I never much cared for guided meditations.
I think they can act as a gateway experience for a more independent meditative practice, but they're training wheels in away.
No shame to those that like them, but in my opinion, meditation should be a toolkit you're able to whip out whenever the need arises.
It shouldn't be limited to a podcast where a celebrity talks to you in some half-ASMR voice.
What follows is SGMB: the four ways to easily meditate.
- S is for Set-Point Meditation
- G is for Gap Meditation
- B is for Breath Meditation
- M is for Mantra Meditation
Let's talk about how to execute each in a little more detail:
Set-Point Meditation
By Set-Point, I mean that when you meditate you're focusing on one object.
Perhaps a black dot on a wall, perhaps one spot on the handle for one your dresser drawers.
You just want to find something easily visible that you can focus on for the duration of your meditation session.
The How-To:
- Figure out where you're going to meditate in your home
- It can be a cushion, a bed, a sofa, or a chair, sitting up or lying down - it doesn't really matter as long as you're honest about your meditation with yourself
- Once you've found a spot, try to find an object, or marking for you to focus your attention on, or a blank wall and a specific part of that wall
- Objects can be one of those circle stickers you can put on a wall, a coin, a blank sheet of paper that's sitting, or taped at a distance, etc.
- Once you've found an object of focus, get into a position you'll be comfortable sitting still in for a while
- When just starting out, choose a length that is actually doable for yourself
- Even if you're meditating five minutes a day, that's better than meditating an hour once a week
- You want to create the habit for yourself, and repetition is important, while volume/growth can come at its own pace
- Once you've set your phone timer for a certain amount of time, focus on that object/marking/etc that you've chosen
- When your mind wanders away from the object, gently bring it back
- It will likely happen quite often, especially if you're just starting out. So don't make a big deal out of it (you're not doing anything "wrong"), just bring your attention to that object
- Congratulations, you meditated
Gap Meditation
This version of meditation is something I learned from reading about how Werner Erhard conducted his guided meditations in Est and The Forum.
To put it simply: You're just paying attention to the gaps in different parts of your body, instead of your breath.
- Figure out where you're going to meditate in your home
- It can be a cushion, a bed, a sofa, or a chair, sitting up or lying down - it doesn't really matter as long as you're honest about your meditation with yourself
- When just starting out, choose a length that is actually doable for yourself
- Even if you're meditating five minutes a day, that's better than meditating an hour once a week
- You want to create the habit for yourself, and repetition is important, while volume/growth can come at its own pace
- Once you've found your spot, chosen your session length, set your phone timer, and you're in a comfortable sitting position, notice the gaps between each of your fingers
- After doing that for some time, notice the gaps connecting your knees to your legs
- After doing that for some time, notice the gaps between your toes
- Rotate between these three throughout your meditation session
- Congratulations, you meditated
Breath Meditation
- Figure out where you're going to meditate in your home
- It can be a cushion, a bed, a sofa, or a chair, sitting up or lying down - it doesn't really matter as long as you're honest about your meditation with yourself
- Once you've found a spot, get into a position you'll be comfortable sitting still in for a while
- When just starting out, choose a length that is actually doable for yourself
- Even if you're meditating five minutes a day, that's better than meditating an hour once a week
- You want to create the habit for yourself, and repetition is important, while volume/growth can come at its own pace
- Once you've set your phone timer for a certain amount of time begin meditating
- To meditate for mindfulness, try to use your breath as your focus
- What helped me improve my ability to focus on the breath was to notice the course of it
- Ex: You're focusing on the air going through your nostrils, but then notice how breathing might move your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your stomach, your neck, your legs
- Just try to follow the breath, in and out, wherever that leads you in the body
- When other thoughts come into your mind, don't try to be forceful about it, but let yourself go back to tracking your breath
- One recommendation Ajahn Chah gave was to see the thoughts as visitors that you don't allow a seat, by sitting in the only seat (yours) through the form of following your breath
- Don't think you're making a mistake when random thoughts arise, that's just what thoughts do
- As long as you bring your attention back to your breath, you're executing the process
- Congratulations, you meditated
Mantra Meditation
- Figure out where you're going to meditate in your home
- It can be a cushion, a bed, a sofa, or a chair, sitting up or lying down - it doesn't really matter as long as you're honest about your meditation with yourself
- Once you've found a spot, get into a position you'll be comfortable sitting still in for a while
- When just starting out, choose a length that is actually doable for yourself
- Even if you're meditating five minutes a day, that's better than meditating an hour once a week
- You want to create the habit for yourself, and repetition is important, while volume/growth can come at its own pace
- When it comes to choosing a mantra, you can choose a nonsensical word, the word "not sure," or the word Buddho (Boo-doe), just to make things simply for yourself
- Set your timer for a length of time that's doable for you
- Once your timer is set, begin repeatedly saying the word, or sound you chose, for the remainder of your session
- Congratulations, you meditated
Final Thoughts
The above instructions may seem over-simplified to some, but meditation has never *not* been simple.
It's a very simple process, it just isn't *easy*.
I hope you're able to choose one of these four, that is easiest for you to execute, and that you build a successful habit, so you can reap the benefits that *do* come from meditation.
Maybe 10 years from now, you'll be looking back at your 10-year-long meditation practice.