The M Word | Notes From the Best

This course is divided into 2 parts.

Part 1 is all about getting good at meditation and building a morning practice. You’ll find breathwork, mindfulness, silent meditation, gratitude and the love bomb.

Part 2 is meditation to get better at life, for practical, real world situations. You’ll learn how to have a better sleep, eat mindfully, prepare for a big performance, etc.

The balancing breath

This technique allows you to integrate the right and left hemispheres of the brain which is going to help your critical mind and your creative mind to talk to each other.

This is an adaptation of an ancient technique called pranayama breathing. It’s designed to help thicken your corpus callosum (the bridge between your brain’s hemispheres) which will help you connect to your creative brain even under stressful situations.

The method is very simple:

Start by closing your right nostril with your right thumb. Fully inhale through your left nostril.
Now, with your right ring finger, close your left nostril and release all air through your right nostril.
Hold on a moment and reverse the process: inhale through your right nostril and exhale through your left one.

When you feel comfortable you can start imagining that with every inhale energy flows up from the bottom of the spine all the way up and on every exhale you send out all energy through the middle of your forehead.

Come to your senses

It’s important to differentiate between mindfulness and meditation.

Mindfulness is a waking state practice. You’re directing your focus to something specific. This practice was developed for monk’s lives mainly.
Meditation is a deep rest practice. You’re filling your brain with dopamine and serotonin and it can feel very relaxing. This is more of a lazymen’s meditation for a busy life.

Today’s practice is more of a mindful practice where you’ll bring your attention to your senses.

Stress only lives in the past or future and instead of moving away, this technique is made to make you move towards the present moment where you’ll find your bliss and fulfillment.

The first step to do it is to accept what it is right now without fighting it and that’s what this practice allows you to do.

Sit up comfortably with your back supported and your head free
Take some 2x breaths (exhale for twice the time you inhale)
Focus on what you’re hearing, the most prominent sound and keep breathing. Then try to hear the most subtle sound.
Now focus on what you’re feeling, the obvious first and then the subtlest sensations (the clothes against your skin, your heartbeat, etc).
Change the focus towards your sight, even with your eyes closed. Do you see pitch black? Some light passing through your eyelids? Colours?
Switch to your taste. How does it taste? Would you define it as acidic, sweet, fresh…?
And on the next inhale notice what you’re smelling. How is it different from other rooms or spaces of the same area?
Finally, try to integrate them all and broaden your awareness so you can feel all 5 senses at the same time. Keep breathing and enjoy the present moment.

Effortless silence (part 1)

Meditation isn’t about silencing your mind. Thoughts are not the enemy of meditation, effort is.

The only time your conscious mind is completely shut down is during blackout sleep. But in order to allow that, your mind keeps your body in standby in case you have to wake up quickly.

During this effortless silence, the opposite happens. Our body gets a deeper rest than when it’s sleeping and your mind stays in standby.

In summary:

While sleeping your brain is chilling and your body is on guard
While meditating your body is chilling and your mind is on guard

The method:

Sitting comfortably with your back supported and head free, do some 2x breaths (inhaling for 2 and exhaling for 4).
Let your body feel heavy and let the word “one” appear in the back of your mind. Use it almost like a mantra or an anchor going deep into the ocean.
Give yourself permission to get very relaxed, almost asleep and if any thoughts arise just let them happen and return to the word “one”.
To finish just let the word go, as if you were letting the anchor go and slowly return to your room or space.

Effortless silence (part 2)

To further understand what happens during meditation and how this mantra or the word “one” helps, let’s take a closer look.

When you focus on the mantra, your thoughts diminish and your mind gets quieter. It goes on until you enter a state where all your thoughts are gone, and your mind is quiet.

At that point, your body is getting some deep rest and releases stress which manifests in the form of small thoughts that can get bigger and larger and clearer until you recognise that what’s happening is actually a thought.

Then your only job is, when you recognise you’re having a thought, to move back into the mantra or word “one”.

That’s why thoughts are not the enemy, they’re just part of the meditation process.

Practice the meditation explained in effortless silence (part 1) with this in mind.

Watering the flowers (not the weeds)

Today is all about gratitude. Gratitude is one of the strongest antidotes against stress, anger and fear.

