Introduction: Discovering Everyday Meditation
Just say the word “meditation” to most folks, and they’ll conjure up an image of people sitting cross-legged, chanting mantras and contemplating life. Or maybe they’ll imagine Buddhist monks in long robes, dutifully meditating to get closer to their god.
Ommmmm… (You can almost hear them chanting, right?)
What you don’t imagine is a professional man (with the high-stress job) stretched back in his favorite recliner meditating. And you don’t imagine the single mom who gets someone else to watch the kids for a few minutes so she can meditate. Yet these are the folks who can benefit the most from meditation.
And these are people just like you.
That’s why I created this book. You see, I’m not a yogi. I haven’t devoted my life to meditation. I don’t sit around on mountaintops doling out wisdom or leading people to their bliss.
Instead, I teach everyday people – people just like you – how to reap the benefits of simple meditation in as little as 15 minutes per day. I’m not going to tell you to seek out a guru (unless you want one) and I’m not going to tell you to go on a pilgrimage to a far off place (unless you want to). Just stick with me, and you’ll learn everyday meditation from an everyday kind of person.
Here’s just a small sample of what you’ll discover inside this book:
- You’ll discover what meditation really is, and you’ll find out what’s true and what’s just a myth.
- You’ll discover the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation.
- You’ll find out the two main categories and ten subcategories of meditation. (And you’ll learn which one is right for you.)
- You’ll learn the quick and easy way to get started meditating as soon as today.
- You’ll find out how to control your breath, thoughts, body and your feelings like never before.
- You’ll discover how to incorporate simple meditation into your everyday life.
- You’ll get a list of tools you can use to enhance your enjoyment.
And much more.
Look, by the time you finish this book you won’t be levitating or going into any death-like trances. But you will know the secrets of leading a healthier, happier life by incorporating meditation into your daily routine.
Let’s get started…
Examining Meditation’s Long History and Its Myths
Before we rush into this subject, let’s define meditation for our purposes:
Meditation is a relaxed state of awareness. It’s a mind-control technique that results in you feeling calm and relaxed.
TIP: If you asked a yogi or a Buddhist monk for a definition, you’d get a slightly different one. That’s because those who practice certain types of meditation do so almost purely for spiritual reasons. For example, monks may use it as part of a spiritual awakening. And so any definition they give you would include a spiritual component.
For our purposes, we’re going to view meditation primarily in light of its emotion and physical benefits since that’s something everyone can appreciated. And for those who’d like to take it a step further, you can reap the spiritual benefits as well.
Discovering the History of Meditation
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment in history when meditation started. We just know what people have been meditating for thousands of years.
Some experts suggest that ancient people first became aware of meditation as they stared into the dancing flames of their fires. The meal is over, people are relaxed. The kids fall asleep next to their parents. The conversation dies down and everyone stares into the fire, focusing on the flames dancing and leaping.
Thoughts of the day’s hunt fade away. Thoughts of tomorrow’s hunt don’t even enter the mind of the person staring into the fire. His full focus is on a single flame.
He relaxes. He has no desire to pull his eyes from the flame. And suddenly he becomes much more aware of everything – his body, this thoughts, the greater world around him. He enjoys a relaxed state of awareness. And once he realizes what caused this awareness (putting forth 100% of his attention on the flame), he’s able to replicate and teach the experience.
While the above is mere speculation, we do have recorded Indian scriptures (called tantras) that mention meditation techniques. These tantras date back 5000 years!
Around 500 B.C., one of the most well-known proponents of meditation entered the scene: Buddha. Buddha’s teachings quickly spread across what is now the Asian continent, with different practitioners tweaking the techniques to suit their own preferences. Even today, the original Buddha-inspired meditation and its derivatives are some of the most popular forms of meditation.
It took a few thousand years for meditation to reach the West. Even after it arrived, it didn’t immediately gain a foothold, perhaps due in large part to the myths surrounding meditation.
For example, many people in the U.S. believed that meditation created a state of catatonia. And since catatonia is typically associated with people who have schizophrenia or other mental illness, you can see the reluctance of people to pile onto the meditation bandwagon!
Eventually folks did come around and warm to the idea of meditation. By the 1960’s and 1970’s, respected people like college professors were talking about, researching, teaching and then praising meditation and its benefits.
Side Note: Incidentally, people in the U.S. came to appreciate the altered state of consciousness they could achieve through meditation right around the time they were appreciating the altered state of consciousness achieved with recreational drugs like marijuana. Coincidence?
From there, meditation continued to grow in popularity. Groups sprung up all around the Western world to help others teach and reap the benefits of meditation. And that brings us today, where the everyday person has now discovered how meditation can help bring about feelings of peace and a healthier body.
Debunking the Meditation Myths
I’ll be honest: The myths surrounding meditation still exist.
If you don’t believe it, just tell all your friends that you’re going to start meditating. If all your friends are already enlightened about the benefits of meditation, then tell all your coworkers. Tell the guy next to you in line at the post office. Tell the cop who stops you for speeding.
Go ahead, tell as many people as you can and watch their reactions. You’ll see eyebrows pop up like a child’s Jack-in-the-box toy. You’ll witness the smirking “Mona Lisa” smiles of those who’re trying to keep a straight face. And you’ll hear the laughs from those who think you’ve gone all “Twilight Zone” on them.
SIDE NOTE: Maybe you’re not even completely sure about this whole meditation thing. Let me ask you this — Is this book sitting on your desktop so everyone who walks by your computer can see it? Or did you tuck it away into a folder so no one would see what you’re reading? If you’re feeling a little weird about even owning this book, then this next section is for you.
Forget about what everyone else thinks. Pat yourself on the back for doing something good for you. And then read these seven myths so that you know what to tell someone the next time they flash that smirky smile at you…
Myth #1: You need to be able to twist yourself up like a pretzel.
