Meditation misconceptions

Picture this: your mind is going approximately one billion miles an hour. You can’t focus. You can’t keep track of anything. Where are my keys? What did I come into this room for? Tasks are forgotten, obligations are pushed to the side, and the noise is getting loud. How do you possibly stop this cacophony of mental noise? How do you find peace again?

The answer is simple: meditation.

Now, stay with me! I’m sure you’ve been told more times than you can count that meditation is the key to living an easier, calmer life. And I’m sure you’ve rolled your eyes at the notion more times than you can count.

But here’s something I bet you haven’t heard yet.

Meditation can be whatever you want it to be.

Allow me to explain. You probably have the idea in your head that you have to be sitting upright in a quiet room, eyes shut, and trying not to think. While that can certainly be part of it if you want it to be, the parameters of meditation don’t end there.

Now, when I say “meditation can be whatever you want it to be,” that isn’t just to get you to keep reading. I genuinely believe that based on my own practice and what I’ve learned along the way. So let’s start breaking it down.

Meditation isn't solely deep breathing. It isn’t just trying to empty your head. The purpose of meditation is to be in the present moment, without worrying about your to-do list, the future, or that argument from a few years ago. Just be present. That’s the whole point. Being in the present moment already eliminates half the junk that consumes our brains on the daily. 

Of course, that’s easier said than done, hence the term “practice.” No one has ever mastered meditation in a day. Hell, I could say with a good amount of certainty that no one has mastered meditation at all. It’s an on-going process to be present and centered. For instance, my practice has lasted for 9 years, so far. There are times, even now, where I feel like I’m starting from scratch, and times where I feel like the poster child for perfect practice. Both are ok. 

Now, there are a lot different ways to incorporate meditation into your life without realizing it. Meditation can be as simple as being aware of the taste of the food you have for lunch (mindful eating). Or even noticing the breeze flowing through the trees outside your apartment. Taking a walk and feeling the sun on your skin, noticing the fresh smell of clean laundry as you’re folding it.

If you wanted to think about it in the simplest of terms, meditation is essentially noticing. Noticing what is around you to stay in the present moment. Noticing, but not labeling.

What I mean by that is refraining from labeling what you’re noticing as good or bad. The traffic you can hear while you’re trying to work, neither good nor bad. It’s simply there. The itch on your ankle while you’re taking a walk (literally happening right now as I’m on my walking pad), neither good nor bad. Simply notice it and release it, move on.

That may even sound too simple. However, the act of noticing and releasing teaches you not to dwell on discomfort. Even in the more difficult moments of life. That’s not to say that you avoid the discomfort - you more so learn to not let it completely consume you. 

All of this to say, don’t knock meditation before you try it. Your practice can be whatever you want it to be. The entire point is that you become more present in your daily life. That alone is life changing.