Watering the flowers is a metaphor in which you have to imagine your attention as a big hose that waters every thought it focuses on. So in order to water the flowers (or beneficial thoughts) you must spend some time focusing on them. And to avoid watering the weeds (negative thoughts), you have to reduce the amount of time you spend focusing on them.

Even if you can’t come up with anything, the act of asking yourself the question “what am I grateful for?” makes a huge difference.

Since gratitude is such a powerful tool, you’re going to use it in this meditation:

Sit comfortably with your back supported, head free and eyes closed and do some 2x breaths (inhaling for 2 and exhaling for 4) to settle in.
Then think about 3 things you’re grateful for in your professional life.
Think about 3 things you’re grateful for about your family.
Think about 3 things you’re grateful for about your body.
Think about 3 things you’re grateful for about your spiritual life.
Think about 3 things you’re grateful for about your financial life.
When you’re done ask yourself if there’s any other thing that you’re grateful for and let it grow, feel it completely and let it affect you.
Finally write down the top 5 things you’re most grateful for.

If you like, you can start a gratitude journal from now on. Write down 1, 3 or as many things as you want that you’re grateful for. You can do this in the morning or evening.

The love bomb

This is an adaptation of an ancient practice called Love & Kindness or Metta Meditation.

Although it may seem hippieish, sending love to others is a great antidote to fear, releases oxytocin (the love hormone) and is especially useful in times of conflict.

Sit comfortably with your back supported, head free and eyes closed and do some 2x breaths (inhaling for 2 and exhaling for 4) to settle in.
Imagine a person (or pet) who you love sitting 3 feet in front of you. With every inhale feel the love that comes from that person and let it grow in you.
With every exhale send them as much love as you can possibly muster.
After a few breaths expand your reach to your whole room.
Then your building.
And your city.
Your country.
The planet.
And finally send that love to the whole universe. Beyond the solar system and galaxies, as far as your imagination can conceive.
To finish this meditation come back to the space where you are and connect again with the person sitting in front of you. Check how you feel, your body, your mood and set your intention to take this feeling with you throughout the day.

Putting it all together

Now that you have the tools, you can start practicing slowly combining some (or all) of them. Try these combinations:

Balancing breath + come to your senses
Balancing breath + come to your senses + effortless silence
Balancing breath + come to your senses + effortless silence + gratitude
Balancing breath + come to your senses + effortless silence + love bomb

To really benefit from this kind of practice, you must make it a habit.

Meditation works like an emotional shower, it gets rid of the mental dirt you don’t need, but it doesn’t last more than a few days or hours if you engage in stressful situations.

So, to start make it non-negotiable, give yourself the gift of 10 to 20 minutes every day and celebrate, every practice you do is an awesome step you’ve made and as so, it should be celebrated.

Soon after doing this, you’ll get hooked and it’ll become a habit.

Some real-life meditations

These are three examples of guided meditations for real life. I believe that this is one of the best things of the program and listening to them is the best way to practice them, but here’s the outline for 3 of them.

Stress

Start by doing 2x breath until your mind is relaxed
Then move into effortless silence while internally saying the words “let” (inspiration) and “go” (expiration)

Insomnia

Laying down in bed, scan your body and see what sensation is more prevalent
Then notice the next most prevalent sensation and give it your attention
Do it again
Now focus on the point two inches below your belly and quietly count one on the inhale, two on the exhale.
You can increase the numbers but there’s no goal, so if you get to 10 (or whenever you want) start back at one.

Mindful/conscious consumption

Addiction is whenever we consume something that we aim to exchange for happiness.

Ayurveda says that the state of consciousness in which you consume your food is more important than the food itself.

Some tips before eating are:

Do some 2x breath while you boil a glass of water
After it starts boiling, mix it with one third of cold water and slowly drink it, it helps remove the acidity of the body

Steps for mindful consumption:

See what you’re about to consume, see your food, every detail of it
Then smell it, try to get the most predominant and the most subtle smell
Try to hear if it makes any sound
Then take a bite and feel everything while you chew: the texture, the heat, the flavour, etc.
Then feel how it travels down your throat
Take a moment and then take another bite.
Be mindful of how the rest of your body is feeling, especially your stomach to know when it’s full.