Meditation

Doing nothing is good!

The benefits of meditation are no longer up for debate. It is quite possibly one of the healthiest things a person can do for themselves. It improves both mental and physical health, lowers stress levels and anxiety, and enhances the immune system, which helps prevent illness. It improves coping skills, attention skills, and self-awareness. It provides a respite from the constant need to think about your life, the bills, your boss, your relationships, the guy who just cut you off, or the plumber who just cost you $300. It is a space not in the past or the future. In fact, it's not a place at all; rather, it's a space that I can truly call home, and it's called the “Now.”

When we meditate, we go to the now. We place our attention with intention on the now. This moment, this breath, that sound, the tingling in your fingers, or the pain in your back all exist now. Tomorrow's meeting is not now, and yesterday's argument is not now; both are fictitious places created by your mind. Now is the space one goes to when meditating. This is what it means to meditate.

It takes time and practice to be in the now. In the beginning, it can be challenging. Your ego will want to shut you down; it has better things to think about. It is the director of your life, much like a movie director, and believe me when I say it loves drama. The ego likes to spend time in the not-now; it loves to bark out orders, plan, prepare, complain, and above all, judge and control, some of this is needed but most is detrimental. It spends all its time in the past, gearing up for the future, and avoids what is right in front of it.

How do you get to the Now? Start by finding a comfortable spot to sit. Keep your back straight. You can cross your legs or sit in a chair. Start with your breath. Watch it go in and out. When your attention is on the breath, you are in the now because the breath is always occurring in this moment. That is why millions of practitioners still use the breath as an anchor. Thoughts will come; let them. Emotions will come; let them. Some will be neutral; others will evoke a positive or negative charge. Let it be; do not judge them. You are not your thoughts or emotions; you are the one who observes these things coming and going like ripples on a pond.

Meditation is about finding the space inside you that is nothing but awareness, but it takes practice. Gary Zukav calls this place the seat of your soul, and Eckhart Tolle calls it finding your true essence. It is the practice of doing nothing but observing.

Here are two great beginner books for meditation: "Wherever You Go, There You Are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn and "Meditation for Beginners" by Jack Kornfield.

Stephen Andreoni, MD