Since the day you were born you have been reaching out and attaching to people and things. Because our five primary monitoring senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell are all outwardly oriented, it’s not surprising that we seem addicted to external stimuli looking for the next fix. Our modern information age has only exacerbated what I see as a global attachment disorder where our minds are the masters, whilst we act like powerless slaves to insatiability. Clearly the advertisers know this and keep feeding the fires of consumerism, whilst we experience diminishing peace, freedom and joy, and our beautiful planet gets ravaged.
The shift required is from mindless attachment to mindful detachment, which is where the practice of meditation may be the conscious vaccine to the pandemic of unconscious materialism. Part of my emancipation from mental slavery has been as a result of daily meditation. Since doing the Transcendental Meditation course eight months ago, I have been enjoying the benefits of a twenty-minute escape from all the external stimuli, morning and afternoon. There are other practices which help us become masters of our own destiny, but meditation is foundational.
The reason meditation works is because we get control back of our minds. We learn to observe our brains spontaneous thinking patterns whilst at the same time bringing our thoughts back to our original objective. This could be a mantra, a sensation – be it breathe, a sound, a smell, a touch or even a taste. So, we get to use the very senses that took us out of ourselves, to get back into ourselves. The process begins by intentionally attaching to the objective, understanding that our minds, initially, are like wild stallions that will charge off, and when they do, we simply observe, acknowledge and gently bring our attention back by favoring our original objective. And so, we sit and observe the dance of the mind, as we get to actively and consciously participate, practicing the art and science of attachment, detachment and attachment.
Now this may sound like a complete waste of time, but it really isn’t. Scientific studies of the brainwave activity during meditation indicate that the brain goes into a deeply restful and peaceful state, which re-energizes the body, supports the immune system and rejuvenates the mind. We gradually become empowered, free and more creative. We discover a place of peace, freedom and joy within, and a complementary space of extraordinary life without. I encourage you to make it your business to learn how to meditate every day and see how your life benefits. For more information, please contact me – psychologist in Fourways.