An End of the Year Meditation

There are many traditions within the martial and other holistic arts that can help you turn a dojo, studio, or private home (or office) space into a mini universe. I would like to share two of these customs with you, bowing and meditation, and combine them into an activity that's all about feeling good and charging your circuits with a vibrant synchronicity-a nice way to use the waning of one year to fuel the rise of the next.

Bowing to all of life. Traditionally, bowing is the first thing you do upon entering a dojo (martial arts studio) and the last thing you do when you leave. It is a reminder to you and everyone that you come and go in peace. The bow is a form of respect used in the martial arts and throughout Asia. It is considered proper etiquette in a dojo, kind of equivalent to a handshake. In sparring, the gesture helps build an atmosphere of good sportsmanship, trust, and safety-the idea is that no one is there to hurt anyone else. Bowing is also done in recognition that within each person is a portion of universal energy. This may sound blasphemous, but traditional martial arts teaches you to bow to another person because you see this universal energy in that person and as such you are both connected - to each other and to a greater and bigger good, in peace.

As the end of the year approaches, try this. Pick a day, any day. Then spend your chosen day putting your attention on looking for the good in everyone you encounter, as if watching a sunrise over the ocean, for the first time-no criticizing. Smile, even if just in your mind. Then do the same with other things in your environment: places you go, music you listen to, nature. At the end of the day, see how good you feel, how much better it is than having gotten into a clash with a co-worker or a total stranger ringing up your purchases at a department store.

Later on, try this meditation at the end of your day. Try to make it last about 20 minutes.

• First calm yourself down by taking a few slow, deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out your mouth.
• Now measure your breathing by counting 1-2-3-4 as you breath in, then hold your breath for the same count (or whatever is comfortable), and then release your breath, again to the same count.
• Use the bottom of your lungs to pull in the air. This will force you to breathe abdominally.
• Put your focus on the sound of your breath; as though you are listening to white noise or the flow of water. Whenever your mind starts jumping around, put your focus back on the sound. As you do this more often as a sort of "brain training," when you are out-and-about your daily activities and not meditation, just making the measured sound and listening will begin to send your mind the message to call up this calm yet alert mind-set.

Try to slow your breathing down. Optimal is around six breaths per minute, however, do whatever is comfortable for you. Continue this breathing exercise for a few minutes as long as it feels good. Note: it takes some getting used to in order to get everything in synch, but with practice you can make it feel pretty natural and soothing.

Next try this visualization:

• Close your eyes.
• Center yourself. You can do this by as a friend of mine says, Taking the elevator "down" or placing your attention on your body's center, just a few inches above your navel.
• Continue your measured breathing.
• Visualize some natural thing in your environment; perhaps a tree or a rock or the like. Let your attention drift straight through your chosen item, try to feel it going through, into the sky, far into the horizon, into space, beyond stars and galaxies, into a place of just light and vastness.
• Put your attention in the middle of this light.
• Feel its presence in every particle of space trailing back to where you began your journey at the center of your body.
• Continue breathing slowly and luxuriously.
• Listen to the sound of your breath; and let it guide your mind back to your body.

Repeat this process often in your coming new year. Repetition will send your mind the message that you want to remember it. This will help you create a memory of your special place of exhilarating peace so that you will have it whenever you need it. Enjoy.

Photo: Leo Blanchette