Meditation – A Daily Workout For Your Mind
Since the days of Jack LaLane and Jazzercise, most people would agree on the health benefits of a regular exercise training routine to keep our bodies operating effectively and efficiently. Few would argue the importance of getting our heart rates up or “getting our daily steps in.” On the other hand, popular culture seems generally much less concerned about maintaining a regular training routine for our minds. A quick look at television advertisements would have us believe training our minds isn’t necessary since all our mental worries or agitations can be relieved with a daily dose of one medication or another. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, difficult concentration, ADD, and many others can now be quickly and easily relieved by a little pill. But what if we could reduce the need for such medications simply by focusing a little more time each day on training our minds? What if meditation is the “workout” routine that accomplishes just such a thing?
What do you think of when you think of meditation? When I ask this question, the most common response I get is, “Meditation is stopping the mind from thinking.” Most patients who give this response then express a quick frustration or feeling of inadequacy when it comes to maintaining a meditation practice because they can’t seem to stop the endless chatter of the mind. Yet is it truly the objective of meditation to stop the mind from thinking? After all, the mind’s job is to think! Being upset that our mind won’t stop thinking is like being upset our stomach won’t stop digesting. So what if instead of focusing on stopping thoughts from occurring altogether, we focus on developing an ability to choose which thoughts we allow our attention goes to instead?
There are three essential aspects to any meditation practice: Posture, Breathing, and Attention:
“Posture” refers to sitting up straight with the spine aligned and the top of the head generally over our hips. It is not necessary to sit cross-legged on the ground; sitting up back straight in a chair is fine. But in the meditation world it is generally not acceptable to lie down. Lying down and focusing on our breathing is called “sleeping,” not meditation…
“Breathing” refers to using our attention to allow ourselves to fall into a continual relaxed pattern of breathing. Often during our days when we become stressed our bodies respond by holding or restricting the breath. (This of course disrupts the healthy intake of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide, which subsequently increases the feelings of stress and anxiety we are experiencing.) So once we’ve taken an upright posture first we allow ourselves to breathe in a free and effortless manner. “Free and effortless” means natural breathing: sometimes the breath may be faster, sometimes it may be slower, or deeper, or shallower. It doesn’t matter so much how we breathe as much as maintaining our breathing continually.
“Attention” refers to how we deal with the endless stream of thoughts and feelings that arise during the time we are sitting. Since the mind’s job is to think, and it loves to have something to think about, we can give it something to focus on by counting our breathing. Inhale/exhale…one…inhale/exhale…two… and so on up to ten. Then start over at one again. Following this process, we redirect our minds away from our internal chatter by using a gentle effort to redirect our attention. Here it is very important to remember one key piece of information: In meditation practice, it is not a question of “IF” our minds will wander off and become distracted by the internal thoughts and feelings, but “WHEN” (and how often) this is going to happen. Our mind is eventually going to stray away from our practice of counting the breaths. It is at this moment the practice of meditation happens. At the moment we catch the mind wandering away we notice, “Oh my mind has wandered off again,” and, like clouds in the sky, once we notice we this we allow the moment to pass and simply return to counting our breathing. Each time we perform this simple maneuver of redirecting our attention, it’s like performing a mental push up. This is the game we play with ourselves when we meditate. We start by counting the breath, the mind wanders off, we catch the mind wandering and return the attention to counting the breathing, and repeat and repeat (and repeat).
Just like any exercise routine, mediation is more about the process of consistent effort than the day-to-day “quality” of the meditation session. Like going to the gym, some days meditation feels effortless and energizing. On the other hand, some days it can be very difficult to sit for 20 minutes and it’s difficult to discern if there was any immediate benefit. But indeed over time the benefits of consistent regular meditation practice are profound. As our mental training begins to translate into real world scenarios, we find ourselves better able to choose which things our mind focuses on by releasing thinking patterns that are unproductive. Although we may not be able to control the forces at play in our day-to-day lives, through meditation practice we are able to better control how we choose to react to these external forces and stressors.
So what are you waiting for? Connect to the present moment today, because truly there is no other tangible moment to connect to! Start from where you are and be kind to yourself. Extend to yourself the same loving kindness, compassion, and willingness to forgive that you would extend to your dearest loved ones. In order to establish a successful new routine, try to pick the same time to meditate every day. But remember: meditation is a Practice, not a Philosophy. In order to receive its benefits you must do it (and do it again)! I assure you if you put forth the effort you will receive the benefits!
In Health, -Joe
Resources for further investigation:
Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind By Shunryu Suzhki
How to Meditate by Pema Chodron
Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner