AYOOOO what it do Fighters?
I was meditating today & decided that it might be nice of my to write a short & simplified guide on a topic that really does deserve many thousands of words. If you’ve been paying attention to what I tweet about at all you know I live by a few simple practices. They are the building blocks in my life. This is one of them.
What you are going to read here is not all encompassing, there are many different types of meditations. Many styles, many different types of practices, even many reasons why we meditate. Regardless of your spiritual or religious beliefs, this guide will only be focusing on the bare bones of how to meditate.
Meditation is an incredibly complex and deep practice, but to start it won’t be. The only way to get started, is to start. This is true for any and all things. “Not knowing how” is not an excuse either.
SETTING UP:
I like to do my main meditation for the day in the morning shortly after I wake. My morning practices usually consist of Breathwork, Meditation & then Qi Gong or walking.
It’s important that you set yourself up in a place that you will not be disturbed or distracted in, or at least where it is minimal. I will also say this, WHENEVER you have the opportunity to do your breathwork or your meditation OUTSIDE, DO SO!
Outdoors touching the grass and the sunlight is ALWAYS better than indoors under artificial light in my opinion.
Find a comfortable place, if indoors you can sit on a cushion of sorts, if outdoors you still can but I prefer to let the ground touch me.
THE PROCESS:
If able to, sit cross legged. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SIT CROSS LEGGED: lying down is an option. Again, there is no excuse to not meditate. You can even sit in a chair if you have to.
It doesn’t matter how you sit or lay at first, all that matters is that you get your ass in position to meditate every day.
I start with some type of breath leading into every meditation practice. A few minutes of nice & slow inhaling & exhaling thru the nose. Get in touch with your breath. Feel the point of contact where the breath comes in (The upper lip/nostrils).
Let’s start with 5 minutes. You can show up for 5 minutes a day (10 minutes a day if you DO YOU BREATHING RIGHT BEFORE BOOM 10 MINS AND YOU GOT EM BOTH DONE FOR THE DAY!). Move the time up as you continue to practice. (I have Iphone so I like to use the app “Insight Timer” to set up my own meditation timers on my phone to use. It is a free app)
Now, close your eyes and fold your hands in your lap or rest them on your knees.
Either way doesn’t matter. But whichever you choose, leave them there and don’t move them. You want to keep a straight line from your spine up to your head. This helps to establish wakefulness so you can avoid the common problem of “Meditation makes me sleepy”.
Boom. You’ve done the hardest part of meditating. Actually showing up and sitting down for the day. If I can teach you one thing, one thing at all about meditation it is this: there is no “good” meditation or “bad” meditation. There is only the meditation that you do & the meditation that you don’t do.
NOW LETS START!
Your eyes are closed, you are seated. Now what do you do? Simple. You breathe. Breathe in through your nose (gently count “One” in your head), breathe out through your nose (gently count “Two”), Inhale (“Three”), Exhale (“Four”). Back to one & continue to repeat this.
Eventually, you won’t need to count the breaths, or you’ll just count the breaths to start & then you stop counting as you practice. Why do we count breaths? To establish our focus on our breath. This brings us to the present moment.
Put your attention where you can feel the air actually coming in and going out. This will very likely be your upper lip or your nostrils. Notice the feeling. Notice how it feels, how it might smell, how it may sound.
Boom. You’re meditating. It really is this simple.
“BUT FIGHTTTTERRRRRR my thoughts keep coming up!!!!!! I keep getting distracted!!!!”
GOOD! They’re supposed to come up. The purpose of meditation is not, despite common belief, “shutting the brain off” and “not thinking”. It’s about being present and aware of your physical self, your mental self and your spiritual self.
Acknowledge the thoughts as they come up, then bring the attention back to the breath. With each time you repeat that simple act, meditation becomes a little bit “easier”.
CLOSING:
We do not meditate to elimante thoughts. We meditate to be aware of our thoughts and our feelings, but also to be aware of our physical self. Don’t put so much pressure on this practice. Just sit there for five mins a day and breathe and be aware. When you become lost, notice it and bring yourself back to the path.
You just finished reading this right? What’re you waiting for? Go get your first five minutes in. Shoot me a DM on Twitter & let me know you did it! There will be a lot more writing out of me in the future in this topic, but for now here is a small taste.
GOD BLESS
BowTiedFighter (CERTIFIED BEAST!!!!!!)
PS: The previous limited time offer is now permanent. If you purchase a year of Substack (50 dollars) you get a free consult call with me. We talk about breathwork, cold exposure, gratitude, meditation, THE WORKS! SIMPLE PRACTICES to take you to the next level!