How to Build a Simple Meditation Practice
And why it will change your life (verified by personal experience).
I started meditating when I was about 18, on the recommendation of a close friend of mine. Looking back on the years since as I approach my 30th birthday, I can say for sure that meditation is one of the most valuable skills I’ve learned.
Most people don’t meditate for three reasons:
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what meditation is.
Similarly, it’s hard to pin down exactly how you should do it.
It’s hard to see many (if any) results in the early days.
Today my goal is to help you push past these roadblocks so you can build a simple, easy meditation practice (if you want to).
Let’s go!
“What Is Meditation?”
I’ve seen more competing definitions of meditation than I can count. To add one more to the mix, here’s mine:
Meditation is a practice for expanding your awareness of the gap between you and your thoughts.
The reason meditation is so valuable is that most of us forget about this gap as we grow up. We gradually become consumed by our thoughts, we identify with them, and most tragically, we forget we have the inner wiggle room to choose different thoughts.
Meditation can reverse this process if you let it, opening up a whole new world of inner freedom that you’ve always had access to but might have forgotten.
“How Do I Meditate?”
There are plenty of ways to do it. But the most powerful one for me is still the stereotypical one: Sitting down cross-legged with my bum on a couple of pillows, with my spine straight and my eyes closed.
Once I’m in position, there are only two rules:
Stay in position until my timer goes off (I usually set it for 5-10 minutes).
Watch—but don’t follow—my thoughts as they pass by.
Rule #2 is where the real magic happens. It’s also where most people get stuck. For example, right now you might be wondering, “WTF does this guy mean—‘watch but don’t follow?!’ How do I do that?”
The answer is: It’s simple but not easy. To watch but not follow means you might have a thought, but instead of giving it a second thought, and a third, until it turns into a chain that leads to who-knows-where, you simply let it pass.
All beginner meditators fail at this part of the process tons and tons of times in the beginning. The trick is just to notice when you get caught up in a chain of second and third thoughts, and pull yourself back to zero.
You ONLY get better at this with practice.
“When Will I See Results?”
Here’s a frustrating but honest answer: You’ll see results sometime after you stop looking for them. Like many skills worth building, meditation works best when you practice for the sake of practice, rather than for getting something out of it.
But with that said, I can assure you from experience that meditation will fundamentally change your lens on life if you show up and practice for long enough. Here are some of the benefits I’ve gained from practicing over the years:
Dramatically reduced mental noise/chatter
A sense of inner peace and stillness that lasts well after my meditation sessions
Less mental and emotional burnout/overwhelm
More mental space to see issues from different perspectives—and to find solutions in unexpected places
More instant clarity on what’s worth my time and energy (and what isn’t)
A closer connection to my intuition
A stronger sense of general wellbeing and trust in the process of life
If you ask me, these results are worth just about any price, and certainly the cost of feeling like a dummy for a while as you get the hang of it.
So, that’s my sales pitch for today. If you’ve been procrastinating on starting your meditation practice, I hope this helps you kick it into gear!
If you’d like to go deeper into the theory and technical deets behind meditation, I’d recommend starting with “8 Minute Meditation” by Victor Davich or “Joy On Demand” by Chade-Meng Tan.
Until next week,
–Riley
P.S. Are there any topics you’d like to see me cover in a future newsletter? If so, let me know in the replies. I’m always open to questions and suggestions.
P.P.S. For hands-on, personalized coaching on your personal growth, career growth, or copywriting, feel free to schedule a 1:1 coaching call.
Well said, Riley.