The classes are continuing as usual at Laingholm Eleven and the wood burner is keeping us nice and warm on these cold and wet winter evenings. A few new people from Huia, Laingholm, Titirangi and Woodlands Park joined our Tai Chi class last month. A warm welcome. In this article I will focus on meditation – the core practice for increasing awareness in many Eastern traditions.

Put simply, meditation is the opposite of zoning out. Meditation is “zoning in”. When we zone out, we cease to consciously notice our thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. When we meditate, we deliberately focus our attention on our thoughts, emotions or bodily sensations. When zoning out, our attention is usually focused outside of ourselves. In meditation, the focus of our attention is here and now.

Meditation is about being completely awake and perceptive, it is not a trance. The key component of meditation is deliberate and conscious directing of attention. Depending on the specific meditation technique the attention may be focused on breathing, on particular thoughts, on bodily sensations, on listening to sounds, on observing the flame of a candle, etc.

Directing the attention is fairly easy, but keeping it focused for even five minutes is a whole different game. Most people’s attention acts like a little hyperactive monkey: it is small so you can put it wherever you want, but in less than a minute it can get bored and jump away to a place it finds more interesting. It often doesn’t pay much heed to the owner’s orders and is very good at slipping away without being noticed.

This becomes a problem when it turns into frequent incessant thinking that prevents a person from feeling calm and relaxed. For some people it becomes even more problematic – the “hyperactive monkey” won’t even let them rest at night as it revisits work difficulties, painful situations from the past and uncertainties of the future. Fighting it doesn’t work. Meditation is a practice of patiently calming and training this “monkey”.

Meditators are often pictured sitting perfectly cross-legged in a tranquil temple where they live a celibate life of study and silent reflection, wearing flowing robes and breathing in a faint smell of special incense. While this exotic scenery may appeal, the truth is that anyone can practice meditation in their spare three minutes in bed, on the bus, or even during tea break in the office. All that is needed is a few minutes and a mind to focus.

Got three minutes now? Here’s a simple meditation technique that you can try: sit down in a comfortable way and take three deep breaths to relax. Close your eyes and as you continue breathing, focus your attention on the sensations of the air passing through your nose or mouth – as if you were trying to feel the air that is passing through. After you’ve done this for a minute also start noticing the movement in your rib cage as your lungs expand and relax. Feel the opening and relaxation in your rib cage. After another minute see if you can focus your attention on both at once – feeling the air moving in and out, and feeling the opening and relaxing in your rib cage. Do this for a minute and open your eyes. Notice how you are feeling afterwards.

Practicing this simple technique daily can gradually increase your ability to focus and maintain attention. It will also increase your awareness – you will notice subtleties about your breathing that you’ve never paid attention to before, and you will notice how your breathing has a two-way relationship with your moods and stress levels.

After you’ve done this practice several times you will probably notice that your attention starts to wander to other thoughts and daydreams – the “monkey” is getting bored and jumping off elsewhere. This is not a failure, but the beginning of real practice. Every time you notice that your attention wandered off, congratulate yourself for noticing, and bring your attention back.

Directing attention can be compared to shining a spotlight – you don’t need to try to get rid of what is in the spotlight, instead it is easier to point the spotlight where you want it to shine. If you are fighting unwanted thoughts your attention is – you’ve guessed it – still on those thoughts.

We practice meditation at the start of every Tai Chi class on Wednesday evenings. I teach various meditation techniques aimed at calming the mind, relaxing the body, and increasing awareness. It is a relaxed environment with a friendly group of locals and the class is suitable for complete beginners. Newcomers and people who visited before are always welcome – the classes are free of charge and directions are online (click here).

For those who like the meditation practice and want to explore it deeper we have a meditation session on Friday evenings. It is like a mini-workshop for inner exploration focusing on subjects like body intelligence, internal energy, workings of the mind, emotions, and awareness.

Inspiring Videos

I’ve started putting together a collection of inspiring video clips that I’ve come across on the Internet. It is on the web site under the Content heading (click here). Among the clips there is 3-minute animated short about a Samurai whose perfectly tranquil meditation gets interrupted by a very annoying fly (it is also a metaphor for many unpleasant things in life) – you can watch how he “deals” with it.

PUBLISHED IN JUL 2013 ISSUE OF LAINGHOLM ROUNDABOUT.