Intro To Meditation

For too long meditation has been thought of as a difficult activity. However, meditation is not an activity – it is an experience. It is an experience that we cannot force ourselves into, nor should we even try. The point is not to will yourself towards something you are never going to obtain, but rather to sit as you are and open yourself up to the possibility of meditation.

I often think of meditation as a breeze on a warm day. We welcome it, but we cannot tell the wind when to blow. We cannot tell meditation when to grace us with its presence – but we can set ourselves up in the appropriate space to feel the breeze of meditation when it comes. For in our analogy waiting for the wind you can think of yourself as in one of two places: the 32nd floor of a high-rise office building hoping that by some miracle the wind will pass through solid concrete and glass to brush across you face, or you are on the beach with your face towards the direction of the breeze.

The practice of meditation is moving yourself from the office building to the beach so that when meditation does decide to show up, you are there to receive it.

And in truth, it’s okay if it does not happen today. It’s okay if it does not happen tomorrow. It is all as it should be – let go of any expectations you may have for your meditation practice and let is simply be what it is. If we can do that one simple task, this practice becomes liberated from the idea that we need to find meditation and we are allowed to find whatever it is we are meant to in this moment.

Free from expectations, we begin.