I use self help books to guide my meditation practice. Most recently, I finished Sam Harris’s Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. Another interesting book I am still reading is Mark W. Muesse’s Four Wise Men: The Lives and Teachings of Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammad.
In my fledgling practice, I am noticing the following patterns:
- on rare days on which I skip meditation, I am more anxious and tend to be less even tempered
- if I am anxious, meditation is harder to do
- meditation makes me aware of my inner narrative, and reminds me that I am not critically analyzing it
- meditation increases my self determination better
- meditation helps me to hear what others tell me better
- meditation helps me vocalize my opinion more
However, it is almost a catch 22 situation. Meditation helps me be more calm, and anxiety makes it harder to meditate. The only way out seems to be that I cannot skip meditation practice at all!