Why I Meditate: Finding Peace in Our Hyperconnected World

rtn
The Why I... Series

“What a joy it is to be on an incompleteable path.” - Henry Shukman, Sanbo Zen Master

I actually want to write about my zen practice. But I feel like setting the stage with meditation more generally is a better place to begin.

The world is afire, literally and metaphorically. It’s been almost 20 years since suddenly everyone had smart phones. We started opening and refreshing feeds—no, waterfalls—of problems, tasks, and agendas. Priorities set by companies, organizations, influencers, bots. This technology added hundreds of new voices to our daily experience. Embedded in dopamine, streaming constantly. Directly to you, 24/7.

So, you’re telling me we already got this damn monkey mind that won’t shut up, that fills us with suffering well enough…and now we’re injecting doomscrolling into the mix?

Of course people need meditation. We need it more than ever.

In college, I hit peak rationalist, pure atheism. If it wasn’t hard science, or extrapolatable from hard science, it was woo-woo. Things like yoga why would I pay money to participate in organized stretching?

But in my late twenties, my shift toward wellness began. Maybe it was from my time in Japan, from getting older, or other experiences. Maybe I yearned for spiritual comfort, explanations of the unexplainable that the limits of hard science can't provide. I became open to the woo, and eventually discovered the Mu.

Meditation is a practice that lets you unwind, restore, and work through challenges. There are tons of methods out there. Try them out and see if anything sticks. You might set up reflection time, keep a journal, engage a faith, or try the Wim Hof method.

Yoga nidra, or non-sleep deep rest, is another great option — you just get comfortable and follow the prompts. Do yourself a favor and check out the pro, Kelly Boys.

Meditation builds your resilience muscle, gives you a buffer to pause and choose whether you want to react (sympathetic response, or “fight or flight”) or respond (parasympathetic response, or “relax and respond”). That buffer, even if it’s a fraction of a second, can be the difference between letting go of anger you feel when someone cuts you off in traffic or getting road rage. I’ll explore this concept and introduce a framework to utilize it easily in a future blog post.

So that’s the pitch. Life is short, meditation helps you appreciate life and get through suffering. Create space for stillness. Try it out, even if it’s “woo woo” — eventually you’ll find something helps.

How do you meditate?

Take care,

- rtn

Richard Nesberg | Author of "Down the Rabbit Hole: Your Guide to Crypto Literacy"

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