Zen Meditation in 10 Easy Steps

Studying with Enkyo Roshi from The Village Zendo this past weekend we explored Soto and Rinzai approaches in personal practice of Zen Meditation. Over three days in a Zen retreat which is also known as “Sesshin” we engaged in a sitting awareness technique of Meditation (which I’ve provided below in a simple step by step guide) along with slow and fast walking or absorptive meditation technique.

Good posture and consistency are the most important elements for a successful personal practice – dedicate a time and a space where you can practice everyday (even right when you wake up in bed with your pillow as a cushion if your life schedule is fast paced), with early mornings being best.

When you allow yourself time to enter a meditative state, you enhance the sleep that you just had – Zen Meditation brings you to a state of the deepest relaxation you attain while sleeping in a dreamless state (deepest REM sleep possible) – think of it like adding an extra hour of sleep by taking 15-20 minutes of silent sitting. Also you can visualize your perfect day which enhances the ability to achieve the accolade you wish to achieve.

Studies have just been released these past few months that Zen Meditation increases Grey Matter in your brain (your brain grows) just after 11 hours of cumulative practice. Also just after 8 hours of practice (spread over a few months) you achieve psychological benefits of a more positive outlook on life minimizing our self-defeating inner monologue – it also treats chronic pain as good as medication in recent studies.

There is nothing mythical about the meditative state, it’s simply a relaxed state of awareness where you don’t judge your thoughts – your body mind simply relax deeply allowing yourself to listen to your senses.

This state heightens your Self-Awareness as described by Harvard Universities Daniel Golemen – and the meditative state is carried throughout your day through regular practice – heightening your senses, memory, and connection to yourself and those around you.

Here’s how to approach seated Zen Meditation from the instruction of Enkyo Roshi:

Whatever position you choose, sitting in a chair, sitting or kneeling with a cushion or bench, choose a posture you can hold comfortably for 15-25 minutes.

• Once seated, roll your hips slightly forward, allowing your belly to relax and your breath to move freely.
• Center your spine by gently swaying from left to right in decreasing arcs.
• Push the crown of your head toward the ceiling, straightening and extending your spine. Then relax your shoulders.
• Your head should not tilt forward or backward or lean to the side. Ears over your shoulders, nose in line with the navel.
• Eyes are lowered at a 45-degree angle, looking about three feet in front of you without focusing the gaze. If there is a wall there, look as if you were seeing through the wall.
• Lips and teeth should be gently closed, tip of tongue against roof of your mouth behind the front teeth. Swallow and suck the saliva from your mouth, creating a vacuum.
• Place your hands in the “cosmic mudra (position)”, left hand on top of the right, palms up, tips of the thumbs lightly touching, forming a wide oval. Hands should rest on lap, thighs, or lower abdomen, where they do not create a stress on your arms.
  • This is a bio-feedback point – if there is too much tension in your body your connection between thumbs most likely will be tense as well – take deep breaths and relax your thumbs and body deeper. If your thumbs can’t stay together b/c you are falling asleep then tighten up your stomach and breathing to be more alert.
• The whole point is to find an alert, energetic posture that will allow you to sit very still. Check yourself each time you sit, forming the habit of careful attentiveness to your body posture before practice.
• Breathe in through the nose, letting the air fill your lower abdomen as if it were a balloon, then gently release with a slow, deep out-breath … in and out, in and out.
• Count one on the in-breath, two on the out-breath, three on the in-breath, four on the out-breath, and so on, up to ten. Then begin at one again. If it is more comfortable for you, you may count the out-breaths only and follow the in-breath without counting. If a thought causes you to stray from the counting, just notice that, return your focus to the breath, and begin the count again starting at one.

Although written meditation instructions can get you off to a good start, it is helpful to receive personal guidance from an experienced instructor. Above all, enjoy the experience.

Be playful and patient with the experience – no need to judge your thoughts because there is no set guideline of how many or how little thoughts to have – everyday will be unique and each experience more personal than anyone else would ever know.

Something that helps me in my practice is to let go of the anticipation of achieving something, which causes many to drop their own practice – just be contempt with where you are, and connect with this moment. If anything you’ll be more rested!

Give this Zen Meditation a try and let me know how it goes – if you have any questions then please contact me at anytime, I will be happy to help.