Meditation - is for you
Over the years, I’ve come across many people saying things like “Meditation is not for me, I’m unable to quieten my mind and stop thinking”. Usually, I don’t respond, but I’m hoping that through writing about it, I’ll open up the space for more people to be receptive to giving meditation a go for themselves.
A little disclaimer first: I am no guru. My understanding of meditation is something that has evolved through my own on and off spells of practice since my teenage years; that’s roughly 20 years. My interest in this art has given me the ability to accept the fact that I will not always be able to sit patiently and block out all the noise that threatens to disturb my Zen.
Instead, I have come to realise that the mind is a muscle. It is designed to think, just like the heart is designed to beat and the lungs are designed to breath. So my mind has never been ‘void’ or ‘empty’ of any form of thought. There have been moments of silence, yes. In those moments of silence, I am aware of myself, my body, or my surroundings through visualising or feeling. My mind is not on standby, but is rather fully engaged and focused.
FOCUS – The aim during meditation.
What happens when we do not attend to the muscle that is our mind? It can begin to go haywire, and this mental overdrive can get in the way of us fully enjoying our lives.
When giving an important talk at work, is your mind more concerned about how you look instead of the words you are speaking? During your dinner date with a loved one, are you daydreaming or worrying about what might happen in the future rather than actively engaging with the conversation at hand? Perhaps you’ve even experienced your mind wandering at far more significant moments in your life, during child birth or your wedding. Were you fully focused on the present moment during these lifechanging events, or did you let your thoughts pull you elsewhere? In such instances, “thinking” is not serving us and is instead getting in the way of us creating beautiful memories that we’ll be able to cherish for years to come.
We take many experiences in our life for granted and can let moments wash over us without a thought. If I were to ask you, what did your dinner really taste like yesterday, can you fully describe it without blanking? Were you conscious of the flavours, textures, and sensations while eating? Or was it something you did passively, unthinkingly? Meditation can help us become more engaged with our waking moments so that we can enjoy them more fully.
To put it simply, you are either controlling your mind, or you’re letting your mind control you. If your mind is in overdrive, you need to train it like any muscle in your body. You train it with discipline, gradually over time. There are many different methods of discipline; sitting down in silence is only one. Choose the method you are most drawn to. Ultimately, the side effects of this discipline might prove to be far more rewarding than you would have ever imagined.
