Effortless Meditation

(Photo by Rohina Hoffman)

There is a popular Zen proverb that says, ” You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes a day, unless you are too busy. Then, you should sit for an hour.” Personally, I try to find a few minutes before the hustle and bustle of my day begins. Sometimes it’s in the car, or before my kids wake up, or while I’m waiting for my kids to finish their swim class. Perhaps the more important question is whether I make the most of these few precious moments?

There are many forms of meditation: Transcendental Meditation or TM, Heart Rhythm Meditation (HRM), Kundalini, Guided Visualization, Mindfulness and others. Personally, I find sitting still and calming my body is the most rewarding form of meditation as I try to simply focus on deep breathing, while resisting the urge to acquiesce and scratch that itch. Once I learned to control my body, I was faced with the more daunting challenge of clearing my mind. How does one quiet the thoughts? There are SO many! Forget the ‘to do’ and ‘shopping’ lists, but what about all the positive, negative, happy and anxiety-provoking thoughts? I’ve learned it’s nearly impossible to stop the flow of thoughts, but as they come in, I can now effortlessly let them float away like air bubbles on the surface of the water. They slowly rise, pop and then dissipate without compromising the calm surface of my mind. After some practice, I am now able to have a positive dialogue with myself when meditating. I cultivate thoughts of self love, visualize a positive body image, and thoughts of harmony and balance. I know life is busy, but my sincere hope is that you will try to find at least 5 quiet minutes, and have a positive, effortless experience for yourself.

The light in me, recognizes the light in you, Namaste!