Why meditation is the best drug you’ll ever discover
It’s like a special elixir you can get in a video game but only with a cheat code. Except with meditation you always have the cheat code, and the elixir never runs out.
It’s funny how seldom we take the time to acknowledge the present, let alone enjoy it. Here’s what I mean: To kill time when waiting in line we pull out our phones. To take breaks from homework we watch TV. To take breaks from TV we get on Facebook. To curb our impatience in traffic we switch lanes just to save 20 seconds, maybe. When the commercial comes on we go to a different channel. When we commute to work we put on the radio. When we wait for friends, we text other friends. We’re obsessed with filling gaps of time, because we’re terrified of doing nothing. The idea of doing nothing, and I mean truly nothing, is taboo to us. We avoid it like the plague. We get uncomfortable. We always seek to replace it with something. Yet here’s the claim I’m going to make:
Learning how to do nothing has been one of the most valuable and life-changing things I’ve ever learned.
And here’s the truth. I’m not a monk. I don’t have Buddhist origins. I have never taken a single philosophy class. I grew up in suburb outside of Denver and now have a regular 9–5 job. Trust me, I’m a very average human being. Yet a year ago, I stumbled upon something extraordinary, something beautiful. I discovered the present moment, and have been obsessed with pursuing it ever since.
How It All Started
It was during a Ted talk binge that I discovered the following gem which planted the idea of meditation. I highly recommend bookmarking this and watching it soon. And if you’re sitting there convincing yourself that you don’t have time to watch it then trust me, you definitely need to watch it.
Admittedly, I didn’t act on Andy’s message right away. I thought it was interesting, but quickly forgot about it and let myself get swept away again by the endless current we call life. I told myself I didn’t need it and that I had more important things to do. Even worse, I told myself that I didn’t have time to try it. Yes, I convinced myself I didn’t have 10 minutes out of an entire day to try doing nothing. And I know many of you might have that same mentality so I’m going to repeat this again:
If you don’t think you have 10 minutes of free time out of your day to be mindful and do nothing, then you have more to gain from meditation than you’d ever believe.
After hitting rock-bottom one weekend I remembered this Ted talk and decided to try it out. I put on my headphones, set my watch timer, and gave it a shot. 15 minutes later, the timer ripped me away from a beautiful new world I had ended up in. A world of calm, a world of peace, a world of nothing. Meditation is incredibly freeing. It makes you feel small. It makes your problems feel small. Words cannot describe it. You simply have to experience it for yourself.
Now before you scoff, write this off as a weird hippie thing, and close this tab, let me challenge you. Try it. 10 minutes. You owe this to yourself. To see what’s helped me achieve serenity and get some tips, keep reading.
Pointers and Tips based on how I meditate
No part of me is qualified to be an expert of meditation. I haven’t studied it, I haven’t researched it, and I’ve only been doing it for a year. This is what has helped me, not necessarily a correct and proper way of meditating. So take it with a grain of salt, and develop whatever methods help you.
- Be outside. Whether it’s birds chirping, the smell of pine, or the rhythmic nature of waves crashing, being in nature makes being present much easier. There’s more to focus on.
- Be free of obligations and responsibilities. I don’t mean completely abandon your list of important tasks for the day and become a directionless free spirit. Just don’t try and meditate when you have food cooking, a recruiter for a new job that is about to call you, and your kids running around you constantly. Let yourself disappear for 10 minutes.
- Be alone. Don’t try to meditate when one of your 5 roommates could at any point barge in and ask who ate their cereal. Sit inside your car during lunch. Sit by a river early in the morning. Sit in your bed later at night when the rest of the house is asleep. Find a time where it’s just you.
- Focus on mindfulness, not mind-emptiness. The goal of meditation is not to empty your mind, throw up an iron curtain around it, and with all your might prevent new thoughts from coming in. Thoughts will come into your head. Let them come in, realize they don’t need to be addressed right now, and then let them go. The world won’t end I promise.
- Focus on your breathing. Notice the rhythm to it. Feel parts of your body rise and fall on every breath. Visualize a circle or oval. Every time you inhale draw in the left half from bottom to top, and every time you exhale draw in the right half from top to bottom. And then again.
So here’s my call to action, my one favor to ask of you.
Find a time today or tomorrow where you’ll set aside 10 minutes to do nothing except focus on your breath, immerse yourself in the present, and let your thoughts free. Just 10 minutes.
Meditation is a lot like being physically fit or book smart. It takes time. It takes practice. It takes commitment. But I promise you’ll find yourself in a much better place should you gain the ability to control your mind, and put it on pause. The present moment is always there. And if you can put yourself in it, and reap its benefits, you’ll have something special. You’ll have the cheat code for the endless elixir.
