Free Yourself Through Meditation

Meditation is an act of rebellion. A refusal to accept our societal status quos around

consumption, perfectionism, achievement and that happiness lies in external things. Many of us

already long for inner freedom and know that meditation will help us escape these patterns. Yet

despite the motivation and the common knowledge that meditation is good for you – it’s a

struggle to build a consistent practice.

It was during a meditation retreat that I realized I actually barely understood meditation and its

true benefits. And without this knowledge, it is hard to build a consistent practice. Meditation in

modern discourse is often inadvertently diminished as a tool to enhance productivity or be kinder

to coworkers. It will do those things, but it’s like buying a car so that you can have air

conditioning. Meditation is a mystical process and when respected and understood as such,

motivation is naturally kindled.

So in the hopes that you may find a deeper well of motivation, as well as patience, for your own

practice, here are some things I’ve discovered on my journey.

- There is no such thing as a good or bad meditation. Simply to sit with the intention to

meditate starts the process of mental and emotional purification. As long as you keep

trying, regardless of your subjective experience, the purification continues.

- Therefore, be a shitty meditator. Take off all pressure of being a “good” meditator. You

are in the process of leaving behind things like judgement and perfectionism. It doesn’t

happen overnight.

- What arises during meditation is what you are releasing. Anger, frustration, fear, guilt,

shame, restlessness – when these emotions come up, celebrate by doing nothing. These

emotions are passing through one more time on their way out the door, and if you don’t

engage, they will depart for good. You may be surprised at how much you are storing,

but it is finite.

- Meditation burns off karma. Karma is an important concept to understand and can be

thought of as the momentum of past actions. The stillness of meditation cancels

momentum, freeing you from past karma which in turn frees you.

- Start with short meditations, and go for consistency rather than length or “quality.” Less

than ten minutes a day is fine. Just keep going and it will build.

- Make meditation accessible- do it where it is easy and comfortable. If you need candles

or absolute silence on a mountain top, you’re inadvertently creating barriers. I learned

meditation by laying on a floor because my neck was herniated. Years later I started

meditating sitting up.

- Before you start a meditation, recall a time you felt your absolute best- content, loving,

peaceful. Let that feeling soak into your body. Gently release the memory and start the

meditation. This is one way to make elevated positive emotions more accessible to you

and meditation enjoyable.

Above all else, trust the process. It is difficult in the beginning because we are changing the

course of our lives from the inside out, and we have enormous momentum behind us. Yet wow

many worthwhile things are attained without effort? Meditation has been the surest path to inner

freedom for thousands of years. Be patient, be kind to yourself, and know that stumbling is a

waypoint to building a consistent practice. I wish you the very best and feel free to contact me

with any meditation questions.