In short: Meditation is a few quiet minutes a day in which you stop doing and simply sit, breathe and notice. It won’t solve everything, but it starts everything: you become more aware of yourself, and from there you begin to choose differently, in what you eat, how you rest and who you spend your time with. The effect builds up with practice, so a short sit every day does far more than a long one now and then.
It’s late afternoon. You’ve been busy since you got up, you’ve ticked off a good part of your list, and yet you feel as if you’ve achieved nothing that matters. Your shoulders are tight, your head is full, and when someone asks how you are, you say “busy” without thinking. Tonight you’ll go to bed tired, sleep not quite well enough, and start again tomorrow.
If you recognise that, I’d like to suggest something that looks like the opposite of a solution: sit down and do nothing, on purpose, for a few minutes a day.
“Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment chop wood and carry water.”
This Zen saying is about daily practice. The wood still has to be chopped and the water still has to be carried. Life doesn’t change on the outside. What changes is the person doing the chopping and the carrying.
Why does doing less help you achieve more?
There are days that flow and days that don’t. On both kinds, it’s easy to believe that there are more pressing things to do in order to achieve more. The emails, the washing, the phone calls. Sitting still comes last on the list, if it’s on the list at all.
And yet we can achieve so much more by doing less. That “less” is found when we spend time, regularly, in a state of being instead of doing. The challenge is to walk that fine line: to be a doer in the physical world, with all its wood and water, without ever forgetting that we are human beings.
We all forget. We forget most of the time, and we find other things that seem more important. But what is more important than becoming more of who you truly are? You do that by sitting quietly with yourself. If you’re wondering where to begin with your own personal development, the answer is really simple: meditate.
Why isn’t a good night’s sleep enough any more?
Our bodies have changed very little over a very long time. They were built for short bursts of danger followed by long stretches of calm. Now look at an ordinary day: the alarm, the news, the traffic, the screens, the messages that follow you into the evening. Your body treats each of these as a small alarm, and it rarely gets the all-clear.
Sleep used to be enough to clear the day away. For many of us it no longer is, and on top of that we don’t sleep very well either. So the tension stays, layer on layer, and shows up as tiredness, a short temper, aches and a mind that won’t switch off. You may know some of these from the hidden signs of stress.
That’s why a simple practice like meditation has become, for many people, almost a survival tool. It gives your body and mind a deep kind of rest while you’re awake, and a daily chance to put down what the day has piled on.
What does meditation really do?
Meditation is not the answer to everything. It’s the catalyst for everything. What it develops and expands, quietly, is your self-awareness, and self-awareness is what so many practices for feeling better and happier are really aiming at.
Once you’re more settled in that awareness, you start to make different decisions. You choose different foods. You watch different films and read different books. You spend time with different people, and you find yourself wanting more time in nature. Nobody has to tell you to. One choice leads to the next, like dominoes. The moment you commit to a meditation practice, you commit to a more extraordinary life.
Take one small example. You sit for ten minutes in the morning. Mid-afternoon, you notice that you’re reaching for something sweet because you’re tense, not because you’re hungry. Simply noticing gives you a choice you didn’t have yesterday. That’s how it works, in a hundred small moments.
Does meditation help when life is really hard?
Yes, and perhaps then most of all. If you’re going through something painful or difficult, meditation is a beautiful tool. It lets you peel back, layer by layer, the things that have stuck to you as you’ve grown older: what you were taught to think by society, by your parents, by habit. And on a purely physical level, it allows you to chip away at the stress you’ve accumulated through your life, which is what enables you to thrive.
The loveliest thing about it is that the effect is cumulative. The longer you practise, the more of that build-up you clear, and as the layers come away you begin to see the world through a different lens. You find you can shape the life you want through simple choices and simple actions. You stop accepting “just getting by” for yourself, and you start to draw better things into your life.
How do you start? Try this
You don’t need a cushion, incense or a silent house. You need a chair and a few minutes.
1. Choose a time you can keep
Tie it to something you already do: after your morning cup of tea, or before you cook dinner. The same time each day makes it a habit much faster. It fits beautifully into a morning routine.
2. Sit comfortably
Sit upright with your feet on the floor and your hands resting on your thighs. Close your eyes, or let them rest on a spot in front of you.
3. Follow your breath
Breathe through your nose and simply notice the air coming in and going out. You don’t have to change anything. If you’d like a little more guidance, start with my gentle introduction to the breath or one of the practices in my step-by-step breathing guide.
4. When your mind wanders, come back
It will wander: to the shopping, to a conversation, to what’s for supper. That isn’t failing. Noticing that you’ve drifted and returning to your breath is the practice itself. Each return is like one repetition at the gym.
5. Start small and stay regular
Five minutes is plenty to begin with. Add a few more when it feels natural. A short sit every day will do more for you than half an hour once a week.
If sitting in silence feels too hard at first, a guided relaxation can be an easier door in. Autogenic training, which I teach, uses simple phrases to lead your body into deep rest. You can read about it in what autogenic training is.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I meditate each day?
Begin with five minutes and build up slowly to ten or twenty if you enjoy it. What counts is doing it every day, because the effect adds up over time.
What if I can’t stop thinking?
You’re not supposed to stop thinking. Thoughts will come. Each time you notice one and gently return to your breath, you’re meditating. A busy session is still a useful session.
When is the best time to meditate?
The time you’ll really keep. Many people like the morning, before the day gets going. Others prefer the moment between work and the evening. Try both and see which one suits your life.
Is meditation the same as autogenic training or mindfulness?
They’re close relatives. Meditation is sitting quietly with your attention on your breath or simply on being. Mindfulness brings that same attention into everyday activities. Autogenic training uses set phrases to relax the body deeply. All three calm the mind, so choose the one you’ll enjoy practising.
When should I talk to my doctor?
If stress is affecting your sleep, your mood or your health for more than a few weeks, or if you feel persistently anxious or low, please see your doctor. Meditation is a support, not a treatment. And if sitting quietly brings up distressing memories or feelings, stop and speak to your doctor or a therapist before you continue.
Would you like some help?
Finding a few calm minutes in a full day, and letting them change how you eat, sleep and look after yourself, is one of the things we work on in my group programmes in nutrition and health, such as Six Tuesdays in Montignac. If you’d like to know when the next group begins, write to me at hello@catherinepolet.coach.
Would you rather work one to one? I also coach online. Book a free 20-minute call, and we’ll look together at where a little stillness could fit into your day, between the wood and the water.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet, a holistic nutrition health coach, yoga and autogenic training teacher for more than 30 years, author and speaker. I help people find a way of eating and living that suits their own body, online in English, French, Spanish and German, and in person in Southwest France.
