*{Upon leading a few informal sessions and discovering all the misperceptions we have of Meditation, my hope is the following may be helpful to summarize the essence of why people are drawn to it and how to make sense of all the noise}*

Welcome. We are drawn to meditation because we lead very busy lives, running from one thing to another, often frantically and seemingly out of our own control. We can feel very reactive, like a passenger in our own lives as the driver speeds recklessly down many roads.  Our jobs, family, appointments, commitments – just our daily routine – can cause enormous stress and tension within us.  Sure, we may find moments of respite but overall we often feel like hamsters on a treadmill, helpless to get off and find a way to calm and relax with inner peace.

When we finally do make time to recharge, such as walking the dog or stroll in the park, our minds are still working, turning, buzzing with activity.  We are constantly thinking – dwelling on what happened yesterday, what he/she said this morning, what to have for dinner tonight or that important meeting tomorrow.  We replay events (real or imaginary) over and over in our mind like a reel on a constant loop. There’s no on/off switch as the mind just keeps cranking out thoughts, one after the other, where we dwell in the past or dream in the future.  Even when our bodies finally come to rest – sitting down, sleeping in bed – our minds often continue their inertia and keep moving at its brisk, whirling pace. We may be resting physically, but our mind is moving mentally.

This dilemma does not allow us to be present, to be in the moment and fully experience our lives as it unfolds upon us.  You are HERE, but your mind is THERE. But the past has passed and the future has not come, so this moment is all that truly matters. Intuitively, you may nod your head and agree with me but are you living this way? Even as you read this now, how many times has your mind drifted off? Ask yourself: what is your relationship to the present moment, can you sit with it, be with it, be at ease?  Or do you need action, always moving, your mind always one step ahead of your body.*{Example: you wake up and cannot wait for that relaxing tea/coffee break. You finally sit to sip your tea/coffee, but then think about an email you need to send. You compose your email as your mind wanders where to have lunch. As soon as I can get to lunchtime, you tell yourself, then I can finally unwind. But while eating your sandwich, you think about the errands you have to run or groceries to pick up. As you then race off to do these activities, you dream about dinner as finally this will be when you can relax. But during dinner, you’re scrolling Netflix to find a movie to watch tonight. You look down at your empty plate and wonder who ate your meal. You play the movie but your mind drifts to weekend plans. As you jump in bed, you remember that important meeting tomorrow. You wake up and once again cannot wait for that morning tea/coffee break as the cycle repeats itself}. When does it stop, when you’re actually present in the moment and finally feel you have arrived? You desperately want to get to that next event but as soon as you arrive you’re off to the next one in your mind. Can you just be, content in this moment, with stillness?

Notice the example above was all future-oriented: you are HERE but your mind is THERE. This is where anxiety surfaces, which is worrying about or fearing a future event. Anxiety is a wave of thoughts that lead to a flood of fear. When you layer on replaying the past and our smart phone addiction, it’s a wonder we are all not locked up in an insane asylum!

Meditation can ground us, by harnessing this immense power of the mind.  It allows us to look inward, into the inner workings of our own mind.  This is new to us, as we are so driven by external factors.  By focusing on our breath, it serves to anchor us so the mind can stabilize as we slowly feel the breath flow in and out.  Nothing forced, just the natural flow of the breath – something we do all day, every day.  Consciously connected breathing. As we draw our attention to the breath – in, out, end, in, out, end – we notice our mind will drift off to thoughts.  That’s okay, it’s normal.  Very gently return to the breath, come back with compassion to yourself.  Once again your mind will drift so, again, come back to the breath.  Don’t judge, berate or demean yourself for not staying focused on your breath – just simply observe when you drift and come back to the breath.  Over and over again. Every time you notice you did drift, you are creating present moment awareness, i.e., to observe that you are not in the moment means you are in the moment!

With practice, as you continue to develop the spiritual muscle of your mind, you will note you can stay with your breath longer.  You’ll also start to develop an awareness as you observe your thoughts flow by creating a very subtle but distinct separation from your thoughts.  You become the Witness by observing your very own thoughts!  By not clinging or attaching to them, but simply noticing them and letting them pass on by, you discover you are not so influenced by these thoughts and feelings. They lose their emotional charge. This is because you are no longer immersed in them but rather removed from them as you witness them arise. You can let them float by, like clouds in the vast sky of your mind.  A great metaphor is the waterfall (see photo) which represents your stream of consciousness: your thoughts constantly pour over like a waterfall but rather than you being immersed in the water, you are safely underneath and removed from the stream, simply observing this never ending flow of thoughts.

Notice you are not trying to stop or slow your thoughts nor empty your mind but rather simply creating separation from them so that you can see them for what they are and not emotionally attach to them.  You quickly discover you are not your thoughts.  This freedom dissipates the emotional charge you used to be immersed in as you can create space. This space is incremental but it will allow you to notice certain patterns and repetition that the mind creates.  I once counted 17 times within a meditative session on what time I should leave for the airport, even though I resolved this burning question upon my first thought.  Once you practice enough to gain some insight, you may laugh at your own mind. After all, how many times is it really necessary to think about what to have for lunch today?  The comedy can look like insanity, but it is the way of the mind, which is an instrument designed to churn out thoughts nonstop. It is a formless continuum. You cannot turn your mind off but you can create the ability to manage it, rather than it manage you. Meditation offers you exactly that as it allows you to be centered in a world of chaos, to slow down, to calm, to be still in quiet reflection.  And now, let us breathe…