Meditation - A Practical Tool, Not a Performance
If you’ve ever been told to “just meditate” and felt frustrated or embarrassed because it didn’t work, you’re not alone.
Meditation isn’t a test; it’s a practice. I’ve been studying and using teachings from folks like Alan Watts for decades, and what I’ve learned is simple: the point isn’t to blank your mind, it’s to learn how to listen — to your breath, your thoughts, and the world around you — without getting dragged into judgment.
The practice:
A meditation practice requires no cushion, no monastery, nor hours of your time. Try this anytime you have a few spare minutes:
Sit quietly and close your eyes. Don’t fight your breath — just notice it.
Listen to the sounds around you. Don’t name them or judge them. Let them be like background music.
When thoughts arise, and they will, let them pass just like the sounds in your environment. Treat them as “happenings,” not commands requiring your attention. Return your attention gently to listening and breathing.
Why this works:
Listening collapses the separation between “inner” and “outer.” Thoughts are simply noises your brain makes — no worse and no better than street sounds or birdsong. As you watch your breath as a ”happening” (sometimes voluntary, sometimes automatic), you begin to feel how much of your experience is “doing” and how much is “happening to” you. That realization is calming, grounding, and reparative for an overstressed nervous system. It helps you recenter in the present, which is the only thing we really have.
Practical tips from the trenches:
Use small windows of time at first: A 5-minute mini-meditation while waiting for an appointment or before a meeting is huge.
Don’t force the breath. Let it deepen on its own. Focus on the out-breath as a simple act of letting go. Focus on the in-breath as a nourishing experience that is effortless.
Be kind to your wandering mind. Trying to suppress thoughts is like flattening ocean waves with a rolling pin — pointless and exhausting.
Make it part of your life:
Meditation isn’t a cure-all, but it’s one of the most reliable tools you have wherever you go. It has been shown to lower emotional reactivity, improve sleep, and can offer you improved mental space to make better choices. Try a short meditation practice at least three times this week and notice what changes.
With warmth — keep coming back to the practice. The sit awaits…
Dr. Jim Chialtas
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Dr. Jim Chialtas has been in private practice in San Diego, CA since 2003 with a focus in Acupuncture & Functional Medicine. He designs and teaches continuing education courses on Functional Blood Chemistry for the online education company, Acupuncture Insights. He also designed and currently teaches a course on Functional Blood Chemistry for the Doctorate of Traditional Chinese Medicine (DTCM) program at Five Branches University.
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