Within You Without You

My docs, all of ‘em, recommend meditation. In general, more and more western healer types do.

It’s supposed to be a fabola way to deal with/help with anxiety, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure AND it even helps cut the severity of asthma issues (more too). Awesome eh?

Do you know how damn hard it is to find a straight up definition and simple explanation of meditation though?

The Buddhist Centre has a pretty succinct hit.

Meditation is a means of transforming the mind. Buddhist meditation practices are techniques that encourage and develop concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things.

 The basic goal of meditation is to empty my mind of fears, stress and the bullshit that plagues, even if that’s just for a half an hour or so a day. Right? In doing this meditation shit, I'll more easily and calmly cope, be open to better solutions and not have that monster stress kneecapping my general physical health. That’s why the medics recommend it, si?

The National Center for Complementarty and Integrative Health allows that:

There are many types of meditation, but most have four elements in common: a quiet location with as few distractions as possible; a specific, comfortable posture (sitting, lying down, walking, or in other positions); a focus of attention (a specially chosen word or set of words, an object, or the sensations of the breath); and an open attitude (letting distractions come and go naturally without judging them).

OK cool—what's next?

I thought I knew. Meditation involves repeating some mantra over and over, eyes closed, sitting in some pretzel-ish position, while wearing yoga pants and a comfortable bra, amiright? At some point, while I’m going all kamala-duniya-ka-ant-kya-kahata-hai-guru-eek-titalee-kahata-hai *ching* inner peace hits. Right?

Mebbe so and I do love my yoga pants BUT if I’m sitting, I’m thinking, planning, scheming, solving, worrying. Stilling my jets takes something different, something more than a chant droned while in a supremely uncomfortable position. NIH is saying that I can meditate while lying down or even walking.

Howzat work now?

In my googling I came up with two forms of meditation: Transcendental (the yoga pants, mantra version) and Mindfulness, which is more varied and less structured. This is WAY more my bag.

Meditation is a state of thoughtful awareness.

I can do walking meditation, triking meditation and I can have sitting on the seawall, enjoying the sunrise and the waves meditation. Oh and I can have painting, doodling and picture taking meditation too. All of these things are proven brain chillers. They involve the four elements mentioned at the NIH site—they can anyway.

I just need to remember to integrate thoughtful, aware breathing and allow distrations to flow on by.

I can do this, dammit!

Within You Without You—George Harrison