Meditation is a great tool. It has a major downside, though: Typically, you have to take time away from your daily activities to do it. Since most people don’t think they have an abundance of time, very few people spend much time meditating each day. But what if you could meditate while you write emails, clean your house or talk on the phone?
If you could meditate during your daily activities, you’d be able to meditate a lot—without taking time out of your normal day. Even better, you’d be able to infuse a sense of deep peace amid the ups and downs of a stressful day.
Many years ago, I realized I had managed to find deep peace during my daily meditation sessions, but that peace was not extending into my day-to-day life. Yet, if you’ve been meditating on a cushion for a while, bringing the peace of meditation into your life is a natural evolution.
Having interviewed more than 60 spiritual teachers, ranging from Deepak Chopra to the Dalai Lama, I’ve learned a few simple ways to meditate while doing the “stuff” of daily life. By practicing these simple methods, you can fill your day-to-day life with more peace and greater fulfillment.
The phrase that stays
When interviewing renowned spiritual teachers such as Ram Dass, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Adyashanti, I was surprised at how often my interviewees mentioned the value of gratitude in connecting with higher consciousness. I took this information and tucked it away in my mind until a friend of mine, named Fred, returned from India.
The moment I saw Fred, I knew something in him had changed. He looked intensely happy and loving. I asked him, “What changed for you in India?” He mentioned that his guru had given him a magical mantra for feeling overwhelming gratitude. Of course, I asked him what this mantra was, but Fred told me I’d have to go to India to get it directly from his guru.
Well, I always like to know cutting-edge methods, so I flew all the way to India to ask this guru about his amazing mantra. After a couple of days of flying, taking rickshaws and waiting to see the guru, I finally got a chance to talk to this man in a white, flowing robe. When I asked him about his mantra for helping people feel gratitude, the holy man said, “Ah yes, my mantra is the most powerful mantra on Earth!” He leaned in to whisper it to me. I was very excited. He said, “Whenever possible, repeat the following words. The mantra I give you are the words … thank you.”
I figured the holy man was joking, but he seemed totally serious when I looked at him. I couldn’t believe I had travelled all that way for such a stupid, simple mantra. I looked at the guru and practically shouted, “Thank you!? That’s it?!”
The guru said, “No, ‘That’s it’ is the mantra you have been using, and that makes you feel like you never have enough. My mantra is ‘thank you,’ لا ‘that’s it.’ Thinking ‘that’s it’ will take you nowhere!”
Well, I was pissed off, so I gave the guru a sneer and, in my most sarcastic voice possible, said, “Well, thank you for nothing!”
The guru smiled and said, “You must say it from your heart many times a day—so when you eat good food, say, ‘thank you’ from your heart. When you see your child or a sunset or your pet, say ‘thank you’ from your heart, and soon you will be filled with overwhelming gratitude.”
Saying ‘thank you’
I was still pissed off and highly disappointed, but since I had travelled all that way, I figured I’d give it a try. As I left the ashram, I got a taxi, and to my delight, it had air-conditioning that actually worked. I felt my heart, and in gratitude for this comfort, said, “Thank you” to the Universe.
Then, I got to my hotel room. In my bathroom was a bottle of purified drinking water. As I quickly drank it down, I felt my heart again and said, “Thank you.” Next, I opened my computer to Skype with my wife. As my computer came to life, I said another “thank you” for this marvelous machine. Next, my wife appeared on the screen. At that point, it hit me how amazing this was. I was talking instantly to my wife from across the globe—for free!
I felt incredible gratitude for Skype, my wife, for technology. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Tears started to flow down my face. My wife looked at me and said, “That must be a really magical mantra.”
I replied, “You have no idea…”
A long as you say “thank you” from your heart many times a day, for the little things in life, this technique actually works. You can feel grateful for things like access to clean water, the Internet, or a friend or pet that you love. Try it for yourself, and you’ll see its power. Of course, “thank you” is just one phrase you can say throughout your daily activities that can change how you relate to daily life. Other phrases I’ve used include:
- There’s only this moment
- It’s all unfolding perfectly
- The Stillness is Dancing
- Let everything be as it is
If none of these phrases “click” for you, feel free to make up your own. Once you have a phrase you connect with, simply say it to yourself throughout your day. Then, as best as you can, allow your consciousness to embody the feeling or experience the phrase points to. After a while, you may notice that you are clearly living in a higher state of consciousness while engaged in your life.
Mental noting and Subtle Noting
Since I get to hear feedback from many people who are using various awakening methods, I want to describe a simple technique that has stood out to me as being particularly effective and easy to do.
In Buddhist teachings, there’s a method called “mental noting” that has been used for centuries. The technique consists of coming up with five to 10 common ways to label—with a word or two–what you’re most noticing in the present moment. There are no right or wrong labels. Through trial and error, you find simple labels that work for you.
Here are the 10 most common labels I tend to use: Hearing, seeing, walking, thinking, worrying, irritated, impatience, tensing, sadness and self-criticism.
As you can see, many of my labels are broad-based ways I am classifying an activity I’m involved with, such as “seeing” or “walking.” Other terms are geared more to an internal experience I’m having, such as “worrying” or “impatience.” It’s not important that you label something just right. More important is that you can quickly and easily come up with a word that comes close to matching what you’re most aware of in the present moment.
You may have noticed that there are no obvious positive labels in my above list. Originally, the technique of mental noting did not focus on positive experiences. Yet, recently there has been a new approach to mental noting, sometimes referred to as Subtle Noting—that suggests a slight bias towards “spiritual” qualities.
In Subtle Noting, you emphasize any quality that might be considered positive, enjoyable, or resulting from being in touch with awareness. For example, common words I use when describing my positive internal experiences include peaceful, breathing, opening, gratitude, being, loving, witnessing, releasing, stillness, timelessness and joy. Of course, your words/labels may vary.
When doing Subtle Noting during your daily-life activities, you can say your labels quietly to yourself if no one is around, or silently to yourself if you’re around people. Often, I make an intention to do Subtle Noting for about three minutes at a time. If I try to do it for longer, I usually become distracted and space out.
Moving to joy
When I begin my Subtle Noting, I start labelling my current experience with what seems like an appropriate word. Then, about every three to six seconds, I come up with a new label for my current experience. By gently looking for or emphasizing any experience that has an enjoyable aspect to it, I find that during a three-minute session, I tend to become increasingly still, loving and peaceful.
I find that during a three-minute session, I tend to become increasingly still, loving, and peaceful.
I just recorded a two-minute session while I cleaned my office. Here are the words I used: Tensing, worrying, irritated, stillness, sadness, hearing, impatience, releasing, thinking, moving, stillness, itching, peaceful, breathing, impatience, impatience, breathing, releasing, joy, timelessness, ecstasy, loving, stillness, loving, joy.
As you may have noticed in the above transcript of my session, I went from being mostly a bit irritated and worried to peaceful, loving and joyful. That’s a pretty remarkable result for two minutes of meditation and cleaning my office! Of course, I’ve been doing this for a while, so your results may vary. Like with any technique, you tend to get better at it with practice.
You may have also noticed that, with each new moment, any experience is possible. I might go from worried during one five-second period to stillness during the next five-second moment. Our experience of the present moment is ever-changing. Through the simple act of briefly labelling your experience, you can become more present with the present moment—which is a wonderful present to give to yourself!
By experimenting with various ways to use daily life as a vehicle of awakening, you can transform your day-to-day experience و save time you’d otherwise be spending on a cushion. Once you find a method that truly works for you, you’ll have a friend for life.
«قراءة ذات صلة» RETURNING TO A STATE OF FLOW: One minute and one word at a time»
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