Meditate.

If you are looking to add a little bit of spaciousness to your mind. This practice is truly a balm.
This is something that I am not good at. I suppose that is why they call it a “practice” instead of “doing”. One day maybe I will “do meditation” but for now I wrestle my mind for 20 minutes each evening and try not to squirm out of my seat.

We love to talk about meditation but the number of practitioners is few and far between. Probably because it is not a sellable practice. There is not a true list of meditation “essentials” because there is no such thing. Other than perhaps a place to sit like a cushion, chair, old folded up quilt (my personal preference), couch and maybe a timer.

I will say- a good working timer is important. Anyone who has meditated for any amount of time will tell you that after about two minutes you will question wether or not your timer has mysteriously paused. If you are anything like me you will then spend the remainder of your time worried about if this is true and the possibility of you sitting there forever because your timer will never go off.

There are about a hundred apps out there to mediate with. This is the one that I have been using. It is free and oh-so-simple to use. I turned on the white noise that elevates any questioning of wether or not the timer is on which is an absolute relief.

---

• Meta Meditation

  Meant to increase empathy, love and compassion.

  • Extend love and good intention to yourself

  • Extend love and good intention to someone close to you who is easy to love.

  • Extend love and good intention to someone whom you have neutral feelings about.

  • Extend love and good intention to someone whom you have complex feelings towards.

• Mantra Meditation

  Mantra translates to “Manas” (Mind) “Tra” (Tool). This is where you repeat in your mind over and over a word or short sentence. This could be something simple like “Love”, “Clarity”, “So hum” translating too “I am” or more complex.

• Zazen

  My personal favorite right now. Born of the Zen Buddhist Tradition. this emphasizes seated posture. Sit cross legged on a cushion with the right palm cupping the left.

  Focus on the breath and observation of the thoughts.

  To me this feels like watching a movie where the narrator yells emotions at me. It’s wild.