At the beginning of this semester, I’m here to say that you should meditate. Find a time, a space, anywhere really, and do it. We’re all stressed about classes, but meditation can give you a moment of rest. I would spout all the research associated with mindfulness or meditation, but there are dozens, if not thousands of articles that prove its worth. While I was on Cross-cultural in 2021 with the Thailand group, six of us had the wonderful opportunity to do a meditation retreat. 

We learned a technique from Maechi Joy. It was based in the Buddhist tradition where their core belief is that Attachment leads to sadness. In order to reach Enlightenment, a person must remove all attachments. While you don’t have to become Enlightened, removing Attachment isn’t about becoming so removed from the world that you no longer love. Senior Joseph Seitz and I had arguments about whether love had to be attached and he brought me around to believe that love can even be richer without attachment.

He said that attached love is the idea that your life will be worse without that thing, idea, or person. Instead, if you are unattached to that thing, idea, or person, you can appreciate it even more. If we are attached to something in the first way, we are setting ourselves up for sadness because all things are finite on this earth. 

This gives a basic framework for the type of meditation we did. I will introduce sitting meditation, and I would encourage you, whoever you are, wherever you are, to spend at least five minutes doing this. Yes, right now, I’m interrupting your reading, are you attached to it? 

You will be sitting in a chair or on the floor with your arms in a neutral position, wherever is comfortable. You will close your eyes or soften your gaze. In this time you will say internally, rising as you inhale, and falling as you exhale. If a thought comes to you, repeat in your head, “thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, …” until you are able to let go of it. Do the same for any sound, taste, feeling, or sight that you notice. Set your timer for five minutes and… Go!