Thoughts on Meditation

Why do I teach meditation?

I had to think about it for a while because it just felt instinctive; meditation is missing from most people’s lives and it shouldn’t be.  Meditation allows you to access what’s going on inside your head and be in control of your thoughts and emotions, rather than them controlling you. 

In the first class I ran for the Gay Women’s Network 

we discussed the differences between Meditation and Mindfulness.

And I offered one thought provoking idea provided by a monk I’d heard speak:

“Meditation provides the tools to help you become mindful”

But that rather assumes you understand the terms ‘MEDITATION’ and ‘MINDFUL’ so let’s start by thinking about what it means to be ‘mindful’. The most straightforward definition of mindfulness is one used by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the originator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction; so rather than reinventing the wheel, here is his definition:

Mindfulness is “a way to pay attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”.

In other words, it is non-judgmental awareness of NOW.

You may be having a ‘Hurrumph’ moment when you read that. And I understand why. If you haven’t started to learn about meditation you may think that’s hokum. You may think that you already know what NOW is and you can’t think why you would benefit from some special definition of NOW or why being non-judgmental helps.

But just think for a moment. What is happening as you read this right now? You are here, you are reading, what you did yesterday is not here now, what you are going to do tomorrow is not here now. The only thing right here right now is you reading this. And when you go to work tomorrow and are beavering away at your top project you won’t be doing it ‘tomorrow’ you will be doing it NOW (a now that hasn’t happened yet….)

And if you are worrying about what you will do tomorrow – how is that helping you right now? It isn’t. All it’s doing is stopping you paying full attention to what you are doing right now – reading this.

I hear your scepticism – you’re thinking something like “if I can’t think about tomorrow, I can’t plan, I can’t book a holiday, I can’t arrange a meeting……” But actually, you can – thinking is a skill you can use to help you do any of those things – in the present moment. But for most people the thinking happens automatically and draws them away from what is happening right now. Most people spend most of their time in their minds somewhere other than right here, right now. If you recognise that, then your discomfort is due to your mind taking you into the future (or the past), rather than just being right here right now. 

So one of the core benefits of meditation is to learn to notice your runaway thoughts; your ‘Monkey Mind’ in action, so you don’t get drawn into that fantasy about how the meeting tomorrow is going to go wrong or what your boss is going throw at you or how the people you work with don’t appreciate you …… because none of that is happening right here, right now. 

Last month I also talked about Eckhart Tolle and his suggestion that there are only 3 attitudes to bring to whatever you are doing:

• Acceptance or
• Enjoyment or
• Enthusiasm

And if you are not able to bring one of these attitudes to whatever you are doing, then stop doing it…… 

This is about presence – being in the NOW – and meditation will help you develop the ability to BE HERE NOW with focussed attention, acceptance and non-judgement – no matter what is happening. Yes, it’s a tall order for most of us, and very few people can be here NOW all the time – there are yogis who have over 25,000 hours of meditation practise who may be able to do this but it’s not easy for most of us.

BUT that doesn’t mean you can’t develop a practise that brings the ability to spend more time in FLOW, more time living the present moment, accepting the present moment, really being HERE, NOW, with full attention. And the joy that brings to you life is immense. 

And the type of meditation you use to help you get to presence depends on what works for you. So that’s why I want to teach meditation – to help you find your own path to the joy that is living fully in the present moment.

I usually start classes with breathing meditations – breathwork is a fantastic way to start meditating and as you are always breathing, it’s a great anchor to the present moment. I mentioned two ways to use breathing in the class last month and I’ve listed them here so even if you can’t make the class on Tuesday, you can use these to improve your ability to stay present at work and elsewhere. When you start to feel stressed, when you start to worry, when you first notice that your thoughts are dashing away from NOW try one of these:

1. S. T. O. P.

Stop….  Whatever is happening …. Just stop…..

Take a breath….   take a deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out for five breaths…..

Observe…  Notice… thoughts, emotions, notice where you feel this in your body – just observe – that act of observing your thoughts and noticing where in your body you are holding your stress will bring you into the present moment.

Proceed…  continue, but this time being fully present

The next one takes a bit of pre-preparation.

The Mindful Minute

• Use a timer set for one minute and count the number of breaths you take normally:
• Breathe naturally – breathe in, breathe out (count ONE); Breathe in, breathe out (count TWO); keep going and keep counting
• When the timer ends you know how many breaths you take in one minute, you can take a mindful minute at any time by just counting that number of breaths – whether it’s in a meeting, before a presentation, when you’re running late – whatever it is that’s getting you ‘het up and out of the present moment’ you can use this to bring peace and presence to your internal experience.

sub-title

meditation has been in the press a lot lately due to its benefits in reducing stress and anxiety.

Meditation is something you can practice anywhere at any time, every day.

Mindfulness meditation is about being in the moment.