A commitment to meditation
Posted by kathryn in Lifestyle
One of the resolutions I’ve made while thinking about work life integration, has been to meditate on a daily basis. Until now I have been, at best, a sporadic meditator. It was always something I thought I should do, something that would be good for me – thought patterns which are never beneficial to starting a new routine or lifestyle change.
In one of those strange instances of reminders coming from all (and unexpected) angles, I was thinking about meditation, just as half of Sydney (or so it seemed) were telling me about the Paul Wilson book The Quiet. Then, when I mentioned this to Richard and he said we had a copy in the house (lent to him by a friend), everything seemed to be in place.
I’ve found the Paul Wilson book a great resource. It’s a how-to guide to meditation, not linked to any spiritual ethos, that covers the whys and all the practical details about meditation: what to expect, where and how to sit, length of time, how to fit it into your day, and so on.
My commitment to myself has been to meditate at least once a day, but also to do this without expectation. I am naturally an impatient person, which has been the clash with my attempts to meditate in the past. When nothing seems to be happening and thoughts of what to cook for dinner contantly pop into your head, it’s easy to get disheartened if you’re impatient. But, as I’m realising, this is missing the point. It’s through the regular, daily practice that you get better at meditation and it’s also through approaching this with no expectations, that you can meditate without judgement.
I’m still a beginner, certainly to regular meditation practice, but I’m enjoying it and already getting tangible benefits. Importantly, I’ve also moved on from the sense that I should do this, to a realisation that I want to do this.
05 May, 2007
Comments
How I wish I could approach meditation … I’m impatient too… never shut-up my brain …. please post tips!!
Stephanie the best tip I can give is to get a copy of Paul Wilson’s book. It’s honestly the best, most useful guide to meditating I’ve seen. At the beginning, he recommends two lots of 13 minutes a day and that’s it. I do one session when I get up and then the other at the end of the day, to clear my head after work. If I can do it, so can anyone.
It does seem to be going around these days, doesn’t it? I picked up one of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s books on mindfulness meditation and committed to an eight-week stretch of daily meditation, and… yeowza, it’s great stuff. Just learning how to clear your mind and let things go is incredibly powerful. I may have to track down the Wilson book, too.
Agreed Meg. I’m on week three and already seeing benefits. My mind still wanders and I’m most definitely a beginner, but you don’t have to be perfect at it to get benefits. Now your eight week stretch is over, what are you planning to do?
[…] I’ve been talking about work-life integration recently and this need for down-time is one of the reasons I’ve started meditating regularly. However, there are many other ways to get the time out you need. Going for short walks during your lunch break, walking part of the way home from work, spending an hour at the beach on the weekend, all of these will give you the time you need. Freaked-Out Father has some good suggestions, as he says “defrag your head and your life regularly and both will run better”. […]
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