Meditation is something you’ve probably been hearing about more and more. Maybe your sister mentioned that she thinks it might help your stress, or your wife keeps hassling you just to try it a few times to see if it helps your chronic insomnia.
But you don’t need to sit cross-legged and chant for hours (or whatever) because you’ve already found a solution to all your problems. High blood pressure? Take some medication. Can’t sleep? Pop a sleeping pill or drink beer ‘til you start feeling drowsy. Unfocused at work? Crush a Red Bull.
You’ve got life all figured out!
Meditation always seems to involve wearing white, flowy clothes and beaded necklaces and contorting yourself into positions you haven’t been able to do since you were a kid. And all to do what, exactly? Think about nothing? Sit in silence? Who has the time for that crap?
Meditation is for people without real problems, not men like you who bust their butts all day in hard hats and high-vis gear. Issues like stress, high blood pressure, and poor sleep require real solutions, not just sitting around humming.
But if it did do something…would you try it? Or would it be too hard to sit with yourself and become aware of what’s going on inside you—the same stuff you try to distract yourself from with scrolling and drinking and watching endless crap TV?
Are you avoiding meditation because it’s too “gay” or because you’re nervous to get real? Are you resisting meditating because of what your buds would think and how it would look, or because you know that what you’re running from is the one thing you really need to face?
Think back to before smartphones existed, when you were waiting for the bus or at the doctor’s office. Remember how you’d sit there and watch the grass move in the breeze or listen to the ticking clock and your breath?
Dude, that was meditation.
It’s not about sitting cross-legged, wearing white, or chanting (although you could do all those things as part of a meditation practice if you wanted to). Meditation is just becoming aware.
It’s just noticing without judgment. Noticing how you’re feeling, how busy your mind is, how sore your lower back is—just noticing it all and not judging any of it. Sitting with those things instead of trying to fix or distract yourself or run from them.
We won’t get into the list of men who meditate (but trust us, it is long) but know that if you do decide to give it a go, you’ll be in very good company. And you might just find that over time, it’s a far better fix for what works for you, without popping pills or downing beers or relying on energy drinks to stay present and focused.
Plus, it’s free.
