Spirituality • Pedagogy • Philosophy • Movement

‘So how do I go about meditating?!'

OK – so we know there is plenty of evidence on the benefits of meditation: on minimising stress; on telomere length and slowing the aging process; on maintaining and increasing brain volume; increasing stamina; increasing ease of emotional self-regulation; and on increasing the ability to focus, thereby aiding the learning process as well as reducing errors made in a range of workplace settings. These help not only the developing child, as well as the mature parent and professional, as, for example, evidenced in medical administration and clinical settings. And Mindful Meditation Australia has been helping schools, hospitals and other workplaces develop and deepen understanding of the neuroscience behind the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, as well as provide a set of skills which may be used to be more present, to be more at ease, and to develop a mindful meditative practice.

One of my joys has been in developing our Mindful Journey programme for Mindful Meditation Australia, which runs over six weeks, a programme to really enrich and establish a simple and personal meditative practice. Not everyone will find the same style of meditation easy – so each week, different techniques are introduced and developed that hone in on the practice. What is of maximal benefit has hallmarks that reflects the unique individual person within their specific situation, be it home or work.

Each meditative technique is of course well known and practiced by various traditions. There is benefit in coming together on a meditative journey! In the same way that, for example, we are all able to prepare a meal, there is delight in sharing a cuisine well prepared by a fine restaurant chef’s expertise – and this provides greater impetus for our own meal preparations subsequent to the delights ingested. Similarly, sharing meditative and mindful skills with others helps us to make the effort to generate our own regular personal practice.

To achieve a meditative state is similar to being able to, for example, play tennis or drive a car. There are various steps or elements that, once practiced and mastered, become effortless...

Yet their development require some effort and, perhaps, initial uncomfortable directed attention. Perhaps there is here a similarity to falling in love: there can be awkwardness, a desire to be soooo present, yet also a little anxiousness about what will unfold: the total still unknown that is simultaneously already deeply longed for and known. I suspect that this is why many mystical traditions speak in language ever so reminiscent of love’s longing for the beloved. In the meditative state, it is the merging within oneself, a contentment of simply being in the present, in flow, in the eternal zone of non-movement.

So how does one go about meditating? There is more than one answer. Begin by taking one preliminary step towards being attentive and aware of both breath and body posture, then bringing presence of mind to observing one’s immediate surrounding as presented to us from our senses…

Jean-Michel David