Zen meditation practice can have tremendous benefits on your daily life. Taking a moment out of the day to be mindful for a few minutes can help us manage stress, enhance our perception of well-being and become spiritually healthy.
Zen is a lifelong practice in which its century-old methods are impossible to exhaust. There are many intensity levels of Zen training. For example, the occasional practitioner who meditates at home every once in a while, to more dedicated ones who may partake in some form of formal training at a dojo or temple. And of course, there is monastic life for those who desire to submerge themselves in practice in a genuinely daily life scenario.
I don’t have any actual research to back this, but I’m pretty sure most people fall in the first two categories: those who meditate at home every once in a while, and those who are a bit more dedicated and actually sit in a group with a Zen teacher. Monastic life is, of course, not for everybody.
I have been an on and off memberof the first two categories since I first sat in Zen meditation 20 years ago. I have meditated at home regularly, irregularly, and in a group setting at different dojos. Over the years I have also attended Zazenkai (overnight training sessions) and Sesshin (intensive retreat) under the guidance of a Zen Roshi (teacher or master). Of all these experiences by far the most challenging one is always to maintain a consistent practice on my own.
It is hard to maintain a consistent practice. There is no way around it. When you practice meditation at home, you’re accountable to nobody but yourself. Like I mentioned earlier, maintaining a consistent practice by myself is very challenging. Although in the last two years I have been sitting at the dojo every Friday for 20 minutes, I have failed multiple times at keeping a lasting practice on my own. I pondered on this to try to figure out why is this the case. Recently I’ve taken up the challenge to tackle once again the herculean task of developing a consistent meditation practice at home. However, this time around I’m making some changes I think are the key to crack this nut finally.
Before I begin, I have to say there is no secret to creating a meditation habit. In fact, I don’t even think you need to develop a habit to meditate consistently at home. What you need to have is desire. If your desire to engage fully in Zen meditation practice is not present day after day, moment by moment, no tricks or hacks will ever succeed in creating a consistent practice. The only habit you will develop is wishing you could practice meditation consistently.
Furthermore, I would like to note that I am not giving, in this short article, instructions on how to meditate. If you need to learn how to meditate, there are countless books written by people who are more qualified. Even better, if you can, find a Zen dojo or temple to learn how to meditate in a group setting from a teacher.
Schedule
In the past, I always meditated either when I felt like it or when I had time. Too many times it became too easy to find an excuse and skip a session and eventually drop it altogether. This time, though, I’m giving myself a schedule. While daily meditation practice sounds great, the reality is that I need a day off, so I’m doing six days a week instead. I’ve experimented with morning, afternoon, evening, and night sitting sessions and I’ve decided to do nights. It’s the best time for me. After the kids go to bed, I take a shower, sit for 45 minutes and go to bed. It’s a nice way to end the day.
Space
When I was younger and lived with my parents, I meditated in a room I shared with my brother, so that made it hard. For the longest time, I sat in my studio or office, but it was always annoying to have to move stuff around, set-up the cushions and put everything back after. I know it’s petty, but it’s a psychological impairment because it makes you not want to deal with it and it becomes obstructive. I loved that during Sesshin my cushion was always there. Nobody moved it or messed with it. There was no set-up or break down. I knew if I was ever to maintain a consistent practice I needed a place where my cushion would always be kept. Last Spring I finally cleaned up my attic and turned a little nook into a tiny zendo (meditation hall). Kids and dog are off limits. It’s my space. Always clean and ready. Nobody touches or messes with it.
Attire
I change into gi and hakama, just as if I was meditating at the dojo when I’m sitting at home now. Wearing proper attire for meditation has been a game changer for me, it is not only practical but also psychological. Changing into meditation clothes is a way to effectively get in the correct state of mind needed for meditation. I keep the gi top and hakama in the attic next to the cushion, and it takes less than a minute to put them on. Sitting while wearing my gi and hakama makes me feel like I’m at the dojo and this feeling helps keep me connected to my larger community of Zen practice. I don’t know what took me so long to do this because it’s the same as when I put an apron on when I cook. Looking the part gets you in the zone.
Time
Burning incense is the traditional way to time a meditation session. Most incense sticks used for meditation lasts somewhere around half an hour to forty-five minutes. I find it difficult to light incense in a small space; the scent is too strong, and it makes me sneeze. In the past, I have set the timer on my phone, but the damn thing keeps buzzing and beeping with notifications which can be incredibly distracting. It’s hard not to check your phone when you hear the sound of a new text message or email.
Recently I’m relying on a meditation app called Enso. It’s simple and does what it needs to do: time your meditation practice without any distractions. The use of bell sounds is a welcome feature also.
Timing your meditation session is critical. The key is consistency, not length. You will benefit more by meditating for 20 minutes 3-5 days a week than for 1 hour once in a while.
Not just sitting
Zen meditation is but one tool among many in the Zen tradition to help us reach a state of total awareness. It is a powerful tool, indeed, and the most common one. Zen meditation allows us to work with our body, through breath and posture, to develop strongkiaiwith a sharp mental and spiritual state. However, such experience of total immersion to the point that there’s no separation between us and the activity we take part in can be had in other ways besides sitting crossed legged for 45 minutes. For me, brushing Japanese calligraphy and Aikido training have the same effect as seated meditation. Cooking and woodworking are other activities I have used to help me be aware and become one with my surroundings. I have come to learn this is not an excuse not to sit in meditation, but an opportunity to engage fully in other aspects of my life, to carry on what I have attained on the cushion into my daily life. Otherwise, all I’m doing on the cushion is conditioning my body to do time.
I’m not claiming victory yet, mostly because I don’t know what meditating consistently actually means. For now, the goal is to sit for 45 minutes six nights a week. I don’t know how long I will be able to keep it up, but does it matter? I’m saying yes at the moment because I don’t really have an agenda with this but to simply meditate.