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You will likely want more information on
ways of meditating, and a good place to
start is with books and tapes by respected
meditation experts. There are hundreds of
books and tapes to choose from, and you
may have access to classes in meditation
offered by local organizations as well.
You will probably want to try a few approaches
to see which is most effective for you.
You may well find, however, that the times
you need inner calm most tend to be times
when you don't have the option of going
off for ten or twenty minutes to meditate.
That doesn't mean you don't have access
to calmness and clarity of mind. Meditation
will help you to have a better handle on
your mind and emotions at all times during
the day, but there's also something else
you can do: at any point during the day,
you can take a brief pause to calm your
mind and refocus your awareness.
If, for instance, there's a noise that
you hear every so often – perhaps a
co-worker's phone – pause for five
seconds when you hear it. Stop, smile slightly,
breathe calmly and evenly and be aware of
your breath. If you start to think about
something, just set it aside and think,
"Thinking... thinking... thinking."
Try choosing a noise that irritates you,
so that instead of simply fuming, you make
the noise your signal for a pause to refresh
your outlook. You can even stop and think,
"Irritation... irritation... irritation..."
as you watch the irritation appear and fade
away.
This also works if you find your mind
wandering from your work, or if you get
angry or upset. Just pause, inhale, exhale,
and think "wandering" or "angry"
or "upset." Don't fight the thoughts
or feelings; just recognize them, and be
aware of yourself having them. And then
continue what you were doing.
And any time you think about meditating
and find yourself putting it off to do something
else first, pause for five seconds and think,
"procrastinating... procrastinating...
procrastinating..."
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