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Over the years, I have spoken with quite a few people on the topic of mindfulness and meditation. I\u2019m disquieted upon discovering how many people carry an unnecessarily high degree of shame and misunderstanding around the topic of meditation. <\/p>\n
I value meditation. I believe in the benefit it can provide. I have gained real value from the practice, and have others who I\u2019ve witnessed gain extraordinary experiences of self-acceptance, spurring entire seasons of healthy development. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spent years trying to understand whether this shame or sense of failure is due more to simple personality differences (i.e. \u201cmeditation ain\u2019t for everyone\u201d<\/em>), or whether it\u2019s some obstacle that\u2019s possible to overcome, providing passage for these frustrated fidgeters to gain what I and others insist is<\/em> there awaiting them if they commit and engage in a healthy meditative practice. <\/p>\n This problem newcomers experience is not entirely of their own making. I believe this stifled experience in meditation is due in no small part to misunderstandings that arise when advocates of meditation oversell it, or (in a genuine spirit of helpfulness) hastily attempt to convey the benefits that absolutely do come to them through their own meditative practice. <\/p>\n I have noticed that this enthusiastic pitch, as well-intentioned as it undoubtedly is, most often brings about an outcome the seasoned proponent didn\u2019t intend. Often the \u201chype pitch\u201d causes new practitioners to expect something that either isn\u2019t the core point of meditation \u2014\u00a0often confusing extraordinary claims with valuable (but more realistic) benefits \u2014\u00a0or distracting them to expect an immediacy in results that often only come eventually, after consistent practice and honing. \u201cShould my mental chatter be quieting down at some point? Where are the epiphanies and massive insights? Why do all the worst thoughts or beliefs about myself boil over and burden me whenever I sit and try to focus my mind? Shouldn\u2019t I feel like I\u2019m floating or something?\u201d I hear people asking these questions with a kind of deflated resignation, and I almost always<\/em> hear a strong sense of personal defeat from the belief that these \u201cfailed meditators\u201d (as they consider themselves) are alone in this outcome \u2014\u00a0broken and hopeless in the ways of mindful introspection. <\/p>\n If only I could help them see that these are the most common complaints I hear.<\/strong><\/p>\n Imagine an athlete pitching their physically flaccid friends on a comprehensive, healthy exercise program. But instead of arming them with a realistic perspective of small but important milestones and accomplishments as they consistently attend to their physical wellbeing, they instead hype the muscle tone and slimming that often does<\/em> happen, but not before they\u2019ve invested a considerable effort and commitment, of course. When the excited, desperately out-of-shape newcomer goes to the gym, they\u2019re first met with confusion at all the new tools and techniques which other gym-goers make look so easy. They experience distress over the lack of capability (especially compared to others around them). Eventually there\u2019s a heap of soreness or even injury after this humiliated experience. These are the makings of misery for most who \u201ctry\u201d.<\/p>\n To add insult to injury, they didn\u2019t lose weight, slim down, or tone up. In fact, they feel like crap for weeks, and often weigh in even higher on the scale in the beginning stages. \u201cIf I wanted to gain weight, I could have done it without beating myself up at some stanky, salty gym\u201d, they tell themselves. Overwhelm leads to abandonment. Abandonment leads to shame. Shame bolsters a determination to just ignore the problem rather than understanding where they may need a reframing to make the new lifestyle yield the results they truly do want. <\/p>\n \u201cOh well, there\u2019s always next year\u2019s<\/em> New Year\u2019s Resolution\u201c. This comforts them when they succumb to the temptation of their favorite fattening flagellation. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n This vicious cycle isn\u2019t confined to physical health. It\u2019s actually the exact same process which has unfolded among those who consider themselves \u201cfailed meditators\u201d. It is clear to me how deeply it affects those who carry around an incomplete or warped view of what meditation is (and isn\u2019t). This twisted perception of meditation is responsible for a substantial portion of the burden this topic tends to impose on those who are not finding health in the practice. <\/p>\n Does any of this sound familiar to your experience today, or perhaps a past experience which is now improving? Read on. <\/p>\n I\u2019ve read a fair amount about meditation. I\u2019ve listened to seasoned meditators speak of their experience, and their experience sounds strikingly similar to newcomers who complain that, \u201cI just can\u2019t meditate \u2014 my mind just won\u2019t settle down\u201d<\/strong>, or \u201cI try to focus, but I end up feeling overwhelmed by negative emotions whenever I sit with myself.