day 96: Meditation, a beginning or a continuing

Meditation, a beginning.

For centuries people have used “meditation” to come to a quieter place inside, to renew themselves, to practice and enjoy the pure experience of being present.

For probably as long as there has been people, people have sat down and stopped and watched the stars, or a faraway river (or a near one), or just let their minds drift in a sort of a reverie. Or they let and nudge their minds toward quietness. Or towards “the present.”

Meditation is a way of actively making the decision to do little, to do less, to stop the rushing and bustle of the everyday life. And inside, meditation can be very full, a time to follow the breathing, or sense our bodies, or both. A time to visualize a lotus, or imagine sending love to everyone in the world, or to pray for the well being of some other person, a person we deeply care about, or people we don’t even know.

Prayer, mediation, contemplation, reverie, chilling, all are terms that surely could be defined and distinguished one from the other. Not necessary here. This isn’t a scholarly treatise, this is a field map to being present, to being happy, to living a more full, rich and useful life.

Meditation is a path for everyone to explore, and for many, a daily excuse to be quiet, or opportunity to go deeper inside, or a lifesaver from the pressures and hurries of the “outside” world.

Whatever mediation turns out to be for you, even an activity you don’t especially care to pursue, give yourself, today at least, a chance or two to take it for a test drive.


Sit with your eyes closed in a comfortably upright position. Arch and round a bit to find a good upright. Have your belly soft and a little forward, your back slightly arched.

Breathe.

When thoughts come, attempt to watch them as What Is.

If you begin to have reactions to the thoughts, feel how that stirs up the works, and come back to simply following your breathing. Maybe add on sensing your body. Maybe not.