TR Meditation Club. Breath, Benefit and Meditation

Meditation is a powerful practice and has been a consistent thread in my life for the majority of my adult years. Awareness of Breath is a simple, effective practice that anyone can benefit from. You are invited to the TR Meditation Club. Please enjoy the free audio, a guided Awareness of Breath meditation, found at the bottom of this article.

TR Meditation Club

If you are unsure if meditation is a worthwhile practice, know that you’re not alone. I wasn’t drawn to it immediately because it looked really boring. I have, however, always been interested in the search; the deeper understanding. The why. Meditation opened the door to an amazing search that continues to this day. A search for something I cannot describe. Curiosity is the forest my awareness resides in.

What is Meditation?

In my early twenties, I ended up in a meditation class that piqued my interest to such an extent that I vowed to study at that meditation school until I understood what had happened to me that day. It took about ten years but it was worth it. I enjoy blowing my own mind, I suppose, and then putting the pieces back together to become something new.

Defining meditation is confusing and it scares people. I get that. The definition in itself can be what draws or deters an individual from it; expectations about outcome, purpose, tradition or even fear of the unknown can all act as blindfolds to what is a very natural human experience. Language debilitates the true essence of meditation because it cannot be captured by words. Sometimes I tell students that the word meditation is similar to the word sport.  If someone says that they play sports, you have very little information on what they do because there is no context to it. They could be an Olympic swimmer or play recreational baseball on a beer league.

Can we define it?

The word meditation has a vastness to it. It could be a spiritual practice, mental training, a life warm-up, a self check-in; a tool for introspection, healing, peace or creativity. Words are limiting when we try to define a practice of consciousness. In my personal experience, a byproduct of the practice has been a more stable, healthy and authentic life. Keep in mind that meditation is not magic; a meditation practice often reveals our path and the work we need to do in order to become stable, healthy and authentic.

Anyone can cultivate a meditation practice to bring well-being to their lives. It does take time, commitment and will-power because it’s work. It’s action. All action takes motivation and effort. One of the best parts of a meditation practice is that there are no rules and the Meditation Club is open to all. Even my dog seems to participate when I meditate. During my time teaching meditation to both adults and children, I have noticed similar limitations for exploring meditation. The limitations are beliefs; allow me to explain my top three meditation observations that place a limit on one’s ability to be open to the practice.

Observation of Limitations

1. Meditation is a Buddhist practice. This is not true; Buddhism incorporates meditation into the belief system and has many variations of the practice that are thousands of years old. There are different traditions and purposes for practicing meditation on a daily basis. Buddhism does not own meditation practice and I don’t think any Buddhist ever claimed to. It has simply been attributed to Buddhism because of the teachings of the Buddha and the overwhelming popularity of Buddha garden statues. I have many.  I love them.

Which is Right?

As with many practices, there is no single modality that is right or wrong. In fact, if there is a belief that one particular kind of meditation is ‘right’, the entire purpose of utilizing a meditation practice to understand the human mind has been lost. Only the ego needs a right and a wrong. Ideally, we begin to see beyond the egoic ideologies and move into a primordial understanding of ourselves. No one owns meditation and it was practiced by the first civilization we have written records of; the Sumerian Civilization in Ancient Mesopotamia. In Ancient Egypt, various meditations and rituals were used for spiritual practice. It is not new, it is not owned and it never will be. You cannot trademark it or control someone else’s experience. Each individual is the expert of their own experience.

Will I look like a happy Buddha?

2. Meditation is a passive activity and is very pleasant. This is not true. It can be passive and pleasant however, not always. If I invited you into my meditations, you would likely notice it looked less like a happy garden Buddha and more like a poorly written Stephen King novel, starring me. And that’s ok because it’s reality. Meditation helps you see reality; to unveil the inner workings of your psyche.

