Meditation 101
By: Joey Maiocco
Tags: Free Mp3, Personal Development, DIY, Guided Meditation, Meditation

Modern life is noisy. The endless clamor of expectation. The static of relentless pitches for our time and dollars. The screaming ideologies demanding our allegiance. All this and more, blasting us daily, with no end in sight. And smack dab in the middle of that wall is a giant three-pronged outlet that we voluntarily plug our soul and self into every day.

So how to yank out that cord? How to replace the static and the bustle with the sounds that sustain us? The whispers of those we love. The lapping of waves. The hum of breeze on the grass. Your own footsteps in a museum. Your own heartbeat, rhythmic and easy. Eternally present. How do we pull that plug and take control of our noise?

Here’s how I did it.

My Personal Noise Machine

First, here’s what my own personal clang and clatter looked like. A couple years ago I was laid off. At the time I had two small children — one of whom was newly born — a spirited canine, and my wife. We ended up making the difficult decision to move from Southern California back to Cincinnati, where we’re from. Sure, one could do spiritual gymnastics to spin this as a “Midwestern homecoming” of sorts, but it felt more like failure to me.

We moved in with my pregnant sister-in-law, her husband, and their daughter for about 6 weeks while we waited for our stuff to arrive and came to terms with the decision we had just made. As you can imagine, the stress piled up in a hurry. I was bombarded by inner voices with a running commentary on expectation, success, responsibility, legacy, integrity, art, life. You know, normal stuff.

I heard those inner voices, and in such a packed living space I also felt all the outer, expectant eyes of everyone involved — whether they were actually on me or not.

So, I left.

No, not left left. Come on! I just went to the library around the corner.

David Lynch to the rescue?

I didn’t know quite what I was searching for, but the library seemed like a reasonable place to start. I wasn’t looking for myself, because I think I had a sense of that. I think I was looking for a way to bridge the gap. To bring that self — the core of me — closer to my daily, waking reality. I was looking for a way to turn down the noise. And, ironically, I found it while reading about David Lynch, whose character in his famed show Twin Peaks, appropriately, is often cranking down his hearing aid to better manage the world’s racket. David Lynch, I learned, is deeply into transcendental meditation.

Transcendental meditation is just what the words suggest — a practice of focused attention that helps you transcend, or rise out of the chaos of the world around you. It helps you unplug from the clutter and noise of modern life, which is a lightning storm of stimuli that taxes our mind and body in ways many don’t realize. Especially in today’s reality.

Take the seemingly innocuous moment of driving down the street. As you pull out into oncoming traffic your synapses are firing like crazy — you’re seemingly focused on the car in front of you, but that’s only one spark in the storm. You’re also subconsciously processing the sky above you, the weather, the other cars, the street signs, the comfort of the seat, the news on the radio, the route you’re taking, the shopping list you’ve forgotten, the fit of your pants, the cat on the sidewalk, the state of the world. And still, that’s just the beginning.

So as I learned more about Transcendental Meditation “TM” the more I began exploring how I could better incorporate this into my own life. Yeah there’s Headspace and other meditation apps, but it seemed very gimmicky to me. I wanted to understand. So I started where any “modern day” explorer starts: YouTube.

I first found this link and this link to help get me started on my journey. I realized early on that for this to work I needed a guided tour. So I started listening to these links when I would go to the library to figure my stuff out. The first few times I fell asleep right there at the desk. Head slumped over, sitting up, hat pulled down over my eyes. I know what you’re thinking, this guy’s killing it for a Tuesday…am I right?

Anywhoo, I started to see the benefits almost immediately. I felt more rested, more clear. I began to recognize when I felt “cloudy” and would take that as a sign that I needed to take a quick 15 minutes and clear my head. I became addicted to it.

The Mechanics of Meditation

Think about brain waves like waves on the ocean. When the ocean is calm you’re having the best day in the world. You’re sailing your boat, surfing, eating fish tacos on the beach with a gorgeous sunset. But when that wind starts to pick up, those waves can quickly combine into a storm — thrashing, noisy, wet, violent. But with just ten to fifteen minutes of focused meditation you’re able to settle those waves and still the waters. You’d be surprised.

The short-term effects are profound. Your brain activity will relax. Calm will set in. Your body and mind will feel rejuvenated. You’ll be able to think more clearly. Your cognition will improve. And with regular practice, the long-term effects can be life changing.

The benefits of meditation are out there and apparent, but I never really took to it before this. You see, I had tried meditating before, but I would just sit there trying not to think, and would get frustrated at myself thinking as I was trying not to think.

Who knows, maybe it was divine intervention that steered my way that fateful day in late August. Maybe it was dumb luck. But, either way, I am eternally grateful I was able to find this little gem.

Back to the story. After a few weeks I found myself craving, you know…meditation, but tracking down these clips on YouTube every time seemed counter intuitive. Plus ads would occasionally pop up, and nothing is less “zen” then hearing a Squarespace ad in the middle of clearing your head. So with the beauty of technology I created my own hybrid track that I share with you today.

This free track is just one of a great many meditation resources out there, each with different means of guiding you inward. I encourage you to use this as a starting point for your own journey. Search around and see what else speaks to you, and give it a chance to change your life.

For now, though, download this MP3 to your device of choice. Turn off the ringer, turn off the alerts from ESPN, Twitter, Cat Fancy, and the New York Stock Exchange. Find a quiet place to sit. And listen. Try to do it in the morning to set your day up for peace and mindfulness. Repeat in the afternoon, or as needed. I even have a night time loop I use when my mind turns on in the middle of the night. Just press play and let it rip :)

Try to do this at least once a day, and stick with it. As I said, don’t be afraid to seek out other teachers and practices…but do it. If you’ve made it this far you’re reading this post for a reason.

At this point, I’ve been taking part in guided meditation for 2+ years, and the experience and results have been profound. In a word, transcendental. Get it, see what I did there? Better sleep, communication, mindfulness, the ability to be present with my kids. But let me be clear, this isn’t a cure-all for what life throws at you; this is merely a tool to help you when your seas get rough.

So that’s that for now. Download the meditation and give it a try — you won’t regret it.

And, in the meantime, may your waters be calm.