Meditation has become a thing. I think in the same way that yoga and pilates and barre class and spin class all seriously had their moments, so now does meditation. Everyone is talking about it to the point now when someone brings it up, you just kind of roll your eyes and continue on with your day.
But you can’t escape hearing about the supposed amazing benefits that come with meditation which have even (largely) been backed up by science:
- better focus
- less anxiety
- better immune system
- improved emotional well-being
- and on and on and on
If you read all of the info out there and even half of it is true, I’m pretty sure your car will wash itself and your children will be straight-A angels with enough meditation.
I’ve personally had a checkered past with meditation. I am slightly hyper-active and do not do well sitting still. I also tend to fill my days and carving out even 5 minutes to sit and be present isn’t really in my nature. Frankly, even if I wanted to do it, I would usually forget.
But still, the meditation talk keeps surfacing and it’s hard to ignore. But the most compelling reason I’ve found to meditate came from a book called The Willpower Instinct. This book is all about practical ways to improve willpower and a great read in and of itself. But what it said about meditation was great – just trying to meditate, even if it doesn’t feel successful is successful.
Say you sit down to meditate for 5 minutes and in those five minutes, you spend about 30 seconds thinking about your breathing, another 45 thinking about that cool dog you saw and oh yea, your own dog needs a bath and brush and where did the kids put the hairbrush that’s supposed to live in the swim bag and do we have swimming next week? Oh wait, I’m supposed to be meditating, yes, ohm, back to the breathing. Rinse and repeat for the next 2 minutes. I’m sure someone out there can relate.
But the cool thing is that every time you pull your mind back to your breath or whatever you’re focusing on in the present, you are training yourself as though it’s a muscle you have to build.
So this is why, every morning before I work out, I’ve been making a conscious effort to spend 5-10 minutes in meditation – sometimes guided, sometimes just music or sitting or whatever. I can’t say I feel great at it, but maybe I’m better? Or if not at least it’s training my brain.
But the last couple of days, I’ve found another activity that I think produces some of the same “must be present to win” mentality. Playing the piano.
Off and on for the past few years, I’ve been working on playing the piano again. I played for years in my youth and while I enjoyed it, I wasn’t into making the huge commitment to it that my (slightly crazy) piano teacher demanded. I also didn’t feel like playing the thousand sonatinas she wanted me to play – I wanted to play music that was fun/meaningful to me. So between that and lack of regular access to an instrument during college, I pretty much abandoned it.
So slowly, in fits and starts, I’ve regained some of my piano prowess. I recently took on learning a Chocobo piece (this is not a little-known composer, but a video-game related composition – Final Fantasy – anyone?). It’s pretty complex, but I’ve made great headway with it.
But, I absolutely fall apart playing it if I’m even the littlest bit distracted. I suppose that in and of itself isn’t surprising, but I think the implication is important. I must be present, focused, and in flow to play well and because I am training my brain to stay in that focused, flow state to play, I am kind of meditating.
I don’t think I’m saying that it replaces my other practice, but I do love the idea that playing the piano is helping train my mind. One more reason to play.