Why Meditation works

I am not going to cite any research in this article. Stating statistics seems somewhat contrary to the essence of meditation. Research would be appealing to the logic of your mind and that is not what I am after when I talk about meditation. Meditation is about your spirit. Your soul. You may think that sounds a little melodramatic. I don’t care. I ‘know’ meditation works and the only way you will believe me is if you try it. See, yoga is not a mind trip. It will trip your mind, but its not an intellectual topic. Its not meant to get you to talk more about it; yoga is meant for you to try it, experience it, live it. Yoga is personal and spiritual. Meditation is a major part of yoga.

The reason meditation works is because it entertains your mind, but it doesn’t indulge your mind. There are innumerous ways to “meditate”, but really whats important is that you actually sit and do it. It doesn’t matter so much, at least at first, how you do it, but more that you just do it and do it consistently.  Just find a quiet place at home, in nature, wherever, get comfortable and breathe in and out. I know you are laughing right now. It seems simple and you might have even tried it already and gone a bit bonkers after 5 minutes then never went back. Well…it is simple and it will make you feel crazy, but that is the key, its just a feeling and feelings are fleeting so, hang in there and keep going back.

Meditation is so rich that its hard to decide what to say about it first. The fact that you are sitting, presumably still, is one great thing. We never sit still these days. Even if you feel stagnant sitting at your desk all day, you are not still. Your mind is constantly moving. Meditation calls for stillness and that is difficult. Sitting still without external stimulation is a challenge. It makes you notice yourself. First you will notice your thoughts and they will take you on an adventure. So, you just notice the adventure. You practice not getting caught in the story of your mind and you step just enough outside of the experience to notice that you are off on a tangent. You gently bring your mind back to watch your breath or watch a candle flame. This action; not indulging the mind, will pay off in the future.

You are not your thoughts. You aren’t even your emotions. Both of them are parts of you but not the whole of you. Meditation is a way to practice detaching from your thoughts. When you sit still and close your eyes you shut out a lot of stimuli and the focus turns inward. This can feel overwhelming because you are immediately acutely aware of the constant machine that is your mind. Its always running but you don’t notice because you are watching TV or driving or making food, etc. You must reign in the mind. Sitting still and closing the eyes and watching the breath are great ways to observe the mind.

Sometimes your mind is too much. Your thoughts, your emotions are just taking over and its physically difficult to sit still. This is when you introduce discipline and compassion. You sit anyway. Maybe you sit for 5 minutes that day when normally you sit for 10. Its okay. This is a hard thing to do. Just do it anyway, but do it lovingly. How often do you do this in your normal waking life? How often do you first, notice your mind running amok and two, say nice things to yourself to calm down? This is why meditation “works”. Sitting on your cushion is a practice for sitting with yourself in life. When you feel like you are coming out of your skin and you aren’t breathing calmly and you ‘think’ that your meditation sucks that day…you just come back to the breath and say, “Its okay”, “So what?” My meditation sucks right now. Is it really that big of a deal? You are still sitting with yourself right? You are still breathing and noticing and living, so you are doing okay. And there is your lesson in detachment, acceptance, compassion and so on.

See meditation isn’t meant to stop your thoughts. Its meant to help you manage them. Thoughts are constant and they should be. We want our brains to be working, but we don’t want them to run our lives. When you sit in meditation and your thoughts are all over the place you just notice them. You don’t follow them down all the rabbit holes, but you acknowledge them by saying, “thinking”. When they feel like they have got their hooks in you and you are riding an emotional wave because you followed a tangent to a past hurt, you say, “its just a thought”.  And truly, it is just a thought. Its nothing more than a bird flying in the sky. It isn’t rooted in anything. Thoughts and emotions are signals. They are not facts. They truly mimic the waves of the ocean; rolling in, cresting and then retreating. Follow a thought or an emotion, in a conscious way, and see where it takes you. It’s a ride, but its not a truth. It changes too much and too soon to be counted on. Its merely a signal.

Meditation is a gift to yourself. It helps you get to know yourself. It allows you to see the real you. If I had a dollar for every time I heard a client say that they wanted to like themselves, I would be rich. How do you suppose you begin to like yourself? How do you like other people? You spend time with them. So, this isn’t hard…you spend time with yourself and then you begin to know and like who you are. Meditation isn’t magical, but it is an introduction of you to your essence, your spirit, your truth. I am sure you can imagine what life would be like if you got a taste of your true spirit. It builds your trust and love for yourself. It makes you not so susceptible to outside influences.

So try meditation for a week. Sitting comfortably in an environment where there are little if any distractions and just watch your breath moving in and out of the body. Saying “breathing in, I know I am breathing in” on the inhale and the same on the out breath, “…I know I am breathing out…”. Allow yourself to be gentle and curious with this practice. It is a lifetime practice. Just like when people choose sobriety;  take it day by day. Sitting, breathing, noticing and saying “So what?” to your thoughts. The practice of meditation is cumulative. Just let it unfold for you. Everyone’s practice is unique. But take the time to get to know yourself in this way.