What do you picture when you hear the word Meditation?
Is it someone seated, eyes closed in a quiet space or a beautiful serene environment?
Of course Meditation CAN be done in places like these.
Scenes like these tend to be the stereotypical images people have about meditation.
They create the impression that Meditation only belongs in quiet, peaceful environments. Intrusive noises and busy environments are definitely not part of the picture.
Here’s the kicker..
If you live and work, like most of us, in environments that are not particularly serene, this kind of stereotype makes Meditation seem ‘out of reach’.
So this stereotype isn’t doing anyone any favours.
Why?
A benefit of Meditation IS experiencing greater calm. Many people come to try Meditation because they are seeking more tranquility in their lives.
BUT (and it’s a big but) accessing that benefit doesn’t require a calm environment.
The benefits of Mindfulness come from the practice of the Core Attentional Skills of Mindful Awareness.
Once you understand what they are and how to practise them is exciting to discover that meditation can be done just as well in a noisy, busy environment as it can in any other place. In fact the very things that we might have seemed like they had NO place in Meditation can themselves be used FOR Meditation.
Meditation requires two things:
- A Focus Range which is simply what you are choosing to focus on during the meditation (the sensory experience or experiences).
- An Instruction Set (the instructions you follow to practice a technique).
If we expand our range of possibilities to include ANY sensory experience then something like sounds in a noisy environment can be specifically incorporated into a Meditation.
When we bring the 3 Attentional Skills into this practice the sounds become the object of our:
- Skill 1 – Concentration
We’re choosing to focus on physical sound in the world around us.
- Skill 2 – Sensory Clarity
We are focused on tracking and exploring the details of the sounds in our environment as they appear and disappear in real time. That might include the pitch, the location, the rise and fall, the rhythm, the ways that it is changing/moving, the stops and starts.
- Skill 3 – Equanimity
We let sensory experiences outside of this focus range come and go in the background without trying to stop them/fight them. This might include things like self talk, visual thoughts, sights you notice. We strengthen our concentration when we return to the focus range if we’re distracted by any of them.
Pretty soon an experience you may have previously found intensely annoying is now becoming fascinating as you notice details about it. The combined effect of the 3 skills of Mindful Awareness has changed the way you relate to the experience. Practising the 3 skills in any context moves you towards the benefits of practice. In this instance a noisy environment becomes a kind of pathway towards greater calm and tranquility.
If you are using the Unified System you will have SO many options for potential focus ranges in any environment. That means you have no shortage of interesting ways to apply meditation to any experience.
Deliberately choosing challenging experiences or environments for meditation is a great way to discover that you can increase your calm and happiness regardless of whether or not you’re near a tranquil lake.
In a world so heavily focused on external circumstances for happiness and validation, it can be liberating to find that within you are the tools to discover calm and happiness independent of external conditions.
Once you know Mindfulness can be practised anytime and anywhere.