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n To be clear, the thing newcomers are experiencing here is not \u201cnot meditation\u201d<\/em>, nor is it <\/em>\u201cwrong meditation\u201d<\/em>. In fact, the experience<\/em> which the most seasoned, respected meditators have reflects a more or less identical internal process as those expressing overwhelm. <\/p>\n So what\u2019s the difference? Do these seasoned, committed meditators possess a superhuman, steely resolve enabling them to brush off this brutal punishment that just pummeled you<\/em> like a freight train? <\/p>\n I can\u2019t speak for anyone else, but I can say what I believe with a high degree of certainty: the difference between \u201cgood meditators\u201d and the frustrated one is not the mental chatter (or lack thereof) going on inside their brain. It\u2019s the label they\u2019ve attached to it. It\u2019s the judgment about it. <\/p>\n What many humans call bad, wrong, or frustrating, the mindful advocate has learned is natural, holistic, and a part of them. What the masses try to shut up, quiet down, or control, the meditator has learned to accept, love, and learn from. The thing newcomers judge as broken and unhealthy, mindful practitioners have embraced and allowed a deep relationship with this part of themselves which, perhaps unexpectedly, has led to deep and powerful healing inside them. If you are running from your inner self, you aren\u2019t running from a broken mess inherited by a pitiful soul. You\u2019re running from your best parts, your deepest self, and your greatest discoveries. <\/p>\n Meditators have learned to practice self-love and radical comfort in one\u2019s own company. They\u2019ve learned to love the mass of thoughts, emotions, and meaty parts sitting within their own skin. Doesn\u2019t that sound kinda nice?<\/p>\n If you absolutely must insist on framing any of your thoughts as an illness, then please realize that if the incessant chatter of the mind is like a headache, then the belief that the mind needs to be forced silent is the malignant brain tumor triggering the headache.<\/p>\n The idea that thoughts \u2014\u00a0any thoughts \u2014\u00a0are your problem; this idea is toxic. This is one of the most odious rots that can fester to feed a vicious cycle of shame and self-deprivation. You\u2019ve been taught your entire life that you are broken or twisted. You\u2019ve been trained to believe this without question. It\u2019s wrong. <\/p>\n Welcome all thoughts, validate all curiosities, endeavor to enjoy all experiences, and you\u2019ll get closer to wellness this way than by believing you are bad if you don\u2019t aggressively resist, silence, or shun some loud or boisterous part of yourself. <\/p>\n Open the door to the noise, and it will most likely become beautiful like music. If you\u2019re kind and calm enough, it will invite its good friend, Satisfied Silence, to join you once it finds a comfortable and safe place in your presence. <\/p>\n What if, for just one week, you tended to every thought, idea, sensation, or feeling inside you as if it were coming from a wise, good, healthy, insightful, or even brilliant friend? Would you beam like a child who is being publicly praised for her fiftieth crayola project, thrilled to be validated even if it isn\u2019t a piece befitting the space next to the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in France? Would your inner child feel proud to have helped a stranger by sharing his Lunchable with the new kid who just realized he forgot his lunch money at home? Would you feel a sense of relief that somebody is there to hear how troubled you felt by some dark or terrible thought, if even just to have space to really understand whether it\u2019s driven more from honest curiosity or deep, untended pain? <\/p>\n Give yourself a gift nobody else can give: love yourself for all the parts that make you \u201cyou\u201d. Forget the idea, just for a week, that you\u2019re wrong for being the way you are, and learn to listen and love all that flows. Just a week. Then check in and see what this has taught you. If it\u2019s terrible, you can tell me how wrong I am. <\/p>\n But if it\u2019s wonderful, this is something you deserve<\/em> to experience. I\u2019ve experienced the kindness of loving every part of myself \u2014 simple, complex, foolish, or fantastic. Will you join me?<\/p>\n Download Sky Tripping today and experience the peace and tranquility of immersive aerial videos in nature. \u00a0DOWNLOAD TODAY\u00bb<\/b><\/a><\/p>\nMY PERSONAL CHALLENGE TO YOU<\/h3>\n
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