Current thoughts on Meditation

Another gap has appeared in my writing schedule, so I think I will venture to a different topic that I am working through. Meditation.

Most people have meditated in one way shape or form in their lifetime. Highway hypnosis while driving and the entire concept of shower thoughts are two of the most common ways people initially experience meditative state. Ever know a friend that takes a long drive whenever they are upset? I do, and when they get back they have a better understanding of the upsetting situation. I have found similar results which have led me to numerous situations where I have been able to immediately alleviate stress associated with a negative situation. Here is how I break it down for myself.

When do I Meditate?

• While doing chores and other daily tasks. The biggest ones for me are doing dishes, vacuuming, driving, and mowing. Something about having a mundane task allows my brain to think more freely. I have read in a couple places that it is because a task keeps you too busy to allow your amygdala to realize there should be fear associated with what is running through my brain. Regardless, it works for me.

• Any other time. If I don’t have a chore, I must be focused to be able to affectively meditate. Otherwise my mind wanders way too much, and it turns into a practice in mindfulness. If there is something weighing me down, I will often go through a writing exercise with the intent to see the problem from a 3rd person perspective. Writing helps me stay focused on an idea by forcing me to articulate something I may not totally understand. If I don’t write, then my brain will jump over the uncomfortable spots, and that is one way I have found that I lie to myself so hooray for self-discovery.

What common topics will I use while meditating?

• The task at hand/chore is the first thing I do. Using the dishes as an example, I will figure out how I want the process to go. Then with every action I take, I ask why. Why am I doing this? Does it make sense? Is there a better way to do it? Once I am doing the task in a way that doesn’t force me to actively think about it all the time, I start on other topics. This usually takes a couple months of actively trying to get better.

• Problems and ideas are self-explanatory. I run from problems and hide my ideas away out of fear. Meditating on these topics gives me a clarity that I use in my day to day life to resolve issues and build ideas into a reality. This seems like a simple statement, but it is one of the more meaningful ones for me.

• Interactions are something I meditate on a lot. Most speeches, talks, important conversations I have these days are thought through. By the time I am having any important interaction I have already gone through it in my head over 100 times. This type of exercise can also be called mind sculpting and can help elevate stress and pressures associated with undesirable social interactions. I used to be terrified of public speaking and used this method while practicing. Now my fear has changed into excitement at the opportunity and I am note fully sure what that means other than I am more comfortable on stage, but I assume time will tell.

• Listening to my body. Sometimes I focus on breathing. Sometimes I go from my head to my toes trying to feel muscle groups. This helps with my personal kinesiology and I think it is helping me pick up physical activities quicker than I used to. (this could also be an effect of getting older and me just knowing my body better).

What are the steps of meditation I use?

• First off, I find a starting point. This is what I refer to as a hook. This gives me something to come back to and is important for staying on the topic of my choice.

• Once I have my hook I let my mind go. This is where the chore comes in usually. It occupies just enough of my bandwidth for me to be able to think more clearly and sometimes leads to good ideas.

• Capture good ideas via the capture process we have talked so much about. When I am mowing I will stop the mower, pull out my phone, and run my voice commands for capturing (shortcut with iOS, and integration with google assistant on Android).

• After that I will restart the mower as well as the process. If a good idea doesn’t come from a chain of thought, then I immediately go back to the hook and start from scratch.

Meditation is different for everyone. Pick something simple and build on it if you want to try it. For me it is more about mindfully choosing what is in my brain. Anything past that is gravy.