“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?” — Lao Tzu
A practitioner of meditation and yoga once saw this quote on a tank top in the yoga studio where she would go weekly to sit in silence or move her body in challenging asanas (poses/postures). Her goal was to find a sense of peace for what she calls her ‘busy/buzzy brain.’ In response to the Lao Tzu question, she sadly had to answer “no.” Patience is a learned practice that meditation can assist with, but she knew she needed to engage in both before she could, with confidence, purchase that item of clothing.
Why we turn to meditation in times of inner turmoil
Often, when our internal mud, the accumulation of stress, anxiety and worry gets in the way of focusing on the daily requirements of our lives, it is to meditation that we can turn as an intervention. Clearing the water can take time and creating a regular meditation practice may aid in that endeavor.
What is meditation?
According to Kendra Cherry, writing for verywellmind, meditation can be defined as “a set of techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. Meditation is also a consciousness-changing technique shown to have many benefits on psychological well-being.”
Why meditate?
- To reduce pain
- To improve the quality of sleep
- To enhance neuroplasticity in the brain
- To address stress
- To modulate anxiety
- To increase attention span and focus
- To remain in the present moment
- To reduce depression
- To feel a sense of oneness with others
- To increase Metta, defined as lovingkindness
- To stimulate the ‘feel good’ hormones of serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin
A research review published in JAMA Internal Medicine in January 2014 determined that meditation assisted in reducing anxiety, pain, and depression. The researchers found that for depression, meditation was about as effective as an antidepressant.
There are numerous types of meditation, some dating back centuries and originating in various cultures. Here are some of the types:
- Mindfulness
- Guided Meditation
- Moving Meditation which include Qigong and Tai Chi
- Transcendental Meditation
- Walking Meditation
- Chanting
- Sound Meditation
- Insight or focused meditation
- Different forms of breath meditations
Well known meditation teachers include:
- Thich Nhat Hanh (who passed January 22, 2022)
- Tara Brach
- Jack Kornfield
- John Kabat-Zinn
- Pema Chodron
- Joan Halifax
- Sharon Salzberg
What can meditation teach us about moving beyond ‘me’ to the ‘we’?
Noted meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg’s 2020 bestseller, Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World, addresses the benefits that can expand meditation from the personal to the global. She encourages lovingkindness in all forms. In a world in which chaos may seem to reign, this type of practice can have a powerful impact on helping us move through the chaos with our humanity and compassion intact.
How can meditation turn into spiritual/emotional bypass?
It may seem counterintuitive that a practice meant to bring clarity and focus can also contribute to avoidance. Some who engage in meditation may also find themselves in a state of denial facing their day-to-day challenges.
The term ‘spiritual bypass’ was introduced during the early 1980s by a transpersonal psychotherapist named John Welwood in his book Towards a Psychology of Awakening. According to Welwood, spiritual bypassing can be defined as a “tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.” When people take that detour, they may use terminology such as “It is what it is,” “I don’t need to feel my painful emotions — I can just rise above them and detach from them,” “They are in a better place” (when someone dies), “It’s God’s will and who am I to question that?” and “Everything happens for a reason.”
The reality is, we are complex beings with a full range of emotions. Some may not be so pretty or easy to acknowledge, but by denying our emotions we are denying our full humanity.
The downside of engaging in toxic positivity is the weakening of our ability to seek solutions to real world problems by seemingly wishing them away. While meditation and prayer in the face of challenges are helpful tools, putting legs under our intentions is a powerful combination for successful outcomes.
So, sit, walk, or lie down in meditation and then rise up and take its benefits into the world through the support of spiritual healing and inquiry.