Meditation Series — What is it?

I am asked about meditation all the time.

“How do I do it?”

“What is the best way?”

“How long should I do it for?”

“At what time of day?”

Just some of the types of questions I receive from time to time, amongst many others.

And more often than not, they are quite difficult for me to answer.

In most cases, I think I know where these questions come from, but without first confirming, I would be making assumptions.

Further, I do not feel I can simply provide a general response to something that I believe to be utterly intimate and personal a practice.

To me, I’d be doing it a disservice.

When I am asked, I do not know what their intention for wanting to practice the meditative art is.

I do not know what they would like to achieve.

I do not know how dedicated (or not) they are going to be.

I do not know their degree of willingness to introducing the practice into their lives.

I do not know how receptive (or not) they are going to be.

I do not know how prepared (or not) their internal state of being is.

So on, and so forth.

To me, these are all important factors in one’s ability to nurturing a positive and flourishing relationship with meditation.

So, as a way of paying homage to this artform that has changed my life and now dedicate myself to, as well as giving a glimpse of how it’s perceived through my eyes, I decided to write this mini-series.

In this first instalment, I will attempt to answer the question, “What is meditation?”

To start, I will share with you what I believe it is not.

To me, meditation is not simply the act of being seated crossed-legged, with eyes closed, and hands arranged in a symbolic gesture or pose.

It is not simply the act of controlled and conscious breathing.

It is not simply a practice to manage stress, anxiety, pain, distress, fear, and any number of mental, emotional, or physical ailment.

It is not simply a method of supporting mental focus, greater memory retention, improved quality of sleep, and nurturing of one’s spiritual connectedness.

It is, most certainly, not some sort of ‘wellness hack.’

To describe meditation — or anything else, for that matter — with such specificity is to indirectly rule out all that it is not.

To define something is to draw a line around it.

All that is bound within this solid line constitutes the object, idea, or concept that is being defined.

Everything that falls outside represents all that it is not.

I find labelling things in this way somewhat careless, at times ignorant, and in this instance, lacking respect.

To me, meditation can be any of these things, all within a single moment, and at the very same time, none at all.

As I have said, meditation changed my life.

After being diagnosed with cancer over ten years ago, I have been practicing this beautiful artform.

What I have found is that the practice of meditation is a reflection of the practitioner themselves.

One’s meditative practice will mirror one’s present inner state.

As we evolve, so too, will one’s meditative experience.

And if we do not devote ourselves, if we are insincere toward our practice, then the act of meditating may be akin to catching water through spread fingers.

So, at this juncture of my life, after more than a decade of daily meditative practice, the best way I can describe meditation is this:

Meditation is the practice of a richer life.

Yes, this is a very general description, but as you may realise by now, in many ways I feel it has to be.

However you may interpret this, from whichever perspective or standpoint, meditation has supported me in all the ways you might understand that it can, and it also continues to change the very way that I see and experience life in a way I will never be able to explain.

This is what I believe it can be for anyone and everyone who see it, approach it, and hold it with a level of reverence akin to what I have.

I also believe that the possibilities of what meditation could be are only bound by the practitioner’s degree of devotion and the limit of what they believe it could be.

This is what meditation is to me.

It is a practice that gives me more life.

In the next instalment of this series on meditation, I will answer the question, “Why do I meditate?”

Until next time, peace.