Meditation is not a practice.
For many years I saw meditation as something one does. A set of actions performed in order to attain certain outcomes. A system that required focus and control to achieve silence and peace.
I would sit cross-legged on a cushion and concentrate on my breathing, trying desperately to remain still and quiet, hoping that with enough time and effort, my training would move me closer to a state of openness and equanimity.
I found many benefits to this effortful focusing of attention, but it is not meditation. It is the mind battling to control the mind, to bring about some expected ideal (control of the chattering monkey mind, silence, calmness, peace, etc).
In this battle, there is always resistance and conflict between what is and what ought to be. Between being and becoming.
To sit with the motive to get somewhere by doing something closes the door to meditation. Importantly, it is the motive rather than the act of sitting that is the problem here.
To sit (or stand or walk, for that matter) without motive to gain or expectation of certain outcomes can be a powerful entry point into meditation. What is required here is a genuine interest in seeing things as they presently are. An unshakeable devotion to the moment.
THE VALUE OF SITTING
I have learnt to see sitting as a celebration of meditation rather than a training exercise to become a better meditator. It is a portal into the present. A space to get in contact with truth and the beautiful fullness of being. A reminder of the rich aliveness that exists in the moment. And that there is nothing other than now.
The difficulty is that the richness of sitting in meditation is more of a nourishment than a pleasure. And without immediate pleasurable gain, it can feel difficult and effortful to direct ourselves towards the activity.
Neurologically speaking, sitting without any expected gain, or any sense of progress, isn’t going to get your dopaminergic reward system firing, which is crucial for shifting behaviour and forming habits.
One way to get around this problem is by creating a behavioural scaffolding that works with the psychological mechanisms that contribute towards the development of sustained behaviour change.
100 DAYS OF SITTING
In working with these psychological mechanisms, I am creating a public challenge called 100 Days of Sitting.
The goal is to sit without disturbance for a minimum of 20 minutes for 100 Days.
The days need not be consecutive. There is no practice or protocol to follow while sitting. There is no particular posture to be maintained.
As part of the behavioural scaffolding, I will be providing progress updates on my social channels (Twitter, Instagram) to create a public commitment device and exploit my mind’s sensitivity towards social validation and the need for progress. I will also vary my place of sitting to sustain a sense of novelty while keeping two daily timeslots as stable cues to accelerate habituation.
Besides the obvious behavioural benefits to be gained by working with the grain of social validation, I also hope that making this challenge public will inspire others to sit too.
If you are curious about taking on the challenge, join the support group with me and others here:
Let’s see what happens.
Take care,
David