By Emy Louie. Edited by MM.
This is how I see meditation. This is my personal experience, so here are some tips for you to try out. Find your own way or variation that makes you the most comfortable.
Here is my explanation of meditation: you are a radio receiver. There are a lot of channels and interference. However, from all these channels, only a select number of channels is a direct source (the superhighway) from God, the Source or a Higher Power. The objective of meditation is to clear out all the other channels and get a good signal from God. In modern life, repetitive mind chatter (needless thoughts that just repeat over and over again) blocks and clutter God’s direct signals and God’s direct messages to you.
Getting Comfortable
A blue bolster on a cushion on a blue exercise mat provides for a comfortable meditation practice.
The simplest technique to meditate (in this modern life) is to get comfortable and sit in a place that gives you the least amount of distractions. This could be a place in your bedroom where you can see the entrance to the bedroom. Regarding seating posture, I sit in a lotus position–cross-legged like how you see the Buddha sit. I sit elevated 10 inches on a bolster on a padded carpet so my legs don’t stiffen up in five minutes and my feet are somewhat comfortable. My legs start to stiffen up after sitting in a lotus position for 20 minutes, for sure, so I get up. I stretch a bit and do something–like go to my desk and write a thought or two down.
When I am in lotus position and close my eyes, if I have not meditated for a while, I spend at least 20 minutes “calming down” and start “watching myself think” and “watch my breathing–the inhales and the exhales.” When there is a lot of mind chatter, I can see that what my mind is thinking about is a lot of the past or the future, but likely not the present. The past is “what he or she said” and the future is “what I need to do after the meditation, today, tomorrow or any time in the future.” For example: past thoughts could be what a colleague or friend did and said yesterday or six months ago and future thoughts could be “got to pick up my daughter at 3:30pm, got to do the laundry, got to remember to call so and so.”
As you can imagine the “to do” list can be never-ending and long. In fact, “to do” lists could literally never end. So the job of meditation is to stop thinking about the “to do” list or arrest the urgency of “having to do something now.”
Being in the Present
This, I find, is the hardest part about meditation in modern living. Or to put it another way, the hardest part I find about meditation in modern life is to stay in the present.
And what meditation does is put you in the present with no past and future interference. I see meditation as an art because no one meditation session is the same from one to another. It’s kind of like every relationship you have with a each person. Every relationship is different. You are dynamic so meditation is dynamic.
Carving out the Time to Meditate
It appears that one would need to meditate for at least 20 minutes a day just to calm the mind. But if I extend the session to at least 40 minutes, the real benefits start showing up. Just today, I meditated three times for one hour each. And each time, even in the middle of the session, I get up to stretch a bit and write down notes.
Different Meditation Techniques
Some people say “don’t move at all” during meditation and I read that the Dalai Lama does shift and fidget a bit. I once saw Shaolin monks fidget and scratch their faces, so staying comfortable during meditation is a priority. On the other end of the spectrum, I have heard that some meditation is supposed to be physically uncomfortable. Find something that is best for you.
Whether you physically move a lot or a little, the purpose is to “quiet your mind” or “come to a peaceful state.” I heard there is a law that says “90% of everything is crud.” If a lot of thinking is crud or needless repetitious thoughts, it’s in your interest to eliminate the crud thinking. One of the simplest and most effective ways is through meditation.
So if you want to “clear your mind” or “clear your head” the easiest way is to meditate. Try it and enjoy the practice and have fun!
Mindfulness and Healthy Living 