029 Meditation: Steadiness (sthira) Within

Dear Listeners,People ask me how they can slow down the chatter in their mind. This is the one of the many pursuits in the realm of being a human, no? My suggestion is that each person approach this in a multi-layered manner. Often the question arises when considering anxiety, clinically speaking an aspect of it (in terms of treatment) tries to address a nervous system that has trouble being at rest. Here in this post, I’m going to speak from a meditation perspective versus clinical. So when I suggest a layered approach, it not only means seeking quality counseling, considering the appropriateness of medications/supplements and a mind-body approach, today I’m focused on place and setting. Over the years I’ve become increasingly aware of how much buzz we humans live with, which is not only reflected in the loudness of people, machines, technology, artificial light, etc… it is also in the constant commotion. Suburban areas are not so quiet any more, at least in the US. Recently I became acutely aware of this on a novel level - After about 10 days of driving around quite a bit, I rested a few days in one very very quiet place with a tiny population. The cell service was weak, someone passed the house maybe twice a day. In the midst of my stay, in the silence of the house, I noticed a rhythm of thoughts that persisted, as if out of habit. Though I was in a comfortably quiet place, my mind was running some pattern I didn’t notice before. It is analogous to having a shadow program running in your computer which sucks up a little bit of the energy. Once that program is closed, other programs run more smoothly. This pattern appears to have existed a long time. My approach was simply noticing it, staying with the breath despite the discomfort, and doing this withouth a goal (meaning not pushing it away, not falling into it either). Just staying with it. As Kabat-Zinn said once (I paraphrase) ‘putting out the welcome mat’ for the thoughts. So I just stayed with it. Eventually (about a day or two later) it left my mind. After a few years of a more intentional practice to quiet the mind and body and understand my true nature, a moment like this happened. So my suggestion to the person asking the initial question proposed; stick with a mind-body practice that appeal to you, find a meditation style you can engage, place yourself in environments (from time to time) which aid this process, consider the input (stimulation) that enters your mind (and reduce it), and and find ways to empty out your mental dust bin. In the end, this allows the head to surrender to the softness of the heart. Thank you for listening. This post is public, please share it with anyone you think it might help.The kitchen is a place I clear my mind, this is a second try at cast iron corn muffins :) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit evolutionmedicine.substack.com/subscribe