This is going to be fun — and may bring you massive amounts of peace.

So sit back. Grab your favourite drink (or your favourite herb, no judgment). Put on something that makes your soul nod. And let me walk you through the basics of something that’s helped me. At least, I believe it has haha.

We've Been Programmed — And That's Okay

Alright, let’s be honest for a moment — when someone says "meditation," what do you see? A figure in the Far East (perhaps a lil brown fella like me? ha), legs crossed, palms up, probably wearing orange. Classic. That's the programming. And it works — because they wouldn't keep running the same script if it didn't.

It wasn't until I started practicing doing nothing, that things clicked. When I did some training on it, I had to study philosophy, differing styles of practice, and ancient scriptures (which, on some level, I’m sure I absorbed growing up brown lol). I’d say I often think about how little we actually know about ourselves. It makes you ask questions about the fundamental reality of existence. Yep — i’m that kind of fella.

Here's one to chew on: our five senses only show us a fraction of what's actually here. Look at the electromagnetic spectrum — what's visible to us is a sliver. There is quite literally another realm of existence all around you right now. The question is: are you open enough to tune in?

You're Floating Through Space (And So Is Karen)

I think on some level we all have an inherent desire to know who we are and where we fit in the stars. As you read these words, you are floating somewhere in the vacuum of space. Mad, right?

To put it another way — whilst Karen is busy being Karen, she exists as a physical being hurtling through the vastness of the cosmos. We all do. And if that made no sense, then sorry ha.

Next time you look up at the sky, take a deep breath and just observe. Watch everything. Feel everything. And there — you've just had your first lesson in meditation. Welcome to the Jedi path. Coincidentally, isn't the mind where everything exists anyway? Equally, it’s very possible that I have consumed enough flower to be imagining all of this :)

The One Thing You Actually Need to Know

After countless hours of doing the thing, i’d say it would just come down to this:

Get comfortable & let go.

There is no right or wrong way to meditate physically. Traditionally a seated pose is used — but growing up in Western culture, sitting cross-legged is the opposite of comfortable for me. Or at least it was. I like to think i’m a little more mobile now. We kind of lose our innate natural mobility within The Matrix, as we’re locked into that 9-5 grind, where our joints are probably the last thing on our minds. (If we’re talking about the other joints, perhaps it’s the first on my mind haha). Anyway, at the beginning of practising doing nothing, the discomfort kept creeping in and sabotaging my sesh.

Sometimes I've been on the cusp of entering another realm, only to be yanked back by pins and needles shooting through my legs, followed by a high-pitched yelp. What can I say? I think once, I even farted lol.

Eventually I learned to sit cross-legged — but I still say: just sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight. Here's a few things to ask yourself:

Lower back pain? Sit on a raised pillow.
Heavy shoulders? Place a cushion on your lap and rest your hands on it.
Legs against the wall? Put a pillow under your knees. Bob's your uncle. (Not literally, unless you actually have an Uncle Bob, and which case my question to you is, is that short for Robert?).

The goal is comfort without falling asleep. Find that sweet spot. Being both discrete and direct, the herbs help. The right amount will get you vibrating higher (no pun, of course).

Find Your Silence

Meditating in silence is powerful. Go out of your way to find a place that removes distractions and neutralises noise — whether it's a room in your house or a tree somewhere in nature. Your experience will be so much more blissful when you do. It kind of makes sense, because your strengthening you’re root chakra.

You're spending time with yourself. Learning how to create your awareness of awareness. Just as we train at the gym, it makes sense to develop our minds with the same intention. Physical movement is drilled into us from a young age — but mental-health training? Somehow that got left off the curriculum entirely. Well not somehow, we know the system and the matrix. So, all good.

The Breath: Your Secret Weapon

Once you're comfortable and you've found your silence, the adventure begins with your breath.

My teacher once asked me: "How many parts of the breath are there?"

I thought about it. Two — the inhale and the exhale. Wrong.

The breath has four parts:

Inhale
Intersection (the subtle pause between inhaling and exhaling)
Exhale
Outersection (the subtle pause between exhaling and inhaling)

Take a breath now. You'll feel it — that tiny, almost hidden moment where one transitions to the other. We don't continuously inhale and then continuously exhale. There's a space in between. Mind blown? Mine was. I didn’t really think about it. I mean I still don’t too much consciously, but it’s still there.

Each breath creates an internal rhythm — a pattern that brings mind and body into a state of flow. Your breath is the bridge between the mental and the physical. Once you learn how to use it, you become one step closer to mastering both. That Jedi lifestyle. Making it much easier to really feel free, happy, and authentically yourself.

The Actual MechaniX (Why This Works)

Here’s the geeky bit, because I know some of you like to know why this stuff does anything.

When you sit still, breathe slowly and pay attention, a few things happen in that noggin of yours:

Your nervous system chills out.
You move from fight-or-flight (sympathetic) into rest-and-digest (parasympathetic). Heart rate drops, muscles relax, wind comes out from the back pipe, and your brain stops behaving like a tab with 20+ windows open.
Your brainwaves change.
You start shifting from busy beta into alpha and sometimes theta — the slower states where creativity, intuition and those mad insights live. That’s why ideas pop in when you “do nothing”. And I must say, the herbs seem to get me into that state quicker, and flow more. That being said, remember that’s it’s a teacher :)
Your attention comes home.
Instead of being pulled around by notifications, news and random nonsense, your awareness sits with you. You stop being the character and remember you’re also the one holding the controller.

That’s all meditation really is: using breath, posture and attention to hack your own MechaniX.

Once you clock that, it stops being mystical and starts being a tool. A very powerful, very legal tool.

The Most Powerful Tool Is Free

It's almost comical, isn't it? The most convenient (& easiest) tool we have costs nothing. Have you seen the lengths certain people go to, to keep us distracted from this fact? If anything, it shows how much reality we can bend when we finally understand our breath and purpose. The Matrix around us is just an illusion. It always has been. So why not just enjoy your time here and use your breath to shift states, whenever you need?

Your Next Step

That's it — the fun-damentals. Find a way to sit comfortably. Find some silence. Maybe have the herb. And understand that your breath is your weapon of choice.

The stuff that comes next? Just doing it.

Give it a go. It will probs improve some part of your life.

NiKKO ✌️

The MechaniX of Meditation