M ChanI admit I do not follow my own advice. If someone tells me they are stressed, I always tell them to take it easy, relax, meditate, take time for themselves, etc…. Yes, I can see O shaking his head now. I am guilty of working 14+ hours per day and then obsessing on the iPad right before I go to sleep over the best routing for my trip to ___ next year. Obviously I research at least a year in advance. That is completely normal.
Meditation has been on my mind for the past few years. I have tried making it part of my daily routine after reading books on the benefits of mindfulness meditation. I am not very religious, although I was raised Catholic, have participated in a lot of Buddhist-esque ceremonies, and even been to a bat mitzvah… yes, you read that right (bat not bar). A while back, I listened to an interview with Robert Wright on VOX regarding meditation. It prompted me to listen to his audiobook, Why Buddhism is True, not for its religious context, but to understand a little more about meditation. I am not very disciplined when it comes to meditation, and I thought learning more about it would convince me to be better at mediation, which is a loop of a statement if you have ever read anything on the philosophy on meditation, because defining yourself as good or bad at meditation is a No No.
I received sage advice to try bite size meditation. Bite size? What do you mean? Not 150% all in? How is this possible!!?? Apps on my iPhone help me with many things in my life, so why not meditation? There is nothing wrong with guided meditation, especially if you have trouble getting started. I really like the app Breathe. It is guided and bite size. After serious reflection, I realized good things do come in bite size: petite fors, finger sandwiches, sushi… 😉 It also helps you feel a sense of achievement, even if you only do a few minutes meditation for the day. I got a sticker! It’s funny because for the kids class at kung fu we used to have sticker day, and we recently brought it back. If the kids are anything like me, the sticker helps. I am not sure the monks would agree with this ‘reward’ system, or that tracking progress is ‘the way of meditation’…but heck, if it encourages me to sit still for a few moments to myself, I’ll take it.
So pat me on the back, I am sharing my all time best check in to date: 8 days in a row! (imagine my grand bowing gesture with a 5 second hold)
Give it a try. Just for a minute. Take a bite of meditation, you won’t regret it.
Disclaimer: I am not a writer. I do not claim to be. I apologize for grammatical mistakes, long drawn out run on sentences, and anything else that offends you. Actually, I don’t really apologize for offending you, if it offends you, then go and meditate about it.