Meditation is typically an active, intentional practice; we simply can’t see it occurring. Meditation can be a skill that is practiced like any other skill acquisition. Sometimes meditation practice is troubling and challenging. Sometimes it is peaceful and freeing. It is a practice of life; noticing habitual thought patterns, practicing distress tolerance and of learning to observe an experience without any narrative. In my definition, it is a practice of expanding the consciousness to see and be more of our total selves. We have come to believe that our physical being is our entire identity. Our consciousness is far greater than our single, little body. Awareness is the location or aspect of consciousness that we are observing.

What is Consciousness?

Imagine consciousness as a series of spheres of creation layered on top of one another; each sphere is an entire dimension of you. As you begin to expand awareness into greater, vaster layers of your own consciousness, you may begin to experience yourself as so much more than a body and a series of sense organs. Consciousness does not live in the body. Awareness does not live in the body. However, physical reality is our primary reality (for most) and because of that, we are often unaware that there is more. It would be akin to a single cell realizing it is a part of a finger, expanding more and seeing an entire hand and eventually, expanding to such a vast version of consciousness that the single cell can recognize, on some level, it is a part of a much bigger life form.

Just sit down already

3. You need to be able to sit still and clear your mind to meditate. This is not true. This is, in fact, the biggest fallacy I have written about thus far. To clear the mind is a metaphor for a deep state of meditation called ‘the void’. The void is a place where awareness becomes so disinterested in the stream of thoughts, stories and memories that finally, stillness is felt within. The mind cannot be cleared out as that would mean a person has no brain function. So it’s a no brainer…you need your thoughts.

If a teacher instructs you to “clear your mind”, likely the first thing that will happen is self-judgment about your inability to do that. Biologically speaking, you’ve won if you can’t clear your mind. The misconception of the void verses clear mind is significant enough that it deters people from practice. Thoughts are a continuous stream of energy and are only one layer, or sphere, of you. Beyond the sphere of the thinking mind are other layers of information, intuition, intelligence and possibility. To experience these expanded layers, one must learn to be the Watcher’s Mind. Often I hear people say they can’t sit still and they think too much. These people would benefit the most from meditation.

Meditating the Best

Sitting still is uncomfortable because we are faced with our thoughts. It’s also physically uncomfortable at times and that’s why originally the practice of Yoga (asana) was intended to help prepare students for sitting meditation in Lotus (Padmasana).  Meditation, as with most activities, becomes easier over time. The paradox is that you don’t actually get any ‘better’ at meditating or win an award for your mental training. Nobody has ever, in the history of time, been deemed the Best Meditator.  If that were possible, I would not be writing this blog and would be deeply engaged in high performance, competitive meditation. #winner

Work Hard to Care Less

You begin to let go of limitations and as that happens, meditation becomes a non-judgmental, organic experience. You could also say that when you meditate consistently, you begin to care less about what happens in there. I mean that in the best way possible. You ruminate and expect less; you accept every meditation as it is. If the commitment is there, the self-judgment will eventually cease because you will have seen it all. All of the baggage. Eventually you get bored and can approach the baggage differently; with less resistance and more acceptance.

You’re doing it Right. Promise.

Many of us do everything we can to avoid facing our thoughts because we don’t know what to do about them or how to make them go away. We can learn to approach them differently through practice; to de-power them. The most destructive belief about meditation is that if you have thoughts, you’re doing it wrong. This is absolutely not true. Your awareness will not super glue itself to a clear, fluffy void of happiness or to your breath. The reality of your practice is that you will see your life. You will see yourself. For this reason, many are justifiably afraid.

Know this; we cannot live our life if we cannot face it.

Meditation is your Vessel

Meditation is a gateway. One can think of meditation as a vessel or at least, this has been my experience. When I began, I learned simple meditation techniques to work with. As I practiced more, I found more expanded spaces within myself and eventually, a path unfolded where meditation practice became regular life. I tried as many modalities as I could because I wanted to understand how they all connected and which practice would be most helpful in my life.

Perhaps because I have explored as many modalities as I could find, I have come to understand that meditation is a toolbox in itself; the vessel to fill with whatever is needed.

There is not one way, one mantra, one tool; true wisdom comes from learning which tool to use in which moment.