00:00I'm Lucy Fink, and this week I'm going to explore the art of meditation.
00:05My personal form of meditation is watching The Real Housewives of Orange County, of course,
00:10with pizza in my apartment, and pasta, and like probably sun chips, a barbecue kind.
00:16I've noticed recently that I've been out to dinner with friends or on the phone with my parents,
00:20and I'm actually thinking about something else.
00:23And someone will say something, and I'll just be like, oops, sorry, I just blacked out.
00:29What did you say?
00:30This hectic week is the perfect time in my life to try meditating.
00:34I'm going to start right now, Monday night.
00:37I'm going to meditate on my bed for 15 minutes.
00:39We'll see how it goes.
00:40Meditation takes courage because you have to spend time with yourself, and I hate myself.
00:45I mean, I don't.
00:46I'm kidding, but am I?
00:48Last night's meditation was...
00:52Note to self, do not meditate on the bed.
00:56My back started hurting midway through.
00:58I lit a couple of candles.
00:59It smelled a lot like fire, and I was having a lot of trouble sitting in a room with my
01:04eyes closed, knowing that there was a flame burning, so I blew it out.
01:08The biggest struggle for me last night was trying to figure out how to shut my brain off.
01:12And in doing so, I couldn't think about anything except for the words, stop thinking about anything.
01:16So by the time my 15-minute alarm went off, I was sort of like, was that it?
01:22So I did some research, and there's this meditation technique called mantra meditation, where you
01:27sort of repeat a word or a set of syllables that don't necessarily have any meaning attached
01:32to them with the goal of focusing your mind.
01:36The mantra I decided to repeat over and over again is, I am grateful for all that is unfolding in
01:47my life, and all that is yet to come.
02:02Have you ever been woken up at 4.30 in the morning by monks who told you to tame your
02:07monkey mind?
02:08I have.
02:10I am grateful for all that is unfolding in my life, and all that is yet to come.
02:16I don't think I will ever forget those words.
02:19This morning, I went out onto my building's terrace, and I practiced mantra meditation one more time.
02:24Awww.
02:27It was nice being out there as the day was breaking, and to hear the sounds of the city around
02:31me.
02:32The cars passing by sort of sounded like white noise, that was a great way to start my day.
02:36I think I am going to take a break mid-day today.
02:38I am going to sneak away from my desk and try a new type of meditation.
02:42Mindfulness meditation.
02:45An article from Psychology Today calls mindfulness meditation something that is unique and is
02:51not directed towards getting us to be different from how we already are, but instead it helps
02:56us become aware of what is already true, moment by moment, on a stressful day like today.
03:03Personally, my favorite place to actually meditate is on the subway.
03:08Cruising along, rats scattering by, a casual mole person.
03:11Tonight, I went to a meditation club.
03:14I was in a room of almost 100 complete strangers, and we all sat there, and for 20 minutes we
03:20each did personal meditation in silence.
03:23MediClub is a community of about 800 modern New Yorkers, and we share meditation as a common
03:29thread.
03:30People with modern, regular lives can come together and share meditation and also discuss the issues
03:37that come up in our lives living in a place like New York City, like love, sex, dating,
03:42work.
03:46Five days of meditation, and I am Zen to my core.
03:50Meditation can become part of your busy lifestyle.
03:53You don't have to go off into the wilderness and stop talking for 10 days.
03:58Meditation should feel like you're sitting on the side of a road and you're watching cars
04:02pass by.
04:03Each of those cars is a different thought that you're having.
04:06When you start to think, stop having that thought.
04:09Stop thinking about that.
04:10When you start to try to push those cars back, that's when you run into a traffic jam.
04:15Acknowledge that you're thinking about it and watch it drive by until it goes off the screen.
