267/365

Meditation is not sitting with your eyes closed and legs crossed to achieve some LSD state of mind.
That is what LSD is for.

The Purpose
The goal of meditation is to silence the inside voice and allow a natural external focus state to persist. By distracting one’s inner monologue with simple, basic and meaningless tasks it becomes easier to ignore. This focused state is widely known as Flow State. Don’t be fooled, Meditation and Flow State are one and the same. They both focus the user on the moment at hand and do so by shelving the inner monologue.

Useful Perspective to Understanding Meditation
Meditation is reclaiming control and focus from the inner monologue.
The inner monologue and the thinker are two different entities.
You should willingly choose to think.
Thinking should not be an involuntary activity.
You should not allow the inner monologue to dictate your behavior.
You should behave naturally and only consult the inner monologue when necessary.
You control your thoughts, your thoughts do not control you.

How I Meditate
A useful shortcut I’ve found to a meditative or flow state is to narrate the mundane. And the breathing cliché works! I begin by forcing the inner monologue to actively narrate when I inhale or exhale. I do so using only the words ‘inhale’ and ‘exhale’. The insignificance and repetition of the activity bores the mind into pushing the inner monologue away where it could be ignored more easily. As if the volume is turned down the monologue fades to the background and eventually disappears while still narrating the current of breathing.
Left behind is a state of heightened awareness without the consistent input of the inner monologue.

When Do I Meditate
I meditate everywhere. Sometimes I’m writing my latest novel and I shelf the voice to hear the characters.
Sometimes I’m working out and I shelf the voice to feel myself pushing harder.
Sometimes I’m walking in the park and feel like hearing the birds instead of thinking about hearing the birds.
I meditate everywhere and I try it where I haven’t to see what’ll happen when I do.