiveness is a practice that is largely reserved and emphasized as something that we should do for others. However, forgiveness first begins with the self. There are going to be times when your vantage point is so clouded by the density of life that it may become challenging to not center blame and guilt on oneself.
Know that beyond every experience, lies a lesson. As we grow and evolve we are going to make mistakes along the way. Release any feelings of guilt, blame, or shame, grant yourself permission to forgive yourself, and allow yourself to begin again.
7. Let Go of Comparision
You are a divine emanation of the most high. In other words, you are a spiritual being having a human incarnation. Therefore, you are a unique individualized expression. Hence there is none other quite like you. You are an incomparable being. Likewise, each person’s journey to meditation is unique. No matter how similar two paths may seem, one cannot always peer beneath the surface to observe all that lies beneath the surface. Give yourself permission to traverse your path at your own pace.
If you are interested in expanding your mindfulness practice in a virtual community of like-minded individuals, you are more than welcome to join our Mindfulness Community Circle for twice-weekly live facilitated mindfulness sessions. We’d love to have you join our rapidly growing global community.
Sign up for your free 7-day trial today.