THE BENEFITS OF CHEN (ZEN) MEDITATION Not all meditations are the same. There exists an enormous variety of ways in which to meditate, practice awareness, and develop presence. One type of meditation that we use a lot in our Pa Kua practices is known as Chen (Zen) meditation. Defining Chen meditation can be difficult, as it varies from tradition to tradition. As with all things, words can be limiting and don’t allow us to fully grasp the concept. However, there are a few things that remain core to this practice. One is the mindfulness of breath. Two is the practice of regulating one’s attention. Third is that specific postures are used to create an effect in the practitioner’s body and mind. When combined, these concepts provide clarity, connect our body and mind, and teach us how to deal with suffering. It can be helpful to break down these benefits in order to try and recognize them in our own practice. To begin, Chen meditation helps us to cultivate clarity and focus. Our minds have a habit of running away from us throughout the day and forcing ourselves to stop is a great way to corral our own internal energy. The general pattern might look something like this: You wake up in the morning, think about something urgent you need to accomplish that day, and you feel the sensations of anxiety or panic settling in. It may feel slight or acute, but the neurons in our brains cannot tell the difference between this and something that is actually life or death. In essence, trying to get your kids out the door on time sends the same signals to your brain as getting chased by a pack of wolves. One of these is a life or death situation, the other one may feel important, but will typically not have the same outcome. As your day progresses, you’ve already stumbled, your mind clouded by these feelings. This feeling may bleed into the next moment and the next and the next until you’ve been a mess the whole day. It’s like you’re falling forwards down a flight of stairs and as the momentum builds, you realize it’s very difficult to stop yourself. Any productive efforts are harmed by this internal state and your quality as a parent, student, coworker, spouse, and so forth suffers. While the pattern may vary, time of day, or personal situations may vary, the solution is the same. Force yourself to stop, focus your attention on something that is not your thoughts, and breathe. This isn’t easy to do, even when the feelings are just beginning. That’s one of the reasons we try to train for these situations. No matter the discipline, we might alternate from intense activity to complete stillness. By doing this, we are teaching ourselves how to carry this outside of class. Another way in which Chen meditation can help is in the connection of body and mind. Our internal state often manifests itself through external symptoms. A great example of this is back pain. Many of us find our backs hurting when we haven’t done anything to warrant the pain. No heavy lifting, no strange movements, just a typical day filled with an aching or pinching back. You eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight, and still the pain is there. Maybe you’ve experienced this, gone to a doctor, and they’ve had no answers for you. According to one study, over 80% of people will experience some sort of back pain throughout their lives. The back is an incredibly complex puzzle of interconnecting tissue, muscles, bone, ligaments, tendons, and nerves. So this isn’t to suggest that your pain might not be physical, but there is a large amount of scientific evidence to suggest that one of the leading causes of back pain is psychological. What this means is that most of us take our backs for granted, we take our thoughts for granted. Often we do not cultivate awareness of the way we move and what stress does to us physically. Our muscles tighten and suddenly we’ve tweaked our back. By cultivating a mind/body connection through Chen meditation, we can prevent many of these issues through awareness and a careful management of stress, tension, and other strong emotions. Making ourselves stop and develop a mental awareness of where we are holding stress, tension, and how we feel psychologically can help to alleviate these problems. The more aware we become of what our back is doing, the easy it will be not to hurt ourselves. Finally, Chen meditation teaches us how to deal with discomfort and suffering through a rigid sitting posture and immobilization. Whether you sit in the lotus position, passive/active warrior, or with your head on the ground, you are purposefully choosing a posture that will keep you alert and focused. As you sit there, your muscles begin to ache, your feet fall asleep, your skin itching, you are (in a small way) suffering. This suffering is teaching you how to endure, how to remain steadfast even in the face of discomfort and pain. Whether or not you are able to sit still in these positions can tell you an immense amount about how you might deal with divorce, death, tragedy, and rage. Being uncomfortable in this safe environment teaches you how to deal with the very things we fear in our own lives. The truth is, this practice is as essential as healthy eating and regular exercise. By incorporating Chen meditation into your life you are cultivating strength, peace, and fulfillment in your life. You are reconnecting your body and mind, learning to see clearly what is urgent and what is life threatening, and developing the strength to overcome the many hardships that are part of the human condition. Pain keeps us safe by letting us know when we are hurt. It can even keep us alive in severe situations as it provides adrenaline that can allow us to stay cons Some people don’t know what to do about pain, they get frustrated and give up. Chen meditation teaches us how to suffer When we are in pain, our instinct is often to restrict our movement for fear of creating more pain. Your back is a web of muscles and nerves. Oftentimes if you go to the doctor they will just shrug and tell you nothing is wrong. Furthermore, often back pain can be the result of an internal imbalance such as stress or holding onto other strong emotions. Its even possible for your back to send pain signals to you when there’s no actual damage to the area. Things like weight and diet can greatly affect your experience with this common center of pain. According to a study, over 80% of the world’s population will experience back pain at some point in their life. In addition, there is also evidence which links to the fact that psychological pain can increase feelings of back pain. In other words, this type of pain triggers the primal position of our brian, the one that says I’m going to die if I can’t outrun this lion. Mindfulness is often the key to fixing your lower back pain. There is no miracle chair. The truth is you are better off not sitting for as long. Taking breaks every ten or so minutes. This is by no means to suggest that all back pain is this way. If you suffered an injury from lifting or over exertion, a herniated disk, or a pinched nerve, these things can be extremely painful and are treatable. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17445733/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4754498/