You need to practice this before meditation
Practical instructions for contemplation
We remove the usual layer of technique and practice to face what is happening directly. Through contemplation practice, we may become more conscious of the subtle layers of experience.
Our many struggles with meditation come down to the same thing: overwhelm. When we sit down to meditate, we get overwhelmed, first by thoughts of an overactive mind, then the emotions underneath that and finally all the physical sensations we experience every moment during the day. This can be so challenging that we avoid sitting silently altogether, keeping ourselves busy enough not to face the sense of overwhelm, or needing some kind of release to feel more calm. Our strategies may work for some time, fighting the symptoms of an overactive mind, but they don’t address the root of our struggles.
We can find technique for meditation that helps us feel peaceful, but even those are a medicine to fight the symptom, not the cause. As long as effort is required in meditation, there's conflict in our attempt to force our desired experience. This creates sometimes more suffering than not engaging in meditation at all. I suggest a different kind of practice as a pre-step to meditation: contemplation. Let me share my personal story as an introduction to this, followed by instructions.
I had to deal with a lot of anxiety throughout my childhood. I couldn't get to sleep because I was afraid I wouldn't get enough sleep. I was overwhelmed by thoughts and emotions whenever there was a quiet moment, so I ended up trying to avoid silence altogether. When I first began my meditation practice, inspired by my father, at the age of 9, I was met with the chaos of my mind. It felt like meditation was making things worse, so unconsciously, I kept forgetting about it. I kept myself busy enough to make the excuse that I couldn't practice.
It was much later that I realized meditation wasn't making things worse; it was revealing what had already been there but hadn't received any attention. By turning my attention toward my experience and contemplating its contents, I began to sense the ocean beneath it. This is my definition of contemplation, which can be practiced like this:
Sit straight to begin with, but be comfortable and don't force anything. Close your eyes halfway so that you can split your attention between internal and external without getting lost in images, which often happens when we close our eyes.
Now, pay attention to physical sensations: notice your breath, your heartbeat, the movement of your cells. Keep everything as it is—no need to change or comment on anything. There are many layers of sensations that we’re not ordinarily conscious of. Go as deep as you can in paying attention. There’s so much movement in our body, even when we sit still. Take your time.
Once you feel your body in full, turn your attention toward emotions. Feel the waves of emotion without labeling or fixing anything. Every moment is different and requires our full attention. This is essential in contemplation practice. Be intentional and notice without judgment.
If you feel nothing, be with that for now and continue to practice for at least some weeks. We are alive, emotional beings, but our connection may be frozen. There’s nothing to fix here, we’re not in therapy. We simply practice to feel and therefore face what is. That implies a transformation.
Once you’re in touch with the waves of emotion, turn your attention toward your mind. What images do you see? What thoughts pass through your mind? We don't push anything away or jump into anything either. We simply watch our mind, like we'd watch a theatre play. Don't fall asleep in the middle of the play. Don’t jump on stage. Don’t run out of the theatre. Just sit there, silently, and enjoy the show, even when it makes you feel uncomfortable. Meditation is not about good experiences but about dealing with all experiences.
To bring the contemplation to a close, feel your whole being in this moment. Body, emotions, and mind. What's your experience right now? And now? And now? Don’t answer this question verbally, but feel what is true for you now. Moments are never the same.
Here’s a summary of contemplation practice: Observe physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts as a way of understanding yourself without making sense of or labelling anything. We remove the usual layer of technique or method between ourselves and that which we observe, and face what is happening directly. Through contemplation practice, we may become more conscious of the subtle layers of our experience.
What do you discover underneath the surface of your consciousness?