Topic: Meditation
I have recently made a discovery that should be welcome news to anyone with an interest in meditation, and as an added bonus the same principle can be applied to martial arts training. My discovery has been this: less really is more, and I have found a way to significantly improve my meditation practice by spending less time on it.
Let's face it, meditation can be really difficult, and sometimes it is even more difficult than others. Anyone who has ever tried to meditate on a regular basis will know that some days quietening the mind can just seem like an impossible task. Sometimes you have something on your mind that you just can't let go of, other times you might be in an emotionally charged state (either positive or negative) which disturbs the mind, or it may just be that some days you just can't stop your mind from wanderring; diet lack of sleep, or recent intake of alcohol (say, the night before) are all common factors that can affect the concentration.
In the past when I have been finding meditation difficult I have always tried to work through it. I always thought that this difficulty just shoed how much I needed to meditate that day, and I obstinately refused to give up. But it has likewise been rare for me to break through the barriers on these days to have what I would feel to be a successful or productive meditation session.
Recently, on a day when I was having particular trouble, I relented and decided to give up. But before I stopped I decided to briefly try something which I now call my ten breaths technique. Basically what I did was to promise myself I would finnish very soon, and then to try to concentrate as fully as possible for only 10 breaths. Knowing that it was only for a short time allowed me to put aside the distraction and concentrate my mental control into a short burst, and therefore to actually get 10 breaths worth of good quality meditation done.
Afterwards I could really feel that I had been meditating, and it was clear that this brief 10 breaths had been more effective than if I had carried on as usual and done another 10 minutes or more. Quality definitely counts more than quantity.
Martial arts training is slightly different, becuase often when you are stressed, distracted, or whatever it can be really nice to loose yourself in the physicality of the training. But the quality over quantity principle still stands, particularly if you are learning or practicing technique rather than doing physical conditioning. If you practice doing something sloppily then you can program yourself with bad habits which can make it harder to do it right in the future. I would definitely say that if you are not ready and willing to put 100% commitment into a training session then it is better not to do it at all.
