The Power of Mindfulness Meditation

From modern research to magick and philosophy, meditation is recognized as crucial for progress. Dion Fortune defines rituals as meditation in action. In the words of Israel Regardie, we cannot control anything without controlling our breath. According to David Shoemaker, the Great Work becomes a living meditation when progressing on the path. According to Standford Kelly McGonigal, Mindfulness Meditation is so vital that even sucking at it is beneficial. This video discusses a few reasons you should start meditating.

The Brain

In her book, The Willpower Instinct, McGonigal views meditation as the best training for boosting self-discipline. It improves various self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self-awareness.

Willpower

Moreover, meditating daily increases your ability to exert (otherwise) limited willpower, which, according to The Ciceros, is actually magickal. Qabalisticaly, the last (likely) has to do with willpower and the True Will ascribing to Geburah. Scientifically, meditation makes the brain develop more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex — the so-called ‘wise brain’ responsible for reasoning, willpower, and self-regulation.

Charging the Battery

This has plenty in common with the teachings of the Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda. According to his Raja Yoga:

“(…) from rhythmical breathing comes a tendency of all the molecules in the body to move in the same direction. When the mind changes into will, the nerve currents change into a motion similar to electricity(…). This shows that when will is transformed into the nerve currents, it is changed into something like electricity. When all motions of the body have become perfectly rhythmical, the body has become, as it were, a gigantic battery of will…”

Fast Results

Luckily, meditation’s benefits come quickly. After only three hours of the (later-discussed) fourfold breath, a study’s participants improved alertness and self-control. After eleven, researchers could recognize changes in their gray matter.

Neural Connections

This simple meditation helps form new neural connections between regions crucial for focusing and controlling impulses. Another study found eight weeks of daily meditation boosted (both) participants’s self-awareness and gray matter in the corresponding areas.

Speeding Up Evolution

McGonigal views this as the closest we can get to speeding up our evolution and using our brains to the fullest. One reason is that it teaches mindfulness. In practice, the mind drifts onto something, and you bring it back on the task. In life, this translates to increasing awareness of when you are distracted (or diverted) from a goal. And as McGonigal says:

“Meditation is not about getting rid of all your thoughts; it’s learning not to get so lost in them that you forget what your goal is. Don’t worry if your focus isn’t perfect when meditating. Just practice coming back to the breath, again and again…”

Oxygen

In his Jungian period, Regardie explains that since life is all penetrant and all-pervasive, the very air we breathe is charged with vitality. As quoted in my Discipline or Something Else:

“(…) the intaking of larger quantities of oxygen has a distinct effect on the endocrines which undergo an enormous stimulation. This might be due to the improved circulation of blood that follows from the rhythmic excursion of the diagram…”

“In any event, the student (…) will at least have gained an immeasurable increase in willpower and indomitability of purpose in having trained himself to overcome his own slothfulness….”

In his Autobiography of Trauma, Peter Levine defines rhythmic breathing as linking one’s consciousness to the ‘collective uncoscious.’

Self-Awareness

According to a 2010 Harvard study, most people spend about 50% of their time on autopilot. While it may be argued Gurdjieff was entirely against that, deliberately utilized, the same lets one not spend willpower and decisions on meaningless stuff. On the contrary, too much of it hinders thought awareness, preventing from breaking unproductive habits.

Default Mode Network

When running on autopilot, the brain activates what science calls the Default Mode Network (DMN). Being what Gurdjieff calls ‘sleeping,’ such scenarios include daydreaming, worrying, perseverative thinking, and disturbing thoughts. They all engage a hub of the DMN called the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The same is involved when craving things one’s addicted to. Hence, curing depression and anxiety is so challenging.

More Conscious

Mindfulness comes to the rescue again. Similar to McGonigal, Regardie, and numerous others, Brown University Judson Brewer views mindfulness meditation as one of the best ways to become more conscious.

Brewer’s ‘Unwinding Anxiety‘ reveals mindfulness really isn’t about emptying your mind but actually becoming aware of what’s inside.

