{"id":4376,"date":"2016-09-10T15:19:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T19:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=4376"},"modified":"2016-09-10T15:19:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-10T19:19:24","slug":"why-i-meditate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html","title":{"rendered":"Why I Meditate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4383\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/96\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_4195\" width=\"400\" height=\"298\" \/>I awoke at 4:30 this morning to darkness and silence. The dogs reluctantly got up too, although they would have preferred to sleep in. My journey over the next seven hours would not include them and they would quickly re-establish themselves in deep sleep on the couch.<\/p>\n<p>At 5:00 after coffee, I began meditating. My intention was to sit seven 45-minute periods separated by 15-minute intervals for qigong, yoga, and feeding all the animals, including myself. This is what I did this morning.<\/p>\n<p>Following this mini-intensive, I continued to practice in &#8220;real life,&#8221; taking the dogs for a walk in the woods, mowing the lawn, eating lunch, vacuuming, and doing laundry. Throughout\u00a0these activities, I tried to keep my attention fully with the activity, not letting my storytelling mind carry me away. After seven hours of meditation, it was easier to do this, my mind more pliable and less compulsive.<\/p>\n<p>Why would I want to spend my Saturday morning in this fashion? Why have I devoted my life over the past \u00a034 years to meditation practice? Why do I continue to write about it and teach it? To answer these questions, I offer the Four C&#8217;s: control, composure, clarity, and compassion.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Control:<\/strong> This type of control should not be construed to mean that I can control what pops up in my mind. That is not possible. I can, however, if I am paying careful enough attention, exert some control over what happens next. I can engage with whatever pops up or I can redirect my attention to, let&#8217;s say, my breathing body. That type of control leads to composure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Composure:<\/strong> By not engaging with whatever my mind generates (fantasies, worries, stories) then I will be less reactive and more at peace, even if what I am experiencing is unpleasant. Composure could be synonym for equanimity&#8211;that capacity to be with whatever is happening without freaking out and also not checking out. With composed equanimity, I am\u00a0right there with the experience in a way that helps me\u00a0to be more present and clear about what is happening.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Clarity:<\/strong> Seeing the mind&#8217;s process more clearly, feeling feelings more vividly, seeing and hearing more. These are all benefits of clarity. Having creative insights is another benefit. Clarity results in a more accurate picture of what is happening and with that better information presumably I\u00a0can make better responses in the moment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compassion:<\/strong> When I can set aside all my self-referential thinking for a while, compassion naturally arises&#8211;compassion for myself and my imperfections, compassion for others and how difficult life can be, and also empathy for how joyous life can be, as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Four C&#8217;s help me&#8211;<em>and will help you too if you meditate<\/em>&#8211;to enjoy the sweet, ripe fruits that life has to offer. Meditation helps us to get out of our own way and to prepare the mind to meet the abundance that is present, whether this abundance is material, relational, or experiential.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I awoke at 4:30 this morning to darkness and silence. The dogs reluctantly got up too, although they would have preferred to sleep in. My journey over the next seven hours would not include them and they would quickly re-establish themselves in deep sleep on the couch. At 5:00 after coffee, I began meditating. My&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,964,8,9],"tags":[230,1113,1112,1110,1109,1108,1111,1107],"class_list":["post-4376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-meditation","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss","tag-compassion","tag-maintaining-composure","tag-mind-control","tag-mindfulness-in-daily-living","tag-mindfulness-practice","tag-mini-meditation-retreats","tag-seeing-life-clearly","tag-self-guided-meditation-retreats"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why I Meditate - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I Meditate - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I awoke at 4:30 this morning to darkness and silence. The dogs reluctantly got up too, although they would have preferred to sleep in. My journey over the next seven hours would not include them and they would quickly re-establish themselves in deep sleep on the couch. At 5:00 after coffee, I began meditating. My&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-10T19:19:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Arnie Kozak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why I Meditate - Mindfulness Matters","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why I Meditate - Mindfulness Matters","og_description":"I awoke at 4:30 this morning to darkness and silence. The dogs reluctantly got up too, although they would have preferred to sleep in. My journey over the next seven hours would not include them and they would quickly re-establish themselves in deep sleep on the couch. At 5:00 after coffee, I began meditating. My&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html","og_site_name":"Mindfulness Matters","article_published_time":"2016-09-10T19:19:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg"}],"author":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html","name":"Why I Meditate - Mindfulness Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg","datePublished":"2016-09-10T19:19:24+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-10T19:19:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/files\/2016\/09\/IMG_4195-400x298.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2016\/09\/why-i-meditate.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why I Meditate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/","name":"Mindfulness Matters","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Arnie Kozak","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/5f92cf2ae15fbe04e74ca47527ac68d8","name":"Dr. Arnie Kozak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/6ab\/6abd6f3205265768510a13d66ac2aff7x96.jpg","caption":"Dr. Arnie Kozak"},"description":"Recognized as an innovator in the field of mindfulness-based psychology, Dr. Arnie Kozak is northern New England's leading expert in the field. 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\/4376","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=4376"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4384,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4376\/revisions\/4384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}