06 Jan Meditation
by Nezam Ardalan
Think about it this way. Mediation and Mindfulness are asking you to be naked.
John Kabat Zinn says mindfulness is paying attention “on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” In other words, we make a decision (on purpose) to be here, now (present moment) and drop our filters (non-judgment).
One of the core question in meditation is, what is my natural state? What do I have if I let go of everything extra and just be? And what does that look like?
Without doubt, these questions can become very deep and dynamic, moving into spirituality, philosophy, and physics. And yes, for some that is extremely interesting (me included!). YET in the actual practice of Meditation and Mindfulness all of those implications are to some degree totally unhelpful.
We just want to be our truest, most honest, most real selves.
To do that we have to get naked. Drop the filters. Take off the extra layers.
When thinking about the act of getting naked. It involves taking off clothes. Taking off cloths can feel effortful. Just as letting go of extra effort might feel effortful at first. We are accustomed to those layers. They have been with us for a long time. It might feel more ‘natural’ to keep your ‘clothes’ on. But remember, that is something added. Clothes are new. Culture is new.
We want to know who you were, before you were born.
And so we breathe.
