Vamsee Jasti

We all know meditation is good for us. The benefits include peace of mind, happiness, stress-relief and a better quality of life among other things. But the actual mechanism—why sitting quietly produces such profound benefits—remains murky.

After experimenting with different techniques, I’d distill it down to one thing: mind training. Mind training is the ability to follow through on what you’ve decided. Think about it. You are not the same thing as your mind. You know what you should be doing but your mind has a plan of its own. How often have you resolved to work on something—a side project, your apartment—only to end up in a YouTube rabbit hole instead? The gap between deciding and doing takes enormous discipline to bridge. Sometimes this discipline can come in the form of deadlines enforced by external circumstances.

Meditation creates an environment that establishes the hierarchy of control between you and your mind. By stilling your mind and focusing on your breath, you are training your mind to listen you. When time comes for decisions and actions, the training enables you to do what you really should be doing. No more excuses for not going to the gym or not eating healthy or not developing yourself personally. I have a simple technique for meditation. Count from 1 to 8 in one long exhale and count back from 8 to 1 in one long inhale. Repeat this for the duration of your meditation. If you occupy your mind to count while you breathe, it’s impossible to think of anything else. It’s a simple way to occupy your mind to do what you want it to do.

I am nowhere close to being able to fully control my mind, but after meditating for a couple of months now, I am more disciplined than I used to be. Maybe it is just placebo, but it is a placebo that works. I suggest starting small. My fiancé and I meditate every night for 7 minutes before going to bed. It is amazing how hard it is to stay idle without doing anything for such a short period. It reminds us every day how easily your mind can own you. I have a long way to go but doing this consistently over the last couple of months has made a world of difference. I look forward to the journey.

If you have never meditated before, I suggest that you start with this excellent book called Why Meditate by Matthieu Ricard.

“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee