Moderate stimulation meditations are what you would do throughout the day almost unconsciously to regulate yourself and keep functioning well.
You might notice yourself jiggling a leg or tensing a muscle. You could tap a foot or chew gum, or stroke your beard or rock in a way where nobody knows but you.
These are all comfortable latches that you can (and should) use at work and during difficult conversations. They enable you to function better; it’s a simple as that. The small latch keeps your dopamine from redlining; not only does it stabilise your dvar but it keeps the tap open so your baseline is more regular and energy levels stay constant. It helps you focus and stay calm.
Walking is one of the best moderate-stimulation meditations around. Walking meditation has been around for millennia, probably as long as we humans, and we need to bring that conscious practice back to life.
Instead of rushing to the shop and back, sugary snack in hand and ready to create another little dvar spike, turn it into a meditation. Do not set a target; do not stare at your phone and re-read that text message.
Let your eyes drift half-closed and focus on the motion of your legs. Let the world wash over you. Do not focus exclusively on the sensation of your legs, but rather build a nice comfortable rhythm and feel everything; the sounds, the air, the smells, the earth under your feet. Allow your hands to drift and play like water if nobody is around. Just be, and continue to be, until your thoughts are drifting over you like the breeze on your arms.
Rocking and rubbing and humming and chanting are excellent moderate-intensity meditations. I tend to carry a small lump of meteoric iron in my pocket, misshapen and heavy, which I will rub gently with a thumb as I drive or walk or talk. This kind of totem can be very grounding.
Humming doesn’t need to be loud; a sub-vocal resonant hum can be instigated almost anywhere without people even hearing, especially if you have earplugs in. Do not try to make a song; instead find the frequency that resonates with your current state and just repeat it for long exhales.
And don’t forget the eyes-half-closed thing; samurai eyes, dristi eyes, 残心 (zanshin). You see without seeing, letting the entirety flow through you rather than focusing on one thing at the expense of them all.
I love to end the day with a hot bath and hum. This feels so nice, and the effects build over time. After 10 minutes of humming in the water it feels like the stresses of the day have washed away. I think the vibrations reach the synapses and help them to flush junk, and there’s evidence that it increases nitric oxide which increases bloodflow to the brain. You can crank it up a notch by putting earplugs in and laying down with your head in the water - the vibrations get right into your cranium that way.
The king of them all, for me, is knife polishing. For you it might be knitting, or something else where you take a formless or ugly thing and turn it into something beautiful through nothing but repetitive actions.
With the knives I will identify a thought or a physical bodily sensation and then I will choose a blade and touch it to the stone. I will start to polish and identify a scratchypoint and just lean into it, eyes half closed and head at whatever angle enables me to best access the sensation. I will transfer this physical sensation to the knife and go at my instinctive pace, working it out of my body and mind. At the end, if necessary, I will write. This is how I composed the 88 hells, and what saved me from complete insanity when aripirazole tore my ego asunder.
Experiment and find what is right for you. Do not make it about productivity or money because that will become another latch. Do not make it about speed or betterment or even ‘successful meditation’.
All you need to do is be, and move, and breathe, and have a regular rhythm so that your brain has a constant flow of dopamine so you can process emotions and memories.
There is no finish line. Stop when you want to stop. But while you are doing it, give yourself to it completely.
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