Zazen and the Art of Quieting Your Mind

Meditation has been getting a lot of attention lately, including by successful people who swear by its efficacy. Not wanting to limit myself to my current level of knowledge, I decided to give this a try about 3 years ago.

My first thoughts went to Japan because that is where I was first introduced to the concept. In aikido practice, we would often do a type of “zazen,” or seated meditation (Wikipedia). When I lived in Kyoto, I was fascinated with my class on meditation, as well as the ability to walk over to any temple and sit facing their sacred rock gardens while doing a little bit of contemplating. I had even experimented with walking meditation all along the busy Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.

These days, I hear a lot about the benefits of meditation, including from sources such as the Mayo Clinic. Stress reduction, slowing down time, greater happiness… I needed to check this out!

The funny thing is that I probably am the last person who would consider doing this. To me, every minute is important, and I never thought I could squeeze in 10-15 minutes of sitting in silence.

So what possessed me to try it? Well, I was having difficulty falling asleep at night so I thought it might help my mind to settle down. Also, the pre-Ikigai Connections me knew that I had this business dream inside of me, and I just needed to organize my thoughts.

What did I do? I tried the Calm app every day for over a year, and it helped me instill this as a habit. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, and I sometimes silently (or not so silently) complained about having to do it. But once I got started and had a running streak going, I was inspired to keep going on a daily basis so I wouldn’t break the streak. And then, before I knew it, it became something that I wanted to do. Currently, I meditate at least 5 days a week, and sometimes even twice a day. I don’t use Calm anymore, but that is mostly because there are too many podcasts with different kinds of meditation styles that I like to experiment with.

Disclaimer: There are many ways to meditate with many schools of thought. Some schools have rules, some don’t. There could be a religious aspect to it, too, if you wanted it. I personally have barely begun to scratch the surface of what this world entails!

“And what happened?” you may be asking… Well, I’ve learned to really appreciate it. I find that sitting down to mediate for 5-10 minutes truly helps me focus on my work. If I’m really tired during the day, meditating helps me more than a nap does. Also, I often meditate at night to get me to fall asleep.

It took me a while to get to a place of enjoying it, and the benefits aren’t necessarily earth-shattering, but – to me – I feel that this is a habit I will continue for many, many years. Driving during rush hour, for example, is a very different story now. I am less angry when someone cuts me off. (I’m still angry, don’t get me wrong – it just doesn’t last as long and I find myself breathing my way through it.) I feel like a calmer person who can handle stress in a better way. I see that it’s a kind of recharge, and it helps slow down my racing mind to get focused and calm down.

Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash.com