Zen Meditation
by Grace Phong
The following text has been adapted from the video above. For the full, unedited version, please see video.
Introduction:
In this meditation, or sitting, spiritual director and mental health therapist Grace Phong introduces us to Zen as a way of life and a practice, as derived from Zen Buddhism. The emphasis of this practice is on mentality rather than on a rigid, “correct” way of practice. Openness and willingness to accept and trust the process is what’s most important.
Grace also borrows from Taoist influence in Taichi, which views all of nature as embodying the concept of yin and yang, shadow and light. Even the shadow contains a bit of light, and even the light contains a bit of shadow. Nothing is rigid. In meditation, as in life, even if we struggle or feel lost, we can still trust the process, remember that life is ever-changing, and find hope again. Meditation is about activating our yin part, our quiet part, in contrast to the yang energy of our daily lives, with all our thinking and worrying. By sitting with calmness, we can keep recycling, changing, and moving our yin energy.
Setup and Props:
A big pillow helps give the ankles a soft place to rest. Sitting on smaller pillow on top of the bigger pillow allows for a longer sitting time. If you have knee issues and don’t want to sit on the floor or cross-legged, feel free to sit on a chair.
A timer helps mark the start and end of the meditation time. Grace uses an app on her cell phone.
Meditation (5 minutes):
Set your timer. Then simply allow yourself to sit comfortably, cross-legged if you’re able. You don't even need to close your eyes too tightly, because that becomes very rigid. Just gently allow your eyelids to relax. You can even allow light to come through. But if you want to close your eyes all the way, that’s fine, too.
You can form a circle with your hands in front of your belly. The circle serves as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of things, how things keep moving and merging. Or some people like to meditate with open arms, palms facing upward, with the back of the hands resting on the knees.
For the first 2-3 minutes, usually you need to wait for your yin energy to calm the yang energy in your very active brain. So it’s ok to feel unsettled. You can move your body, your facial expression, the muscles on your face. Then take a couple of breaths and trust the process. Allow your body to adjust accordingly. Give yourself permission here, allow yourself to rest. Maybe your brain is still active, and that’s ok. Just use your breath to help you tune in. Your yin energy will catch up, and your brain will catch up too. It’s give and take. Don’t force yourself to breathe deeply. Just allow yourself to breathe naturally. Breath is a gift.
Sometimes I will have little smile on my face. Almost like bringing the outside inward, to help me to feel peace: Everything is OK. All is well.
If you like, you can use one word to help you center like light, peace, or Lord.
If there's a lot of noise around you, just simply accept that. It's part of life. It's movement, it's ever changing.
Enjoy every single breath – know when you're breathing in, know when you're breathing out.
When the time is up, just gently open your eyes. Allow your body to move a little bit. Even do some breathing with movement.
Give thanks for the time. Allow yourself to keep sitting. Be. Smile and relax.
Born in Hong Kong, Grace Phong has a strong passion for body and holistic well-being. She is a spiritual director and a mental health therapist, and has been doing Zen meditation for 20 years.
