.svg)
I attended my first meditation retreat in 2009. It was a Vipassana retreat in the tradition taught by S.N. Goenka, with 10 days of silence and about 10 hours of sitting meditation each day. (This was a much more intense style of retreat than others I have attended since.) One of my favorite understandings of meditation came from this retreat. It was said that we humans can be likened to a rope.
Every day, we are bombarded by countless varieties of stimulation, from sounds to sights to smells to physical sensations to marketing messages and on and on; and, countless times throughout our normal days, we react to these stimuli. We scratch our itches, turn our heads towards sounds, eat food when hungry, and maybe reach for our phone or another distraction when feeling uncomfortable. There is nothing wrong with this; in fact, it’s entirely natural to react to our worlds. One effect of this behavior, however, is that we may find ourselves unconsciously defaulting to reactivity throughout our life, acting impulsively without awareness or intention, when inserting a pause and a choice may serve us and our goals even more. All of these unconscious reactions can be seen as us twisting the rope that is our self, winding ever tighter.
Meditation, then, can be seen as allowing the rope to unwind. While meditating, we notice stimuli (sounds, thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.), and instead of reacting to them, we remain in the seat of the unbiased witness, observing whatever phenomena arises with curiosity and compassion instead of judgment, and with interest instead of reaction.
By meditating this way for brief or longer periods throughout our days, over time, our nervous systems slowly shift from higher vigilance to more tranquility and equanimity. We unwind. It’s not that we become numb, passive, or aloof to our worlds---instead, we find we still actively participate in life in even more conscious ways, choosing how to respond (or not) to what we experience, rather than reacting impulsively without awareness.
There are innumerable ways to meditate, such as sitting, walking, gazing at an object, repeating a word or phrase, focusing on part of the body, etc. Here is one practice I recommend, described in 2 ways.
When meditating, it can be helpful to set a timer for a specific period of time, whether it’s 3 or 45 minutes. This helps hold the container for the meditation practice, and it can help the mind agree to the practice knowing that it will end at a set time, when you can then go on with your day.
Simple Version
Sit comfortably and feel your body breathing. If thoughts arise, notice that, and gently guide your awareness back to feeling your breath.
1. Sit in a comfortable position, both relaxed and with an upright spine, neck, and head. You can cross your legs or place your feet on the floor. If you cross your legs, it is helpful (more comfortable and less painful over long periods of time) to sit elevated on cushions or in some way that keeps your hips above your knees.
2. Let your eyes either close or turn downwards with a soft gaze, not focused on anything. This can help turn attention inwards. Meditating with the eyes open or closed have different effects that can be interesting to play with; you can see what feels right for you at different times.
3. Bring your awareness to your breath, and specifically to the physical sensations in your body as you inhale and exhale.
1. Notice how the air moves through your nostrils, sensing the temperature and sensations of the inhale and exhale.
2. Feel your chest expand and contract, rise and fall, as you inhale and exhale.
3. Let your awareness rest into your lower belly, feeling the sensations of contraction and expansion of the diaphragm. Keep your awareness anchored to the physical sensations of your lower belly as you inhale and exhale for as long as you intend to meditate.
4. If you find your awareness has wandered away from your breath and into a thought, you can label this activity as “thinking” and gently guide your mind out of the content of the thought and back to sensing your breath. The mind is prone to wander through thoughts, and this is not a problem. During meditation, you can remind yourself that you’ve set aside this time to just be with your immediate, embodied experience. Any thoughts that require attention can be attended to after your meditation. These moments of returning to your intention of sensing the breath sharpens your awareness to remain more consistently in the present moment and in embodied reality, both while meditating and in everyday life.
5. If you notice a physical sensation arises anywhere in the body, such as a tingling, an itch, or another impulse, notice it without reacting to it—observe it with interest, seeing if it shifts as you continue sensing into it. If you feel pain, you observe it and notice when it shifts. If it feels strongly disturbing or overwhelming, you can of course adjust your position.
6. When your meditation session has ended, let your awareness remain solely with the physical sensations in your lower belly for a moment longer. Then, still sensing into your body, slowly begin to expand your awareness to also include where your body is making contact with your surroundings, any sounds you are hearing, any smells you’re aware of, and eventually opening your eyes or lifting your gaze to notice what you see. Keep a portion of your awareness grounded in your embodied experience while also noticing the world around you. Throughout your day, you can practice being aware of both your physical sensations and external stimulation, your inner and outer world, integrating your meditation practice with the rest of your life.
7. Take a transition moment between your meditation and the rest of your day to offer gratitude to yourself for setting aside time to meditate, to let yourself be as you are, and to just be with yourself, as well as gratitude to any other beings in your life you feel thankful for (friends, family, plants, animals, the earth, the sun, air, water, teachers, trees, the sun, your home, etc.). Gratitude helps deepen your connection with the organismic health of your self and the world.
May your meditation practice bring you ever closer to your inherent health, well-being, and truth.