There is no denying that the world is chaotic. From our daily duties to our inner workings, it can feel as though our minds are always in overdrive. We dwell on the past, feel anxiety about the future, and in between, we miss the present moment unfolding before us. Fortunately, found within us all, is the capacity to regain inner balance. It is not a pill or self-help fluff, but rather, a tried and true practice you can start today. Let’s begin our exploration of the powerful practice of meditation.
I’m going to guess most of you have heard of meditation, but depending on what context it was in or your source of information, you will have different notions of what it is. Due to the large amount of information available on the subject, it can be hard to decide where to start, what to do, or if it is even a worthwhile endeavor.
I’m here today to tell you that it is a worthy endeavor for anyone. From children to adults, there are valuable fruits found through the practice of meditation. Do you want more clarity of thought, heightened senses, and healthier relationships? Do you desire more focus, a greater attention span, and deeper engagement with the present moment? If you said yes to any of these questions, follow along on this journey into your higher self.
A Working Definition:
As stated before, with a number of techniques, spiritual traditions, and intentions behind meditation, it is hard to form an all-encompassing definition of what it is. For our purposes in this intro, let’s start with a working definition that describes the essence of meditation across the many different methods and fields of practice.
Meditation: “The process of focusing your mind in such a way to induce heightened awareness, for the purpose of inner and outer presence”
This definition might seem dense at first, but let’s break it down into its pieces.
Pt.1 “The process of focusing your mind”: Meditation is a process and focusing the mind doesn’t happen all at once. Depending on which methods you use, this process of focusing will entail different techniques. How you focus and the object of your focus will vary depending on the type of meditation you choose to practice.
Pt.2 “In such a way to induce heightened awareness”: Through the focusing of your mind, you begin to clear the clutter of normal cognition and enter into greater awareness. This heightened awareness is characterized as a calm and collected frame of mind from which you can begin to enter the present moment more deeply.
Pt.3 For the purpose of inner and outer presence: Depending on the type of meditation, the goal will be to explore your inner realms and or embrace your surroundings with more clarity. The heightened awareness achieved in part 2 allows you to truly engage with the moment at hand free from distraction. The deeper you go the more present you become.
By looking at this breakdown of the working definition of meditation, we can see how this approach can be applied to many types of meditation. I don’t describe the details of how you should focus or where you direct your attention once you reach a state of presence because these elements will vary across different approaches to meditation.
A Simple Exercise
With this information in mind, I want to leave you with a very basic technique that you can start today, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes.
Step 1: Sit in a chair with good posture, feet flat on the floor, eyes open or closed, and hands resting on your thighs.
Step 2: Relax your body and begin to breathe deeply and slowly through your nose. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 4 seconds, and then exhale for 4 seconds. Repeat.
Step 3: As you are breathing, direct your attention to this breath pattern. Your mind might be scattered at first, but over time, the breath will become more rhythmic and you will become more in tune with the sensation of only focusing on the breath. Don’t become discouraged if your mind wanders, just simply recognize that you became distracted and gently bring your focus back to the breath.
This basic breath oriented meditation is a great place to start on your meditation journey, and as we dive deeper into other techniques, it will become apparent how important proper breathing is. Even if you don’t have the time to sit still, you can practice this pattern of breathing while doing other activities.
Over the course of the next few articles we will discuss different meditation techniques, ways to maximize your meditation practice, and how meditation benefits us physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next segment in this series.
