Meditation is usually practised by sitting in the lotus position when you wake up but it does not stop once you are done.  It is more than just sitting with your legs crossed!

 

Meditation is the cultivation of the mind and its essential ingredient is awareness.

 

You can bring awareness with you anywhere and use at any given moment.  In fact, the more, the merrier..

 

What is awareness of the mind ? It is simply observing non judgmentally, the movements of your mind.

 

It is pretty much doing what you do during meditation all the time.  You are right, it is not an easy task.

 

It takes some practice to have this passive state of awareness.  Just meditating 10-15 minutes a day can propel you on this path.

 

In meditation, we practice awareness of everything that is happening in the mind which includes sounds, aches, visions, etc

 

As a constant practice, you need to start with awareness of your thoughts and emotions.  Mostly unbeknownst to us, there is so much negativity in our thoughts and so much energy is being stripped from us.

 

This energy is happiness. Well being. The feeling you have when you wake up ... refreshed after a good night’s sleep.  This joy you feel for life.  Your thoughts, the worries, the stress are draining you.

 

That’s why you need to be aware of your thoughts because your thoughts will manifest an emotion that will make you feel a certain way.

 

If this thought is an unwholesome one,  you can bet it’s going to take away some of your precious joy.

 

In order for you to prevent that.  You need to be aware.  To be aware is not to be harsh with yourself. You won’t be able to be 100% on point all the time or even anything close to that.

 

The Buddha said that even one moment of awareness is better than a whole life of idleness.

 

Be kind to yourself.  Praise yourself every time you “catch” a negative thought. When you observe a negative thought. Just see it for what it is and let it go.

 

By catching it and NOT indulging in it, you prevent more bad emotional negativity from coming along.

 

Often,  you might indulge.  You might fall deep into the spiral of the restlessness of your unwholesome thoughts.

 

As a result, you feel depressed, sad, angry, frustrated, scared... Don’t worry about it.  It is totally normal.  Sometimes, the best solution when you feel overwhelmed is to take a nap or if it is close to bedtime go to sleep. 

 

When you wake up.  Meditate.  You need to go on a mental minimalist diet.  Elimination diets are the trend these days.  They are amazing but we should start from the inside.

 

Once you start being more aware of the things that are causing your mind unnecessary, unhealthy, unwholesome stimulation you will know where to act and where to strike.

 

If you spent loads of time on social media, pay closer attention to your thoughts and the way you feel. You will probably be surprised at how much more negative your mind gets.

 

Envy, jealousy, greed, hatred, frustration, depression... those emotions ring a bell ?  Guess what ? Social media is known to trigger those lesser mind movements.

 

Stay clear of social media.  You can start observing more of your thoughts during those "in between" moments of life that we take for granted.

 

They are often wasted because we are impatient to get from one point to another.  We are waiting for the doctor, the plane or our friend.  We wish those moments away to get to our outcome.

 

We get angry and frustrated when someone is walking too slow in front of us.  Why are you walking so fast anyway ?  We get angry in the queue of a supermarket. What’s the rush?

 

The only thing we want is to enjoy the highlights of our lives. But those moments are highlights because the other moments are not.

 

This does not mean you can’t shine some light on those seemingly useless moments.  Take the time to be more aware. 

 

Just the simple act of being aware will make your mind brighter and little by little, the thoughts will become more wholesome and positive. 

 

Forget about the past for it is gone.  Don’t think about the future too much.  You build it ‘in the now ‘ for the present is truly the greatest gift.

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