Most people think that to meditate, you have to sit quietly in a lotus position (legs crossed, the right foot resting on the left thigh)\u00a0 chanting a mantra.\u00a0 When I learned Transcendental Meditation in the 80\u2019s, that\u2019s exactly what I did, 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening.<\/p>\n
Sitting like that gave me the feeling that I was in a meditation pose meant exclusively for meditating, and if anyone were to come into the room and see me, it would be rather obvious what I was doing.\u00a0 But what I was doing had more to do with what was going on in my mind, than the position I was sitting in, and that, I\u2019ve come to realize, is something you can do in any position, including sitting down drinking your morning cup of tea or coffee.<\/p>\n
Meditation is designed to quiet your mind and put you in a state of relaxation and peace. By focusing on your breathe,\u00a0 your thoughts can come in and out of your mind more easily without attachment to them.\u00a0 This focus and concentration allows for inner transformation to take place, which can take us to a higher level of awareness.<\/p>\n
The discipline of sitting quietly to achieve this kind of relaxation, peace, and awareness has wonderful benefits like reducing stress or anxiety, but not everyone has or makes time to sit on the floor with their legs crossed and eyes closed, but would like to realize the advantages of meditating.\u00a0 So, can you, if you don\u2019t sit in a traditional meditation pose like a Buddhist monk?\u00a0 I think you can, and here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n
1. \u00a0When you wake up in the morning be aware of your thoughts.\u00a0 Allow them to come in and out of your mind by observing them.<\/p>\n
2. \u00a0Continue being aware of your thoughts when you do your morning ritual like brushing your teeth, showering and getting dressed.<\/p>\n
3. \u00a0 Make a cup of tea or coffee.<\/p>\n
4. \u00a0 Find a quiet place to sit.<\/p>\n
5. \u00a0 Focus your attention on drinking your tea or coffee.<\/p>\n
6. \u00a0 Feel the warmth of your drink on your lips, and going down your throat.<\/p>\n
7. \u00a0 Be aware of how it tastes.<\/p>\n
8. \u00a0 Feel the pleasure it gives you as you drink.<\/p>\n
9. \u00a0 If a thought distracts you from enjoying your tea or coffee, put your focus back on the pleasure it gives you by the taste and feel of it.<\/p>\n
10. \u00a0 Be aware of not rushing to finish your tea or coffee.<\/p>\n
11. \u00a0 Stay present as you drink what is left of it.<\/p>\n
12. \u00a0 Take a moment to hold your finished cup of tea or coffee, feeling the appreciation and gratitude of it as a gift to being alive.<\/p>\n
13. \u00a0 Get up from your chair slowly.<\/p>\n
14. \u00a0 Put your cup down and begin your day with the mindfulness you feel being in the present.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Meditating is something everyone can do.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re sitting in a lotus position chanting or drinking a cup of tea or coffee, you can put your focus on the here and now by concentrating on what you\u2019re dong with awareness.\u00a0\u00a0 Practicing a form of meditation will help you go through the day staying in the present and remaining mindful of everything around you.<\/p>\n
Even if having your morning tea or coffee is at your local Starbucks or Coffee Bean, you can sit there, although it may not be quiet, using this meditation technique to transcend the noise or talking around you by focusing and concentrating on mindful drinking. There\u2019s a great story about a Taoist master teaching his sons how to meditate at a busy, crowded park.\u00a0 When they questioned their father as to why he was teaching them how to meditate in such a noisy place, he replied \u201cIf you can learn how to meditate here, you can meditate anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything we do is an opportunity to turn it into a meditation by allowing ourselves to be in the present, and focusing on whatever we\u2019re doing with awareness. If you\u2019re someone who would like to meditate, but don\u2019t feel you have time to do it, you can experience it while you\u2019re doing something like drinking tea or coffee, and it will become more than just drinking.\u00a0 It becomes mindful drinking, which takes it to a whole other level.\u00a0 You become aware of yourself drinking your tea or coffee with clarity of mind and a feeling of inner peace.<\/p>\n
It sure beats drinking a cup of tea or coffee in your car, rushing in traffic, trying to get to where you need to be, your mind racing everywhere other than being in the present.\u00a0 I call that drinking on the go, not drinking in the now.<\/p>\n
(Posted on Huffington Post 11\/14\/2012)<\/p>\n
(Ora Nadrich is a certified Life Coach with a private practice in Los Angeles, CA. Her unique, practical method helps her clients attain happiness and fulfillment by teaching them to look inward and connect to their authentic selves in order to reach their goals. Ora is also a writer, speaker and facilitator of a popular women’s group focusing on inner awareness and a constructive, alternative approach to dealing with life’s challenges. A book detailing her method will be available in 2013. In the meantime, to learn more about Ora and read her previous blogs, visit www.oralifecoach.com<\/a>. Email:\u00a0 ora@oralifecoach.com)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most people think that to meditate, you have to sit quietly in a lotus position (legs crossed, the right foot resting on the left thigh)\u00a0 chanting a mantra.\u00a0 When I learned Transcendental Meditation in the 80\u2019s, that\u2019s exactly what I did, 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. Sitting like that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[830,829,201,828,832,831],"class_list":["post-3603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-column","tag-lotus-position","tag-meditating","tag-meditation","tag-morning-cup-of-coffee","tag-ora-nadrich","tag-starbucks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3603"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3611,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3603\/revisions\/3611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}