Hi,
My name is Toby Sola.
As a meditation teacher,
One of the most common questions I get goes something like this.
Someone told me meditation is about focusing on your breath.
But someone else told me meditation is about letting go.
What gives?
The answer to this question is simple.
The word meditation is like the word sport.
There are a wide variety of sports.
And some sports even have contradictory rules.
For example,
In American soccer,
You're not allowed to touch the ball with your hands.
But in basketball,
You are.
At the same time,
There is a common thread that ties together all sports.
You could say all sports develop some sort of physical strength,
Flexibility,
And skill.
Meditation is exactly the same.
There are a wide variety of meditation techniques.
And some of them even have contradictory instructions.
But all meditation techniques develop the same core skills of concentration,
Clarity,
And balance.
In this meditation,
I'll give you a quick tour of three very different meditation techniques.
So you get a sense of what's out there.
Lengthen the spine.
Relax the shoulders and arms.
Bring your attention to what you're hearing in your environment.
Maybe you hear traffic,
Wind,
Or people talking nearby.
Maybe you just hear silence.
It's all good.
Just bring your attention to whatever you're hearing.
What we're doing right now is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call Noting and Labeling.
In Noting and Labeling techniques,
You pick one or a few types of naturally occurring sensory experiences to focus on.
And simply redirect your attention if you get distracted.
Keep going.
Good.
Now let that go.
Next,
We're going to intentionally recite and focus on a positive word or phrase.
Take a moment to think of a positive word or phrase.
Here are some examples.
The name of a positive emotion like compassion or gratitude.
An affirmation like,
I love you.
Keep going.
Or,
I am deserving of love.
A statement about a positive behavior change.
Like,
I go to the gym twice a week.
Or,
I go to bed at 10 p.
M.
These are just examples.
Choose a word or phrase that you like.
Once you've settled on a word or phrase,
Mentally repeat it over and over.
Don't say it out loud.
Say it to yourself in your mind.
What we're doing right now is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call Nurture Positive.
In Nurture Positive practices,
You don't just pay attention to whatever happens to happen,
Like we were doing in the first part of this guidance.
Instead,
You intentionally create positive thoughts or feelings to focus on.
Keep reciting and focusing on your phrase.
Good.
In the first part of this guidance,
We intentionally focused on sound.
Then,
We intentionally focused on a positive phrase.
This next part will be different.
We'll drop any kind of intentional focus.
Here are the basic instructions.
If,
For whatever reason,
You happen to become aware of an intention to direct your attention,
Drop that intention.
Otherwise,
You don't have to do anything.
What we're doing right now is an example of a family of meditation techniques that I call Autofocus.
In Autofocus practices,
If you happen to become aware of an intention to control your attention,
You drop that intention.
Otherwise,
You don't have to do anything.
Your experience may not be restful or particularly pleasant.
It may not even seem like you're practicing meditation at all.
But you're doing the technique perfectly when you just let whatever happens happen.
A few notes before we wrap up.
Notice how different and even contradictory the three exercises are.
In the first exercise,
We picked something to intentionally focus on,
But we didn't try to change it.
In the second exercise,
We created something positive to focus on.
And in the third exercise,
We dropped all intention to control our attention.
The word meditation is like the word sport.
There are a million different meditation techniques,
Many with contradictory instructions.
But they all share the common thread of developing three core mental muscles.
Concentration,
Clarity,
And balance.
Here's the main takeaway I want you to remember.
If you're into meditation,
You'll probably listen to all sorts of guidances.
If you hear instructions that contradict what you've heard before,
That's not a problem.
Just follow along.
The teacher is simply guiding you in a unique technique that you haven't encountered before.
And that's no big deal,
Because all the techniques develop the same core skills.
Hopefully,
This realization will allow you to appreciate and learn from the wide variety of meditation techniques out there.
Enjoy.
