Just Sit: A Meditation Guidebook for People Who Know They Should But Don’t

234 Pages·2016·4.63 MB·English

by  Sukey Novogratz

DEDICATION
TO OUR FAMILY

CONTENTS
COVER
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
AN EXTREMELY BRIEF HISTORY LESSON
CHAPTER 1:
KEEP IT SIMPLE: INSTRUCTIONS FOR SITTING
CHAPTER 2:
WHY AREN’T YOU MEDITATING?
CHAPTER 3:
JUST SIT, NO MATTER WHAT
CHAPTER 4:
DIY MEDITATION: DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
CHAPTER 5:
THE BODY ELECTRIC
CHAPTER 6:
MIND GAMES: WHO IS RUNNING YOUR SHOW?
CHAPTER 7:
MEDITATION AND YOU: WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE IN THE
WORLD?
CHAPTER 8:
EXERCISES IN MINDFULNESS: BE IN YOUR LIFE
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CREDITS
COPYRIGHT
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

PREFACE
O
ne dusty sunlit evening in the summer of 1963, Elizabeth’s father and
Sukey’s father-in-law, Robert Novogratz, went for his usual postwork run,
hoping to shake off the day with a little sweat. Robert was a 26-year-old
army officer, stationed outside of Detroit with his wife, Barbara, and their
first two children. Not too many years earlier, Robert had been an All-
American football player at West Point. Since then, and throughout his
military training, he’d been committed to maintaining a disciplined
exercise regimen.
On this particular evening he was a couple of miles away from home when
a police car pulled up.
“Freeze!” one of the officers yelled. Then, to Robert’s surprise, the two
cops jumped out of the car and grabbed ahold of him.
“What are you running from?” one of them asked gruffly.
Robert, confused, stood frozen like he’d been told. “I’m exercising,” he
said.
The cops looked him over suspiciously. It was 1963. Regular people didn’t
just go out for a pre-dinner jog.
Robert took out his military identification and handed it over. “I swear,
Officers, I’m just out for a run. I like it—it keeps me in shape and helps me
to unwind after a hard day. That’s all.”
The officers continued to eye him warily.
“Okay, sir. We’re not going to arrest you. But we are going to drive you
home.”
And so, like a common criminal, Robert got into the backseat of the police
car. When they arrived at the house he’d said was his, the officers escorted
him to the door to make sure. His wife verified his claim—and had a few
questions for her husband after the officers left.
Today, this whole scenario seems laughable, especially now that most of us
exercise, or at least acknowledge that it’s a good thing to do. Meditation
has now become the modern-day equivalent of what jogging was a few
decades ago—though it’s catching on in the mainstream, in many places it
is still viewed with skepticism, even resistance or derision. As a culture,
we’re past the point of total denial of meditation’s benefits, but not yet to
the point of firm acceptance of it as a healthful practice in the same way as
regular exercise or eating vegetables or not smoking. People might still
look at you like you’re crazy for sitting motionless on the floor, gazing off
at nothing, but they probably won’t call the cops.
Back in the 1960s, people didn’t jog, and they ate artificially flavored
gelatin and called it salad. Fifty years later, hundreds of thousands of
Americans participate in marathons every year, and quinoa and leafy
greens are considered staples of many of our diets. Fifty years from now, it
very well may be that the practice of meditation is simply a given. Because
anyone can do it, even you. So keep reading. Then put down this book and
sit.
INTRODUCTION
MEDITATION IS NOT FOR SISSIES
I
t’s true what they say: Meditation will change your life. It can make you
healthier, nicer, more patient, a better parent, a kinder and gentler spouse, more
creative; it will lower your blood pressure and improve your sleep; it’ll help you
lose weight, lose wrinkles, have better sex, get through grief, deal with trauma,
love more, and fight less. Meditation will make you shine.
On top of that, it doesn’t require a huge time commitment; we’re talking about
only twenty minutes a day. That’s less time than watching a sitcom or getting a
manicure. And it doesn’t cost anything. You don’t need any special equipment.
And the stigma that you are either a dirty hippie or a cult member (or both) if
you meditate are long gone. So basically, meditation is awesome, and the
rewards of the practice far outweigh the effort.
But there’s one small catch: You actually have to do it. Planning to do it, talking
about doing it, fantasizing about how blissed out you will be one day at the
ashram . . . none of it counts. That’s the bit that stops most people from
meditating—the actual sitting and meditating.
So what gives? Why is it so hard to just show up?
We’re assuming here that you aren’t meditating, at least not on a daily basis—
otherwise you wouldn’t be reading a book about it. Here’s the thing with
meditation, once you learn how to do it and do it daily: suddenly all sorts of
positive changes tend to come, and come faster and easier than ever (and they
tend to be stickier, too). Meditation is the best tool for change that we know of.
Whether you want to lose 20 pounds, leave a bad relationship, or just be nicer in
traffic, meditation will help you get there. And the longer you do it, the less it
feels like a chore, and the more it feels like a treat—so much so that most people