It’s easy to get caught up in expectations, responsibilities and challenges, with incessant worry, planning, judging and busy-ness. However, this often leads us into a ‘stressed’ state of mind and body, i.e. any state of mind/body that is not relaxed and clear (how often is that?). Not only is stress tiring but when we are lost in ‘stress’, we are distracted from what’s really important. We get knocked off balance and away from what matters most.
Many people choose to speed through life, busy, distracted and impelled by an annoyed, critical and worried inner voice fearful about what’s to come and what isn’t right, rarely stopping for self-awareness. What would life be like if they lived with their zen on? Win-win?
Zen is about seeing where we get caught up in our thoughts, feelings and mental stories and being able to quickly shift out of a stressed state and back into a relaxed and clear state of mind and body. We learn to free our mind from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego (identification with thoughts and feelings), to self-regulate and live a more empowered life. In other words, living life with our zen on.
Without rambling thought and judgment, we are totally free to act and react to life and relationships without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts.
Oh man, how good would that feel?
Zen, a school of Mahayana Buddhism, originated in China during the powerful and prosperous Tang dynasty. During this period (A.D. 618 to 907), Buddhism produced a brilliant culture through stability that greatly influenced all nearby countries in East Asia. (50 million people or so with their Zen on!) Originally known as the Chan School, Zen later developed into various schools.
Zen is both a state of focus (a developed skill) and a way of living (skill integrated into daily life). The skill is to maintain a state of relaxed awareness and focus on mind and body (and world), developed through meditation practice, and the intention is to apply the skill in daily life, that is, to live mindfully.
Zen is therefore about viewing life clearly, without the distortion created by our thoughts. Being Zen involves a calm attentiveness and actions guided by intuition rather than conscious effort — we become one with whatever we are doing, immersed in the flow of the task at hand. In other words, Zen is about living without suffering or struggle. On board yet?
How does one get their Zen on? Practise. That’s all. Understand the basic tenets of meditation and put them to practise. The more you put in, the more you get out. Much more. As little as 10 minutes day (and there are 1,440 minutes in every day) can help you to function in a more relaxed, calm and clear state, regardless of what goes on around you.
Ok, no one’s perfect. 10 minutes of meditation a day sounds simple but is not easy. Creating new habits and stepping out of one’s comfort zone is difficult, and we are not always up for more difficulty. So, make it sustainable by making it work for you. Do what you can. Start somewhere, make a commitment to yourself and build a healthy, new habit of getting your Zen on. You won’t regret it.
And to be clear, anyone can meditate. If you’ve tried and feel you failed, or it didn’t work or it’s just not for you, chances are you’re not clear about what it is and isn’t, or you haven’t practised enough to develop the skill. Find a good teacher, take some lessons, join a group or use an app and find the way that works for you. Meditative practices take many forms and there’s a technique or vehicle out there for everybody.
Much like traditional Zen meditation techniques, modern, western mindfulness techniques develop our ability to be aware of whatever happens, internally and externally, without judgmental thinking and to let words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them, as we practise. And that’s it. Although, that is also the challenge. To just sit in a relaxed, aware way without getting lost in thought, emotion, sensation or perception? Try it! It’s not easy, but it feels good and it’s fascinating what you discover.
The more you practise, the easier it gets and the more you notice the benefits. Benefits like sleeping better, feeling more relaxed, happy and less bothered by things, being more focused and productive, improving health and gaining self-awareness. Healthy mind, healthy life.
In Australia we use the word zen to describe feeling peaceful and relaxed. No surprise, as this is the benefit regular meditators experience as they go about their daily lives, able to manage the same responsibilities and challenges with a sense of peace and ease. Meditation is like power de-stressing-and-self-regulation training.
That you could live exactly the same life but feel peaceful and relaxed as you go about doing it, why wouldn’t you want that? It is up to you, after all. Your stress, your struggle, your dissatisfaction, and also your peace, your balance and your happiness. It all flows from your state of mind: open/closed; relaxed/stressed; love/fear. Choose to live your life mindfully – get your zen on - and see where that gets you.
Reasons to get your zen on.
1. Know yourself. Who’d be so bothered/self-centred wanky /(insert personal judgment), right? I hear your suspicion, but to be frank, you’re missing out.
2. It’s a New year. New decade. New start.
3. Get happy. Being happy promotes healthy habits and behaviours, improves sleep, weight management and immune function, lowers stress levels and increases life expectancy and quality of life (not surprisingly), as multiple studies have shown.
4. Build your resilience. In an increasingly chaotic, traumatic and changeable world, we could do with more emotional strength, balance and resilience to help us through. Fortunately, resilience skills are learned and not inherited.
5. Find peace.
6. Be more effective. Through being healthier, clearer, more focused and creative.
7. Be more connected. Increase self-care, gratitude, kindness and compassion.
To any sceptics who’ve made it this far, are we that disconnected from our own nature that we consider contemplation and self-reflection to be navel-gazing and a waste of time? Attempting to look after everything else without looking after yourself is a recipe for disaster. It is only when you function in a balanced, calm (centred) and receptive (aware) state that life’s responsibilities and challenges can be easily managed. When we are stressed, angry, fearful, depressed, defensive or forceful, life tends to become more difficult. When we expect something of, judge or resist our experience, we tend to struggle and suffer. “Be the change you wish to see.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
“The mind is responsible for so much of our experience, but it is not the source of our peace. The mind can never give us peace. It is always seeking. Our peace lies behind the mind, in our innately peaceful awareness.” (Rupert Spira)
Image by Ingmar Hoogerhond | Unsplash