A Natural State of Calm

I've been trying out meditating every day, for ten minutes.

So far it's been really nice. Meditation can be really soothing and sometimes it lends some much needed perspective to my life. I tried meditation out last year once, but it ended up stressing me out. I was really distracted by meditation's mysticism and cultural baggage.  I remembered reading Jack Kerouac's novel the Dharma Bums, and how at one point Jack has visions of walls of pink flowers and is visited by an ancient Pyramid Buddha. As I sat upright in my apartment room, I struggled with the idea of being visited by this guy.

I also couldn't get over the feeling that I was somehow meditating wrong, or that because I was not achieving peace I was failing. There was also a struggle to simply take it seriously. I couldn't help feeling like the whole thing was a bit silly. With all of this stuff swirling around in my head, meditating managed to actually increase my stress instead of abating it.

But the other day over lunch I watched this TED talk from Andy Puddicombe. He has a very pragmatic, no-nonsense way of approaching meditation. After a quarter-life crisis Andy quit school and became a Buddhist monk. He spent some time in the Himalayas and then came back to the western world to teach people about meditation, and how it can lend perspective and make you more mindful of the present. At Headspace, Andy gives simple, non-condescending tips on how to get the most out of meditating. You can sign up to Headspace for free and do ten sessions of guided meditation, one a day, ten minutes each. I've decided to try it out! So far, it's a nice and simple system that gives me the structure, support, and legitimacy that was missing before.

One of Andy's great tips for meditating is to think about the way a wild horse is tamed. A wild horse is not broken by immediately being placed in a small pen. Instead, it's tied to a very long rope and allowed to wander in a wide, open space. Then, the rope's length is shortened slowly over a long period of time. In this way, the horse slowly reaches a natural state of calm. When meditating, you shouldn't try force a state of calm on one's mind. Your mind-horse might rear up and be all pissed and fight you. Instead, it's better to be patient and allow your mind to naturally come to a place of rest.

Try giving it a shot!