The ultimate aim of meditation, much like the use of magic mushrooms, is to develop awareness, calm, and insight. To practice meditation means to be present with your feelings, thoughts, and breath without attachment, judgment, or reaction. As Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn has said, “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” Meditation trains you to find solace not in temporary pleasures but in the peace, joy, and freedom that arise from letting go and living in the present moment.
Meditation is often encouraged as a core practice on the path to enlightenment or self-realization, and can be used to elevate consciousness on individual and collective levels. Meditation may also be used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, or pain.
It’s best to integrate a regular meditation practice (a few minutes a day) into your daily life rather than practicing in spurts (two-hour sessions once a month). Consistency leads to the best results and can help you adapt seamlessly to the practice.
Meditation trains you to be an observer of your experience and loosens the grip of your ego over your personality. Meditation is not about stopping or getting rid of thoughts, but rather accepting and opening up to whatever arises. It prepares you to sit with discomfort and the unknown. It helps you develop the habit of accepting each experience as it is rather than forcing it to be how you want.
These attitudes are valuable to cultivate before, during, and after the psychedelic experience as they will better equip you to deal with any difficult truths that may arise. The practice of meditation can also help prevent certain psychosomatic symptoms such as nausea or panic attacks and provides a smoother overall experience. A long-term meditation practice has been shown to increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, which means the conscious mind will be more likely to remember the experience and understand how to make sensible decisions after it.
You can practice meditation regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs. Pema Chodron remarks, “Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we’re doing rather than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we’re doing. The key is to wake up, to become more alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves.” The practice of meditation isn’t about becoming something other than what we are. Rather, it’s about being content and open-minded.
There are numerous meditation techniques and themes. Methods include insight meditation (Vipassana), breath awareness, visualization, and loving-kindness meditation (Metta). You can practice meditation alone or in a group, in silence or with audio guidance. It can be helpful to try different methods and find what suits you best. Once you discover a teacher or method you resonate with, it’s advisable to stick with it for some time instead of continually searching for a “better” option.
Having a teacher or guide when you are starting out is essential, and you can connect with them either in-person or online. Your meditation teacher can help you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your progress.
Here is a basic guide, along with a few resources you may find useful as you start your exploration:
Dhamma – free 10-day Vipassana meditation retreats around the world.
Headspace – online guided meditation resources via a website and mobile app.
Insight Timer – smartphone app and online community for meditation.
Waking Up – smartphone app with meditation course by Sam Harris and lessons from spiritual teachers and great thinkers.