One’s Totality and MRI

Besides breaking habits and thought patterns, mindfulness prepares for dealing with one’s totality and resurfacing parts of the psyche resulting from rituals.

After an experiment, Brewer’s team (also) found mindfulness meditation changes one’s brain. MRI scans showed regular meditators had substantially less active DMN. Also, by reducing PCC activation, such a practice could help break free from self-destructive habits.

A Great Gift

In his book How to Ikigai, Tim Tamashiro describes mindfulness meditation as ‘the most wonderful skill.’ Similar to Christopher Hyatt calling it a ‘septic tank,’ Tamashiro likens most people’s minds to coffees with raving monkeys.

A Break

Tamashiro views mindfulness  meditation as a tool that gives your brain the break it needs. Like Regardie, Tamashiro advocates not judging your thoughts but recognizing what they are and gently reverting to the task at hand — counting your breaths. More on that in a moment.

Instant Vacation

Mentioning Ikigai, according to Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, mindfulness meditation is an instant vacation, training the mind to enter flow states. They view the fourfold breath as very effective for slowing the stream of thought and clearing mental horizons. The key, as emphasized by the others, isn’t making your mind a blank slate; it’s observing your thoughts and letting them pass.

Flow

Mindfulness meditation creates an ‘optimal environment’ for flow, which really is a form of ‘Love under Will’. The main reason is that mindfulness and flow states are all about being ‘here and now,’ present, aware, and entangled with reality. Yet, flow states require enjoyable and challenging experiences, whereas mindfulness can (theoretically) be all the time.

Brain Waves

Meditation generates alpha and theta brain waves. While it takes about 30 minutes for beginners to experience them, avid meditators get those almost immediately.

Using the Gap

In the words of Victor Frankl,

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom…”

Mindfulness meditation teaches you to exercise your freedom to choose ‘action’ over ‘reaction.’ It aids in overcoming the permanent fight-or-flight and not being a victim of past experiences.

Stress

Mindfulness meditation reduces stress, which McGonigal views as the enemy of willpower and conscious decision-making. Therefore, it helps with what bullet journaling’s inventor, Ryder Carrol, defines as ‘intentional living.’

Stress forces one to surrender to their fight or flight. Reducing it and being present lets the pause-and-plan response activate. What that does is send energy to the prefrontal cortex, helping to self-regulate and use the gap Frankl regards.

Stillness is the Key

As stressed in magickal books, mindfulness meditation begins with learning to stay still and fully alert in a comfortable position. Commonly, that’s either an Asana posture or sitting with a straight back and hands on your lap, which is the so-called Western pose. In

On the other hand, Regardie recognizes laying on your back as perfectly suitable, too. Whatever you pick, start with a few daily minutes of observing all bodily sensations without reacting to any, staying (maximally) still. As Ryan Holiday says:

“Stilness is the Key…”

Instead of a timer, you can use a sleep-tracking app, ending your session more gently and gradually.

The Fourfold Breath

Incorporate the fourfold breath. That’s the repetition of counting for four while inhaling, holding for four, exhaling for four, and then holding for a fourth four. The key is sustaining an even tempo. For musicians, this part might be a piece of cake. Others can benefit from using a metronome, which nowadays is on your smartphone.

Mindfulness Meditation

A way to begin your mindfulness practices is by contemplating a Tarot card aligned with the work you (likely) did before. Another is to start with an ‘astral’ Middle Pillar, or Tree of Life exercise. To Increase your overall Mindfulness (further), work extensively with Jupiter. Thelemites can also fit in the Elevenfold seal within the fourfold breath. My favorite is the Tree of Life or the three pillars technique. For those resonating, I suggest using all four names for each sephirah and, perhaps, the letters and those of the Lighting Flash paths in Queen and king-scale colors.

Fourfould Nature

Doing so, you may notice virtually all names match the four counts, somewhat reminding you of YHVH’s fourfold nature. But that’s just my opinion. Let me know if you agree, and Thank you for your time.