10 Tips For A Successful Meditation

You’ve heard of all the benefits to meditating but have you ever given it a try? When I first tried it I failed miserably. My first attempt was to sit there for 15 minutes while trying to “think of nothing.” I could probably only pull off around 5 seconds of thought free time before I was thinking about what’s for dinner, I should call my mom, I need to get the car serviced, etc. I would then get annoyed for losing focus and force myself to think of nothing again. And so the cycle continued.

What worked for me was a much easier way to get started meditating. These are the tips I’ve learned:

1. Find Quiet. Turn off the TV, radio, cell phones, sign out of messenger, mail, and any other thing that can interrupt you.
2. Start with 5 minutes. I found a 15 minute meditation a little too long to start off with. Instead I backed off down to 5 minutes and found that a much more manageable starting point.
3. Sit Comfortably. I made the mistake of sitting cross legged on the floor without cushions. My ankle put pressure on my other leg’s shin bone which was a small ache to begin with but eventually grew into a nasty pain. I now sit naturally on a chair (trying not to slouch) or cross legged on the floor with some pillows.
4. Adjust if Uncomfortable. Trying to ignore a small ache until it grows into a pain is just pointless. The pain will scream for your attention and continually interrupt your concentration. So instead, adjust your seating. After you’ve meditated a few times you’ll learn how to sit in a way that will keep you comfortable for the duration of your meditation and so you won’t have to adjust any more.
5. Loosen Up. I sometimes carry a lot of tension that I’m not aware of until I focus on relaxing. I wear glasses and I’ve found that I have tension in my ears to hold my glasses in place. Weird! To relax, I scrunch up my shoulders to my ears and then slowly let them fall down. I feel the muscles in my face relax. I relax my cheeks, my mouth, my shoulders a little more. Loosen my arms. Feel my hands get heavy. Oh, and I also take off my glasses. 
6. Close Your Eyes. I find closing my eyes entirely works for me. Others have had success with keeping their eyes half open but I find that I just end up thinking about what I’m looking at.
7. Don’t Think of Nothing. It’s a mistake to try and fight thoughts and force yourself to “think of nothing”. If you haven’t meditated before you may not be aware that you’re not really in control of your thoughts. If you’re not in control you’re going to have a really hard time trying to control your mind by thinking of nothing.

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The Daily Zen: 6 Reasons to Care Less

Certain aspects of our lives require special care and attention.  For me, these areas are fitness, diet, friends/family, music and academia.  For you, they may be entirely different.  Whatever your core values may be, they are appropriate to care about; we need to have certain attachments in order to make life feel meaningful. 
But, outside of that realm, much of what we care about merely wastes energy.  We devote attention to buying superfluous items, searching for chemical antidotes to our problems, and others judging us.  These are not worth caring about, so, to be blunt: stop caring about them. 

You'll have more energy to think about what matters.
In simple terms, if you walk down the street making eye contact with every stranger you see worrying about what they think of you, you'll miss out on all the enjoyable opportunities walking down the street can provide.  You won't notice the warm sun, a cool dog, or a new shop you want to check out.  Give up on negative caring.

You'll appreciate your surroundings more.
Again, if you're not transfixed on attachments to what you should/shouldn't be doing in a given situation, it'll be a weigh off your mind.  It will certainly free up some of your attention.

You'll be able to focus on necessities. 
Needless caring can grow abstract to a point where it impedes upon our daily functioning.  It's how people end up working at jobs they can't stand, settling for the wrong relationship or going into debt buying expensive designer clothes.  When you care about what really matters to you, and no one else, you'll have more control over how you organize your life.  

You grow more outcome-independent.
Caring less about a select few things could positively carry over into other facets of your life.  Outcome-independence means not being attached to how things turn out.  Many of the situations we worry about are out of our control.

Goodbye anxiety.
If much of our anxiety stems from the uncontrollable, why suffer over it?  Less caring = less anxiety.  

Hello charisma.
There's a reason musicians, artists and writers are often more charismatic than accountants, car salesmen and teachers: many times, they've sacrificed a conventional lifestyle for the sake of doing what they care about rather than what society expects of them.  

This fosters a natural air of relaxation or carelessness.  Obviously there are exceptions, but the point is this:

when you stop worrying about what other people think of you or if you're conforming to institutional standards, you'll become a more interesting person-- not only to others, but also to yourself. 

Get ready for Tiger's roar at the Masters

This is a win that will resonate. Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill by 5 shots. Nobody got even close, not even G-Mac who just spent his Sunday afternoon watching pure trajectories, flush strokes and fluid putts.

“He’s always a force to be reckoned with when he is playing his best golf,” Poulter said. “And obviously, he’s playing a lot of good golf right now. The shots he’s hit, just looking at the highlights, he’s got a lot of his game back. And when he starts rolling putts in, he’s dangerous. So he’s going to be a force for everybody at Augusta.”

Woods added a chapter to his own book Sunday. He won for the 72nd time on the PGA Tour—one short of Jack Nicklaus in second place on the career list—and 84th time worldwide. It was the 16th time he won by at least five shots, and his seventh win at Bay Hill tied the PGA Tour for most wins on a single golf course. Woods owns both marks. He also has won seven times at Firestone. Woods goes to No. 6 in the world, returning to the top 10 for the first time since May 22.

“Heading home now and I can’t stop smiling. Thanks to Otown fans and everyone watching for all the love. Get well soon, Arnie,” Woods tweeted about three hours after his win.

See you in Augusta!

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