BLOG POST ‘BYOB’ A Beginner’s Guide to Meditating

Written for ‘A Spoonful of Sukha,’ personal mindfulness blog in 2016

Hello loyal fans. I apologize for my absence. The past couple of weeks I've found myself subsumed
by the madness of this metropolis. But sometimes you've just gotta roll with the punches and ride the
wave until it breaks; trust that the storm will pass and your waters will return to calm.

It looks like meditation is the topic of the hour so I won't waste any more time. Last post I discussed
the koshas and suggested meditation as a means to coax the chewing mind and fortify the wisdom
mind. There's much to say about meditation—its techniques, its back story, the science that proves its
legitimacy— but I think I'll commence with this quote I read the other day:

"Meditation should not be regarded as a learning process. It should be regarded as an experiencing

process. You should not try to learn from meditation, but try to feel it. Meditation is an act of non-
duality. The technique you are using should not be separate from you; it is you, you are the
technique. Meditator and meditation are one. There is no relationship involved."

The truth is, we've all experienced—however fleeting—the sensation that meditation seeks to
mimic. The practice is already within us. It's what we call being in the zone.' It's those times when
you're fully rapt by the song blasting through your headphones, the motion of foot to pavement mid-
run, when you're washing the dishes and focused on nothing but the circular movement of sponge to
plate; when your internal chatter is completely quieted.

Yogis discovered that this normal capacity to focus attention can be intentionally cultivated, and that
these everyday experiences of concentration can be profoundly deepened. Thus, the entire idea
behind meditation is to amplify and create more of these experiences; these instances during which
you're fully absorbed in the task at hand.

I've heard so many people say that meditation isn't for them—they can't sit still, they're too busy, they
don't see the benefit, etc. etc. And I get it. It wasn't until I was forced to adopt a weekly practice
during my yoga teacher training that I finally entertained the thought. But as a former hater, I'm
telling you you should give it a shot. It's a practice of cultivating the ability to be with yourself. It's a
tool that we all have within us; it just seems obvious to take advantage of it. So much anxiety and
stress stems from the incessant, unforgiving nature of the mind. And we have all of the ammunition
we need to quell its restlessness.

I should warn you: meditating is HARD. Especially in the beginning. The experience is a bit hectic
and disheartening. Some days I'm tirelessly frustrated trying to settle my thoughts, other days silence
is effortless, sometimes I begin to fall asleep, some days my limbs turn numb, some days I feel all
tingly and wrapped in a blanket of love. But no matter the struggle I endure, I'm always pleased with
the outcome. After those twenty five minutes, I always feel better. Why?

I keep referencing Cope but he has so much insight and seems to succinctly describe what I'm trying
to say. He uses this analogy of our chewing minds as puppies and meditation, a prop to leash our
chewing minds to a post. If we tie the wild puppy to a post in such a way that it's focused repeatedly
on one object, it naturally settles. "When the puppy is tied to the post, he may at first object and pull
against the restraint. But eventually he will calm down, quiet and settle. And so too the mind.
Initially the mind wanders, adopting its characteristic discursive quality, but eventually it settles into
the object."
So yes, meditation is challenging, but you see why. You come face to face with your puppy mind.
You realize the little control you have over it. It runs circles around its post, it entangles itself, it
creates a big ol' mess. But with repetition the puppy learns to sit still. That's not to say that every so
often it slips up and regresses to old puppy habits. The point is though, you are now aware. You are
able to watch, to witness, as the puppy tries to break free, only to eventually surrender. With time the
puppy resists less and less. It turns into a DOG.

This is the poignancy of meditation. These moments of awareness become longer, more sustained.
Sometimes I think of my mind like a messy room (forgive me for the stupid amount of analogies I
use). Meditating tidies up the space so that I can see with more clarity; I can find that missing shirt
that's actually been hanging in my closet all along.

The best part of all of this is that meditation is supported by neuroscience. Objectively, meditation
stimulates the prefrontal cortex of your brain which is responsible for concentration and executive
decision making; the more this is cultivated, the stronger it will be. This method called
electroencephalography also shows that meditating produces a slowing of brain waves, which results
in a calming of the nervous system and breath.

And if you're still skeptical here's some real shit which I will not try to paraphrase:

"One study, from 2012, found that long-term meditators may develop more gyrification, or
“folding,” of the cortex, which is associated with faster mental processing—and the more years a
person meditates, the higher the degree of folding. Another study found evidence of increased
thickness in the prefrontal cortex and right anterior insula, areas of the brain associated with
attention and awareness of sensations and emotions in oneself and others. Another found meditators
who had practiced five years or more had “significantly larger volumes” of gray matter in the
hippocampus, an area crucial to memory and learning".

If I haven't sold you yet, I'm not sure what else I can offer. If you choose to give it a go, here are
some hacks from one meditator to the next:

1. Choose a method to start out with. Don't just try to sit in silence. It's way easier when your mind
has something to latch onto. Common methods are mantra meditation (repeating a phrase over and
over again in your head) or counting your breath (inhale 1, 2, 3, 4, exhale, 4, 3, 2, 1). Oh, walking
meditation is actually a great strategy! Just be sure you're hyperconscious of your movements—one
suggestion is to repeat "lift, shift, step" each time you move forward.
2. Commit to a certain amount of time, don't just free ball it. You're training your mind, remember.
Some days if you're feelin’ good you may want to go longer, but don't. Commit to the time you
allotted for yourself (I do 25 minutes twice a week).
3. You're not crazy, don't worry.

I guess for me the bottom line of all of this is this: it's impossible to escape from yourself. You're
with yourself from the time you enter this world until you exit it. So why not really get to know
yourself? Why not use the tools you have to be as happy as you can be? Why bother with the BS of
your mind? Why not be your own best friend? (BYOB—you get it now?)

Yeah, I think I'll end with that. Namaste earthlings.

Facts and quotes were borrowed from Stephen Cope's The Wisdom of Yoga.