Keys to Meditation Part 1 – Letting Go

Have you ever noticed how the mind wants to focus on solving problems during meditation? It can seem daunting to quiet its incessant chatter. The objective of meditation is to connect with our spirit, the part of our nature that transcends and includes the busy mind. The key to meditating effectively is to remember that there’s really no “I” that’s trying to meditate. Rather, meditation is our true nature: meditation simply reminds our mind—through radical experience—that our true nature is much bigger and more unrestricted than it.

Taking Off the “Me” Suit

At the beginning of your meditation, it is helpful to hold the intention that you will let go of your “me” for this time and connect with your spirit. You might imagine that your “me” is like a suit with a zipper down the front. Simply unzip and remove your “me” and place it gently in a corner of the room. You can always come back and get it later, but you won’t need it now.

The essence of meditation is pure “yin,” untainted receptivity. Rather than trying to meditate, simply allow yourself to be meditated. Feel the life force in your body, the spirit beating your heart, the chi coursing through your meridian system, the electromagnetic fields surrounding your body.

Something beyond your mind is animating your mind and body. What is it? Something is pulling you toward itself, to develop yourself, to fulfill your deepest potential, to realize your Self. Put your attention on that.

Feel free to let your busy “me” mind do as it wishes, because it isn’t you. No need to struggle with it. Just allow your attention to come back to the mysterious subtle force that animates your mind and body. What is it? From where does it originate?

Now observe the feeling, and observe yourself observing the feeling. What is aware of being aware? Does this awareness require any effort?

If you notice any effort, simply let it go. Have you noticed something?

 The more you let go, the deeper is your meditation.

This is because your conditioned mind is now experiencing—literally entraining to—your true nature as spirit.

Letting Go of Everything

Many wonderful thoughts and creative ideas can emerge during meditation. It can even seem advantageous to hold on to such thoughts; after all, they’re good, aren’t they?

A key to remember is that the chattering mind is strengthened by holding on to thoughts in a clinging manner. The spirit, on the other hand, brings more love, light and wisdom into the world when the mind is able to let go.

Yes, this seems counterintuitive, but I’ve found it to be true. The more I let go of the creative ideas that come to me and release them into the infinite potential of Spirit, the more they grow and actually see the light of day.

During your next meditation, try one or more of the following approaches to letting go:

• Any time you notice that you are focusing on your mental chatter, simply let go of the chatter and become aware of non-thought. Now allow yourself to become aware of your awareness.
• Imagine letting go of everything you’ve ever wanted. Just imagine it. How does it feel? This is your true nature. Your spirit is in need of nothing. Now observe the feeling, and observe yourself observing the feeling. Anchor both the feeling and the awareness in your body, and hold the intention to carry this awareness with you throughout the day.
• Whenever creative ideas emerge in your mind during meditation, thank Spirit for those beautiful ideas and imagine planting them into the fertile soil of Spirit by letting them go in gratitude. No need to worry; now that these spontaneous ideas have been entrusted back to your spirit, it will nurture them and bring them back into your awareness at the most opportune time. Simply agree to write them down as soon as your meditation is over. If you don’t remember all of them immediately afterward, no worries. Your spirit is a better steward than your mind. Trust me; they’ll come back.

This practice accomplishes at least three things:

1. It reminds your mind that it isn’t the seat of your identity or your ability to create, that connecting with and expressing your spirit is your highest priority and joy.
2. It teaches your mind just how trustworthy and dependable your spirit really is when it comes to bringing more creativity and life into your experience.
3. It makes life easier.

Space and the Art of Letting Go

In the moment just before the Zen archer releases the arrow to strike the bull’s-eye, all inner static vanishes with the emergence of effortless clarity. Before any action has begun, the martial arts master stands poised in infinite silence, completely centered and ready for anything.

Scientific research reveals an interesting neurological phenomenon correlated with inner stillness and grace. In every case in which this experience has been studied neuroscientifically, phase synchronous alpha brainwaves have been observed in the left hemisphere. 1

More of our innate potential is liberated whenever we experience such flow-states, because the energy normally required to maintain inefficient uses of attention is available to flow unobstructed. The question, however, is: How do we experience this Flow more often, at will? 

The answer discovered by Dr. Les Fehmi, an innovator in the field of neurofeedback, is both deceptively simple and unquestionably effective: by imagining space. When inviting his clients to envision, say, the   space between their ears, the same phase synchronous alpha brainwaves found in the previously mentioned studies appeared his clients’ EEG readings. 2

Simply becoming aware of spaciousness—even imagining it—evokes the natural state of effortless, open attention and repose in the present moment. Experience it for yourself right now:

Allow yourself to imagine the space between you and the screen in front of you.

Become aware of the space being occupied by your left arm.

Could you allow yourself to imagine the space within your heart?

Could you imagine the space permeating your body?

As you sit quietly, could you allow yourself to be weightless?

Could you imagine the space within your spinal column?

Could you imagine your body as pure light and disappear into it?

You may have noticed from this simple practice that you feel lighter and more open and relaxed. This spacious awareness has been producing brainwave patterns similar to those found in elite athletes while performing in exceptional flow-states.

Whereas our habitual attention tends to contract in its primary focus upon objects, the art of letting go in the moment fosters gentle, expanded awareness of the space around us and within us. It’s as simple as releasing our attention from its ingrained attachment to “things” and opening up to peripheral vision and the experience of space.

Adopt any of the following approaches to integrate more of this awareness into your daily experience:

In meditation, allow yourself to become aware of non-thought.

When thoughts arise, become aware of the space between you and the thought.

Allow yourself to become aware of the space that permeates the thought.

As feelings arise, dive into the infinite space that pervades them.

Allow your awareness to attend to the silence in which all sounds, thoughts and feelings arise.

Allow your attention to fall on the space between the objects around you.

Imagine all people and objects as being saturated with space.

The more aware you become of space and openness, the more relaxed and present you will be, the more you will entrain to the natural flow of Tao.

1 Hemispheric Asymmetry, Cardiac Response, and Performance in Elite Archers. Landers, D, et al. 1990. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 61(4)351-59.See also Pre-Shot EEG Alpha-Power Reactivity during Expert Air-Pistol Shooting: A Comparison of Best and Worst Shots. Loze, GM, Collins, D, & Holmes, PS. 2001. Journal of Sports Sciences. 19(9)727-33.

2 Les Fehmi, PhD, and Jim Robbins. (2007.) The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body. Trumpeter Books.

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