I teach mediation and people say to me, “I can’t meditate. I sit and all I do is get carried away with my thoughts.” That’s not surprising. You can’t expect to sit down for the first time and “get it?” It’s like saying, “I haven’t brushed my teeth in 50 years, and I brushed for five minutes and my breath still stinks.” You sit and meditate because all you do is get carried away with your thoughts. Then, once you learn how to not be carried away by your mind, you must practice and reboot everyday… or more. The mind is very persuasive. However, it’s so worth the effort.
Meditation can be very elaborate, involving ritual activities and tools. Or, it can be very simple. To begin just focus on one thing: your breath, a chant, a flower, a flame, a sunrise… Focus only on the object or your breath and try not to get caught up in your thoughts. Your thoughts won’t stop. You’ll just learn not to follow them. At first you’ll probably focus for a second and then end up thinking about something else. So, when you notice you stop and focus again. You think about your mother. Stop and focus again. You think about work. As you continue to practice you will begin to notice when you’re carried away and have control over it. Soon you’ll be able to focus for 2 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, more. And, it keeps getting better.
Huge change may not happen overnight, but you will notice a change in yourself and your life when you meditate. It’s best to meditate everyday. Like doing exercise, when your body gets weak if you let up, your mind control will get weak and the mind will get cluttered if you don’t meditate regularly. But soon you’ll notice that your life is moving more smoothly. You’re handling stress better. You’ll probably even feel better. You’ll accomplish more . . . Isn’t that worth 10 minutes a day?