I'm not sure why, but it seems like regular meditation in training is often neglected nowadays. Meditation was always one of the most important part of my training and it still is today. It becomes a habit and a way of always keeping the mind clear, in or outside of the dojo. There are hundreds of meditation techniques with all kinds of purposes, from stress relief to goal setting. Meditation doesn't always have to have a specific technique or purpose either. Sometimes you just know something is bothering you or stressing you out, but you can't quite identify it. Often, people achieve a kind of meditation through physical activity and sometimes it's by just lying down and breathing. Whatever it is, just take the time once and a while to let whatever thoughts surface, free of any distractions. Thoughts will rise and fall and just take a moment to give each one the time and attention it deserves. Something this simple can really open the mind and improve clarity.
However, sometimes goal setting is important also. For the times when I'm meditating with a specific purpose, there are some visualization exercises that I like to use. They both involve the concept of time travelling. In a certain context, we can detach ourselves from the present and take an honest look at where we're at in our lives and a realistic idea of where we are headed. With an honest perspective, we can then make adjustments to maintain a certain control over our lives. The two exercises I use the most involve a vision of myself many years down the road looking back and the other is a younger version of myself looking at me now. The questions in both scenarios are the same. What would you change? What negative aspects would you like to replace? What's working out well that you would keep? What aspect of your life is still present in all 3 versions of yourself?
Exercise 1: Looking Back
The first meditation drill I like to use starts with sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. Take a few minutes to breath and clear the mind. Just concentrate on inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. After a few minutes, your body should relax and the random thoughts of your day or week should calm down. At this point, try to picture yourself at twice your age now. It doesn't matter where or in what context, just so that you create a clear image. So now, your life has two halfs. Now visualize that this older version of yourself has someone acquired the means to travel through time. You have access to a time machine, but it can only take you to the first half of your life. Take some time to really think about this. What age would you re-visit? Are you visiting because it was a good memory that you want to relive or was it something bad that you wanted to change about your history?
For myself, the answer changes from day to day, depending how I'm feeling. When it comes to training and what I| would revisit in the first 30 years of my life, there's never just one answer. I see myself going back to when I was injured and in physio and I would try to talk myself into staying positive and that I'd be back, stronger than ever, in 7 short months. There are other, more personal, times that I would also visit and help myself through. There are other times that I would love to go back to and visit. Some days, taking the time to appreciate the best times is exactly what I need. Don't dwell on them too much, but keep those memories for times when confidence is low. I like to visit myself when I was training for my black belt. That was a good time, at my best and ready to scrap. The important thing is that you can find a time that you would like to go and change for the better and another time that was good memory that you would like to remind yourself of.
Exercise 2: Back to the Future
So after the first exercise, keep that good memory fresh in your head. For the second meditation exercise, take a moment to being that person again. For just a minute or two, remember what it was like to be that person. Now imagine if that same person, the younger version of yourself, was given the same chance your older self had. Visualize that this version of yourself was given the chance to travel into the future and meet yourself today. Think, in that mindset, about how they would react to your lifestyle, health and general attitude.
My experience usually makes me feel pretty lazy. I can see this younger version of myself, a recent black belt, healthy and uninjured and planning to fight and train every day. I know there were times between him and me now that I would never have wanted to admit would happen to me. Despite those few things, I'm confident that I would be as proud about my life as I am today, living it. This isn't just for the sake of patting yourself on the back, but more just to keep yourself in check at all times, like your best self would want.
Just Do It
I hope these two exercises help. I use these regularly, along with many others, to try and keep an open, clear and focused mind. It isn't always easy. Life comes along and happens and will take up a lot of your thinking and focus. That's normal, but sometimes it's up to us to take back the wheel. Everything in our lives deserves some thought, but that should be up to us at all times. These exercises help me do this. If these don't seem like something that would work for you, that's fine too. I do recommend, though, that maybe you at least try to just close your eyes, breath slow and let any thoughts surface. Sometimes, you'd be surprised at what was there. My martial art teacher would often lead us through a guided meditation after training. A visualization that always helped was to let every thought in your head be represented by a bubble. Your conscious mind being the surface. He would then instruct us to let every bubble, at its own pace, make its way to the surface and just pop. Once the thoughts that you've been neglecting receive the amount of attention they require, they just go away. This often helps me clear my head of stress and worry. If that kind of exercise works, try taking it a little further and try the two exercises mentioned above. Good luck!
Jordan Bill
Fight or Die
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