You’ve probably seen some people meditating in positions that made you think these folks must have legs made of rubber. Just looking at them sent shots of pain down your legs and made you wish you had a morphine drip hooked up. It’s enough to turn you off from meditation forever.
Wait, hang on… come back!
Here’s the thing: You don’t need to sit in those sorts of unusual positions. Some people do. But then again, those people probably have been sitting like that since they were children. What looks painful to you is probably rather normal to them.
But that doesn’t mean you have to sit like that to meditate. Not at all. If you want to recline back in your favorite Easy Chair, go ahead. If you want to sit on the floor, great. If you want to lie down, that’s fine too. The choice is yours.
Myth #2: Meditation is a religious experience.
Because people like Buddha (and the Buddhist monks) popularized meditation, and because religious people who meditate do describe it as a religious experience, many people believe that you must be religious to meditate.
Not true.
Think of it this way…
Monks through the ages have popularized other activities, such as growing your own food in a vegetable garden. But that doesn’t mean you need to be religious in order to be a gardener.
Same goes for meditation. You don’t need to follow a certain religion (or even consider yourself religious in any way) in order to reap the physical and emotional benefits of meditation.
However, those who want to take it a step further can certainly enjoy the spiritual benefits of meditation. If you choose a type of meditation that encourages you to focus on a certain concept, you may want to focus on a spiritual or even religious concept (like forgiveness, unconditional love, the connectedness of all people and so on).
But by no means is this a requirement in order to enjoy the other physical and emotional benefits of meditation. An atheist can enjoy meditation just as much as devout followers of any religion.
Myth #3: Meditation is about letting your mind go blank… OR … Meditation is about navel-gazing and contemplating life.
Here are the mind myths. Most people think that meditation is all about letting your mind go blank. Or if you’re not letting it go blank, then you’re contemplating life.
First off, meditation is about controlling your thoughts. Depending on what type of meditation you’re practicing, you may seek to focus on a single thought (or an object) while letting all other thoughts fade away. Alternatively, you may let your mind wander, but you do so as an attached observer (rather than reacting to whatever you’re thinking about).
The point is, your mind doesn’t go blank. Instead, you learn to control whatever it is you’re thinking about (or at least control your reaction). But you don’t stop thinking. (That happens when you die. J )
Now the second myth is that people who meditate are just a bunch of “navel gazers” who’re contemplating life. Instead of thinking about things like what to study in college or what type of job to apply for, these folks think about the big questions like, “Why am I here?” and “What is love?”
While it’s true that there ARE some people who meditate on these types of questions, that doesn’t mean you have to. Indeed, you don’t have to meditate on any questions or concepts at all. So no, the desire to contemplate life’s mysteries is NOT a requirement for those wanting to learn how to meditate.
Myth #4: Meditation results in crazy experiences.
Because meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness, many people immediately assume that it produces crazy experiences.
In order to deal with this myth, we probably need to define the word “crazy.”
- If you think that the altered states of awareness you get when you’re falling asleep or just waking up are crazy (such as that floating feeling), then maybe meditation is crazy.
- If you think the altered states you feel when you’re deliriously tired or wide awake and energetic are crazy, then maybe meditation is a little crazy.
- If you think the altered states produced by caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and other light drugs are completely crazy, then yeah… maybe meditation does produce crazy experiences.
The point is, you experience altered states of consciousness every single day… without even trying! Right now as you read this you’re in a totally different state of awareness than you were last night while you were sleeping.
Meditation is simply a means of deliberately controlling your natural internal states and your consciousness. And isn’t that better than being controlled by your internal states?
Myth #5: Meditation is just self-hypnosis.
Meditation and self-hypnosis do share some common components, in that they both can produce altered states of consciousness and awareness. In addition, both cannot be achieved unless the person wants to be hypnotized or wants to meditate. And in fact, you may enter a hypnotic state in much the same way you enter a meditative state (by putting all your focus and attention on one object or concept).
However, hypnosis is usually used in therapy… and usually to treat something very specific. For example, it may be used to help someone remember something they’ve repressed, it may help them lose weight or perhaps they’ll use hypnosis to calm an anxiety.
Meditation can be used as a therapy to treat special ailments. However, meditation is different because it can also be used simply to contribute to an overall feeling of calm and well being. As you’ll soon see, there are many emotional, physical and spiritual benefits of meditation.
Myth #6: True meditation means sitting cross-legged and chanting “om.”
Here’s what we talked about in the beginning of this book. Specifically, how mentioning the word meditation brings up images of people in long robes, cross-legged, saying “om” and burning incense.
Do people like this exist? Of course, and you can do it too (if you want to). But you don’t have to do that. You can get just as much benefit by sitting in your sweat pants and t-shirt… and never uttering the word “om.”
Myth #7: Meditation is difficult.
You hear about people spending hours a day in meditation. Usually, these are the same people who’ve spent the last 30 or 40 years refining their technique. It’s no wonder the average person thinks that meditation is difficult!
Listen, meditation is like anything else. Consider this…
You can learn how to play chess. Maybe you’ll play it a few times per year. And every time you play, you find it incredibly enjoyable.
On the flip side, there are the chest masters who play every single day. What’s more, they’ve been honing their chest skills for decades. They live it and breathe it. They’ve devoted their life to mastering it.
The same goes for meditation. Even if you don’t immerse yourself in it, you can still enjoy it. And if you find you like it so much that you want to devote more time to it, you can do that too.
Reflect
You just learned about the long history of meditation that goes back thousands of years. You also discovered the truth about meditation as we examined some of the most common myths.
Now let’s turn our attention to the benefits of meditation…