{"id":1431,"date":"2011-06-29T11:34:08","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1431"},"modified":"2011-06-29T11:34:08","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T15:34:08","slug":"meditation-made-simple-seven-considerations-to-get-you-going-four-you-can%e2%80%99t-do-it-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/06\/meditation-made-simple-seven-considerations-to-get-you-going-four-you-can%e2%80%99t-do-it-wrong.html","title":{"rendered":"Meditation Made Simple: Seven Considerations to Get You Going :: Four: You Can\u2019t Do It Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the most frequent complaints I get from my meditation students is the concern that they can\u2019t meditate because they can\u2019t concentrate; can\u2019t clear the thoughts, clutter, and commotion from their minds.<\/p>\n

Relax. The goal of meditation is not<\/em> clearing the mind of thoughts or making it a \u201cblank slate\u201d (at least not the way I teach meditation). The goal of meditation is not to relax. Imagine pressuring yourself to relax? How is that going to work out?<\/p>\n

Relaxation is fairly reliable by-product of meditation, but it is not the primary goal. Just pay attention to what is happening now, without preconceptions, agendas, and conditions, and see how you feel. You just might feel relaxed.<\/p>\n

Meditation is a process not a product. In fact, we ourselves are processes not products. And when we treat ourselves like products we\u2019ll only be frustrated. Likewise, meditation is about paying attention to the process and since processes are neither good nor bad, whatever is happening now can be OK. There is a real opportunity here to \u201cgo with the flow\u201d \u2013 the process of what is happening now.<\/p>\n

If your thoughts are racing, notice racing thoughts. If you\u2019re laden with regret or worry, notice regret or worry. You\u2019re still meditating; you\u2019re not doing it wrong! The difference is that you are aware of these things and with practice you can make choices about where your attention goes and get skilled at disentangling attention from stories that are distressing.<\/p>\n

Meditation is not about attaining a special state; it\u2019s about paying attention. It\u2019s not about achievements or outcomes. Rather it\u2019s about noticing whatever is happening without judging that as good or bad; without generating opinions about it. Relax the opinions and real relaxation may not be far behind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most frequent complaints I get from my meditation students is the concern that they can\u2019t meditate because they can\u2019t concentrate; can\u2019t clear the thoughts, clutter, and commotion from their minds. Relax. The goal of meditation is not clearing the mind of thoughts or making it a \u201cblank slate\u201d (at least not the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8,9],"tags":[54,122,197,21,198],"class_list":["post-1431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","tag-attention","tag-meditation","tag-mind","tag-mindfulness","tag-relaxation"],"yoast_head":"\nMeditation Made Simple: Seven Considerations to Get You Going :: Four: You Can\u2019t Do It Wrong - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/06\/meditation-made-simple-seven-considerations-to-get-you-going-four-you-can\u2019t-do-it-wrong.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meditation Made Simple: Seven Considerations to Get You Going :: Four: You Can\u2019t Do It Wrong - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most frequent complaints I get from my meditation students is the concern that they can\u2019t meditate because they can\u2019t concentrate; can\u2019t clear the thoughts, clutter, and commotion from their minds. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1434,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions\/1434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}