Daydreaming is usually considered lazy, unproductive and childish. As adults, we ought to maximize our productivity and the use of our time. Even worse, the multi-tasker is the modern-day business hero - we are encouraged to multi-task, jumping back and forth between multiple tasks and stimuli at an alarming rate.

Stepping back from this insane drive and getting in touch with our dreams can help us to understand what gets us excited. Daydreaming is free, easy, and relaxing… and opens up a new creative realm where we can free our imagination from the daily rules and expectations.

Idiot’s guide to daydreaming:

• Find a quiet space.
• Eliminate all possible distractions. (People, phones, computers, deadlines, etc.)
• Make a commitment to yourself to refrain from thinking about work and what needs to get done.
• Take a moment to breathe deeply into your abdomen. Watch your breath for a minute.
• Watch your thoughts for minute to become even more present. If you have trouble with this, ask yourself, “what is the next thought that is entering my mind?” and observe what comes.
• Let go. Let your mind wander freely.

Any questions? Shoot me an e-mail. I am an expert.

I have experienced two 10-day Vipassana retreats.

During my second retreat, I had an amazing insight into the power of the meditation. (I’m a slow learner.) One of the objectives behind Vipassana is to dissolve pain by observing it in the present moment and accepting what is. When we are aware of the internal resistance we are creating, we can stop the cycle of craving or aversion that creates pain within us.

At these retreats, around the fourth day, they start these sittings where you are expected to sit still for the entire hour. For a guy like me, who doesn’t sit on the floor often, my back starts aching after about 10 minutes. In my first retreat, I never quite made it a full hour without adjusting my back.

The second time around, and something stupid came over me - I resolved to sit still for a full hour. My back was killing me, but I continued to meditate without moving. I could barely focus on anything except for the sharp feeling in my back, which, by the way, felt like an army of four year olds scratching chalkboards. I forced myself to sit through it. Masochistic? Probably.

And then the most curious thing happened. The pain… dissolved. It went from feeling completely unbearable to feeling like any other sensation on my body. It didn’t cause me any more anguish. What I found really peculiar was that those same sharp fingernail on chalkboard sensations were there… they just didn’t hurt. They didn’t distract me. They felt as painful as my pillow.

That’s when the practice of Vipassana became clear to me, and what they mean about using awareness to dissolve your pain. The physical sensation, even if uncomfortable, is not what I thought was the pain. The true source of pain is something I don’t think I could have understood before I experienced it.

I have started noticing where in my life I am resisting what is, and how I am reacting to situations. It is not just physical pain, but can be found anywhere - arguments, laziness, frustration, boredom, apathy, and probably a million other places.

Vipassana meditation is pretty straight-forward. At the retreat, you start working with your breath, and progress to passing your awareness through your body.

The rough guide to Vipassana is:

1. Awareness of breath (paying attention to your breathing).
2. Focusing your breath awareness onto a smaller and smaller point at the base of your nose.
3. Passing that same awareness slowly over the surface of your entire body, starting with your head, arms, chest, back, legs and then back up to the head.
4. Sweeping your awareness over the surface of your body.
5. Passing your awareness through (inside) your body.
6. Becoming aware of your entire body simultaneously.

All this is done while trying to remain as an objective observer. This would be dead easy, but unfortunately, minds like mine like to run wild… much of the meditation is just recognizing that thoughts are popping into our head, accepting that this is happening and returning our awareness to the practice.

I never knew how much my mind had a mind of its own until my first retreat.

The largest offering of Vipassana Meditation is that taught By S. N. Goenka, offering free 10-day courses (costs are covered through donations). It originated in India, but now there are meditation centers world-wide.

At first glance, the daily schedule for the 10 days looks pretty demanding:

When I first went, I thought it would be impossible to wake up at 4 am and meditate all day long in silence. (There is no talking during the retreat, except for brief check-ins with the assistant teacher.) But waking up was a lot easier than I expected… you are naturally rested from going to bed early and meditating all day. And you are free from other distractions, such as work, mobile phones and e-mail, so it’s not difficult.

At the same time, I think I convinced myself on one of the days that time had stopped and I was going to be there forever.

Sounds easy enough, right? In Vipassana, for once your life you don’t have to DO anything. In fact, you’re specifically NOT supposed to do anything. Well, other than observe…

The meditation stems from Buddhism as the technique taught by the Buddha to reach enlightenment. The meditation itself is quite separate from Buddhism and is something that anyone can do.

Where to start? Zencast has some great meditation podcasts available for download introducing meditation.

If I can foster these feelings of gratitude, then I sleep more deeply, and when I wake up the next morning I am centered and excited to start my day. How my day starts has a huge impact on the rest of my day. If I wake up feeling grumpy, for example, the London transport usually breaks down. So if 5 minutes or reflection can keep my underground running, how can I resist?

If you’re having trouble, here is another gratitude meditation. Or, just visit the Transport for London to see how well I’m doing.