THE SWEETSPOT OF MEDITATION

4 min readApr 2, 2024

The goal of meditation varies for different people, but for me, it’s about reaching the sweet spot of complete quietness in the mind, leaving behind the experience of total silence without any involuntary thoughts. When I reach this place, I allow myself to immerse in the glorious peace, equanimity, sense of fulfillment, and bliss that arises. It proves to me that peace and other states of well-being exist within oneself.

At the beginning of a meditation session, I either sit or lie on my back comfortably. The environment has to be relatively quiet. For the next 30–60 minutes, the meditation happens. The mind will fight me as I begin. By its nature and design, the mind does not want to be transcended. It will throw all types of memories, imaginations, thoughts, fantasies, colors, and all manner of mind material. I have to sit through it. Along with them come different feelings and emotions, and I allow myself to feel them. The goal is to be aware that thoughts X, Y, and Z are happening. This awareness may be lost from time to time, but as soon as I realize it, I come back to awareness. This space of the mind throwing mind material varies from one person to another, so patience is key. The mind will push me to end the meditation or give in, but I don’t. Remember the goal: I am trying to get to the sweet spot.

While practicing awareness of thoughts, I also add awareness of my body. I feel every part of my body from head to toe, every part. I move from my head (eyes, ears, nose, hairline, back of my head, etc.) all the way to my toes. I feel the space between my eyes, ears, upper and lower chest, the hollowness of my trachea, the space in my rib cage, the warmth of my body, my palms, the soles of my feet, my eye sockets, etc. Feeling my body helps me shift awareness from my mind to my body. I can also feel the space around my body. I feel it; I do not allow the mind to manufacture experiences, just feel plainly.

As I feel each part of my body, I notice any tightness or clenching, then allow myself to relax. As I relax, I might feel as if my body is sinking or floating, especially if I am lying down.

As I feel those sensations, I feel the other body processes — my breath coming in and out, the coldness of the air while breathing in and the warmth of it while breathing out, the rising and falling of the chest cavity, my inflated and deflated lungs. I pause for a moment at the end of every breath and the release, feeling any sensations that are happening in the moment.

Another body process is my heartbeat. I feel my heartbeat, its rhythmic nature. I feel internal organs/body parts, such as inside my mouth, my ears, my nose, every orifice. When involuntary thoughts come, I am aware of them. I don’t let them absorb all my attention/awareness. When a thought takes all my awareness, I become the thought. When I am aware of the thought, there is separation between me and the thought.

The mind will push me to stop meditating by giving me all manner of experiences, but I sit through it. I recognize that it is a thought; it has no permanence. Once I am aware while it happens or feeling the feelings that arise, they disappear. Then the mind reaches out and brings others. I don’t hang on to any of them after they disappear. If I do, I realize that I am doing it; the hanging on subsides.

Doing all these things allows me to process what the mind is bringing forth. As I meditate, the mind material first becomes a lot, and I might feel that I can’t bear it in the beginning, but it eases off then gradually starts to lessen and lessen. When the mental noise subsides to a certain level or totally subsides, the sweet spot happens. The sweet spot is not a mind state; it is what arises when the mind is quiet/silent. It just comes. When it does, I feel my breath deepening without feeling like I am hyperventilating. I feel another level of relaxation; I feel very light, and inside of me feels empty and vast. I feel a sense of inner peace and quiet — all other feelings avalanche from there.

Once at the sweet spot, I can allow myself to bathe in the experience or end the meditation there. That is the endpoint of the meditation, and I can go about my business after that. But the sweet spot place will remain with me. As I go on, the mind, which had been quiet, will reassert itself and soon take over. When this happens, I can always get back to my meditation and return to the sweet spot.

Disclaimer: Meditation is not a solution to all your problems but a way to cope. It might be a solution to a couple of things, such as stress at night during a time that you should be asleep, ceaseless mental chatter, loss of emotional control, etc. Thoughts about solutions to other life might or might not arise during meditation.

THE SWEETSPOT OF MEDITATION

Written by Obverse Alchemy