For eons spiritual masters and gurus have stressed upon the value and importance of meditation. Or how everything lies in this very moment that we’re experiencing not in the next 10 minutes or back in time. Still, we get stuck in past and future scenarios.Â
It feels like you have no control over how you want to think and feel. A slight trigger is enough to turn your so-called world upside down. You will start to imagine the thoughts and feel the emotions that are not aligned with your true self.
When these thoughts and emotions arise, everything else becomes blurry. You will try your very best to get rid of those thoughts and emotions either by going out, talking to a friend, opening social media, reading fiction, etc. Just to make those emotions and thoughts go away. It might work for some time but not longer. You might try to meditate but soon realize that you can not concentrate properly.
Why can’t you concentrate on your meditation?
The first and foremost thing you need to know about meditation is that you do not need to concentrate. Because concentration means that you’re trying to do something and meditation is never about trying but being aware. The only thing needed in your meditation is your awareness.
Awareness means wherever your attention lies. You can either be angry or become aware that there’s anger in you. This realization only comes when you are present or aware.
People often tell me that they try to get to the present moment but their thoughts don’t stop and they get so enraged that they give up mediation. Sounds relatable right?
But what If I tell you that you cannot get in the present moment until you walk that bridge that is your thoughts and emotions or that you need to be there as awareness when these thoughts and feelings arise?
Before I go further into the process of meditation we need to know why it is hard to get into the present moment.
Why it is hard to get into the present moment?
It is hard because there are too many stimuli in your environment. Attention gets diverted by your surroundings either by your phone, your family, food, or what to do next. Your mind makes you feel that the next moment is important for your survival and thus you need to plan it.
The same goes in your meditation, where you ‘try’ to meditate and plan at the same time on what to do in the next moment to achieve salvation.
Let’s take a different scenario. You’re sitting in your meditation and your mind tells you to do something to make things change so that you don’t have to think and feel the same way. The voice gets so loud that you just give up your practice and ‘get up to do something’ to get rid of that discomfort. You may try to distract yourself by doing different things but the story remains the same.
Now you are going to ask what the problem is or why you can’t meditate. Well the answer is simple, you are not patient enough. Meditation requires patience and persistence, if you lack any of those, sooner or later you might give up.
How to meditate?
In your meditation, your mind will try hundreds of reasons to make you get up and do something. Some reasons might be ( for sure) that you’re doing it wrong or you can’t do it or you need to do something. Don’t be discouraged by these thoughts; they are universal.
Just sit with them. Become aware of your thoughts and emotions. Don’t try to control them. They are there to be acknowledged, not pushed away. Sit there as a silent watcher of your thoughts and emotions, let them arise and fall.
Remember you’re not your thoughts. You are a conscious awareness or presence that is observing everything. Become aware of this presence and let it guide you.
If you get swayed by your thoughts and emotions, it’s okay, gently bring your attention back and observe your thoughts and emotions.
It might take you some time to cross that bridge, but the journey will be worth it when you see what is on the other side. Until then stay gentle with yourself, if you get impatient remember it’s another trigger that demands your attention. Bring it into your practice like everything else.
Read more here to calm your anxious mind.