Meditation is not, as many believe, specifically related to relaxation. Meditation is any deliberate direction of attention. Admittedly, one can direct one's mind onto calming stimuli and attain heightened levels of tranquility, however, one can direct the mind in many other ways as well.
There are several ways that meditation can assist and enrich one's skateboarding. Here are a few:
1. Building:
One of the Hebrew terms for meditation is Hitbonenut, related to the words boneh, build, and Binah, understanding. What is the link between building and understanding? One builds a house in order to enter and reside inside it, similarly, in understanding an aspect of life one builds a mental structure which he enters and lives within. Furthermore, as a physical building encompasses one's entire being, body and spirit, so does the metaphysical building. For understanding not only influences one's perception and emotional reactions toward the world - it effects one's behaviour toward it.
This reminds me of a well known joke: What's the difference between a neurotic, psychotic, and a psychiatrist? The neurotic builds castles in the sky, the psychotic lives in them, and the psychiatrist collects the rent! Through Hitbonenut one attempts to build well informed, sophisticated, and realistic structures within which to dwell, and in doing so not only avoids paying rent to a psychiatrist but benefits from them instead.
Most posts on this blog can be used for meditating on various aspects of skateboarding - and the world at large. In contemplating - and not just passively reading - the ideas presented, one builds structures within one's mind which one can enter in order to experience skateboarding as a deeper, richer, and more spiritually rewarding activity.
Coming up:
2. Concentration:
3. Calm:
4. Visual imagery:
5. Self awareness:
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