I.M. Meditation

What energy really is?

Energy! What is energy? Every different philosophy/science has given energy a different definition. This debate has resulted in letting people needing clarification about what energy is. Having these confusing explanations about energy, no one can understand the nature of energy. In this section, I will explain the energy as I learned, felt, and lived it by working my way through philosophy, science, and discovery. From Tantra to Tao and from audio engineering to sailing, every chapter of my life had a unique explanation of energy. These different views of energy helped me to fully understand what energy is and how it affects everything around it.

Energy is a term that we often see in physics. We always listen to words like electric energy, magnetic energy, and other confusing terms. Looking at the most recent masters of eastern philosophies, you will find the term bioelectromagnetic energy. Bioelectromagnetic energy is the energy that flows inside us. This term is far from random. A human is a complex machine that, even today, we cannot understand completely. There is a whole universe inside every human body. Let’s dive deeper into this universe inside the human body.

How can a sperm which travels and finds an ovum becomes a complex machine with millions of operations? It happens because the human body is a group of tiny little particles interacting with each other. During human life, many particles enter the body while others leave it. So, let’s name these little particles “magnets.” Why magnets? Because they are. These little particles attract each other the same way as magnets do. Even planets attract each other. Like the universe is made of uncountable planets that attract each other, the same way, the human body is a compilation of uncountable particles that attract each other. That’s why the human body is like a little universe. And these particles are like little tiny magnets.

For that reason, we call the energy inside us bioelectroMAGNETIC because the attraction of these little magnets makes it. More on that later. But how can these particles attract each other like magnets? How do they build a magnetic field so they can attract anything in that? The reason that these little magnets can attract each other is because of the electricity that charges them. Yes, inside your body, electric energy flows. When you taste a passionate kiss and feel like electricity flows inside your body, your energy flows inside you at high speeds. It is actual electricity that flows inside you. How does this happen? We will explain it later. At the moment, keep that we call the energy inside you bioELECTROmagnetic because electrically charged magnets make it. Finally, we call this energy BIOelectromagnetic because this electromagnetic activity occurs in a living body. This one was obvious.

The exciting thing is that as these tiny magnets attract each other, they build a bigger and stronger magnet made of all these little magnets. And these new, more oversized magnets attract each other and build an even larger magnet. In this way, your organs are created, as well as your whole body. So you have to think about humans as a collection of magnets created by a group of smaller magnets. It is obvious that humans are part of the universe because they can attract other humans or animals, plants, and other particles. and build something more significant.

As you may understand, the energy inside you comes from these tiny magnets. In a few words, energy is the attraction caused by these magnets. But what is the energy, and how does it flow inside you? It would help if you first learned what exists between these magnets to answer this question. And here, things become a bit complicated.

Some scientists believe that between these magnets, nothing exists. Others believe that simply air exists. Others are sure that something exists but have yet to discover it. Some people claim that if you collect the material of the whole of humanity, you will have a material that will not be bigger than a cube of sugar. This theory may be true or may not. Maybe it’s an exaggeration, but it is based on logical proof. There are many answers to this, and they will confuse you.

Now, these explanations may be accurate if you see humans like a piece of fabric. Think about it. When you see a cloth from a distance, you believe this fabric is compact. But when you take a closer look at it, you will realize there is some space between the threads. The truth is that the air that flows between the lines covers this space. You cannot see it, but it exists. It doesn’t matter if it is air or nothing that flows between the threads. The important thing is that the lines attract each other in a way that makes the fabric look compact.

More or less, the same happens with the human body. These tiny magnets attract each other and create an illusion that the human body is compact, but it is not. Between the magnets, there is a space. Even if it is an entirely empty space or air flows in that space, it doesn’t matter to you to understand what energy is because, in this space, the energy flows. How? You will learn about it soon. These magnets inside you attract each other, and at the same time, they force the space around them to move. This random (or not) movement of the magnets creates some vibrations. (You will have the opportunity to understand the vibrations better when we talk about the sound). If you could stop the movement of the magnets and take a close photo of them, you would see some magnets scattered here and there inside your body and around them, nothing. But, because these magnets attract each other and move to space, they create these vibrations. These vibrations make your body look compact.

For example, if you hit a guitar string, you will notice that the string will enlarge. The vibrations that the string creates cause the string to look enlarged. The truth is that the string hasn’t changed its mass, but it seems larger because the vibrations make it look like this. Let me explain how this happens. When you hit a string, you force it to move up and down fast and continuously. This way, the string covers the space around it and looks more extensive. The truth is that it is not bigger. It shows bigger to you because your eyes cannot catch the string’s fast movement. Furthermore, this rapid movement causes a disruption in the environment around the string because it violently changes its magnetic field. These are the vibrations that the string causes.
More or less, the same happens with your body. The fast movement of the magnets makes your body look compact, but it is not. If these magnets remained still, your body would look more like a web.

Now about the energy. Let’s have a summary. When the magnets inside you are charged with electricity, they attract each other. While they attract, they move fast in the space around them. Then they create vibrations because they rapidly change the magnetic field around them. These changes in the magnetic field, so these vibrations, are the energy inside you.

As you notice, energy isn’t something spooky. It is real. It is just vibrations caused by the rapid movement of electrically charged magnets that attract each other. And these magnets are fundamental particles.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

Stretching and meditation

You might have heard many meditation teachers talking about the importance of stretching before your meditation session. Many meditation classes start with a short stretching session during the relaxation procedure. In yoga, a meditation lifestyle, there are plenty of stretching exercises. So, why is stretching so crucial for your meditation journey? Let’s start with the basics.

If you have already practiced some meditation, you already know that the most critical subject we work with is our energy. Energy is a magnetic field full of vibrations which flow inside your body. Imagine energy like a river which flows inside your body. Take some time to imagine this river flowing inside you. Use your mind to feel this river. Watch it flow from your coccyx to your spine, to your neck and head, and then move downwards from your tongue to your throat, chest, solar plexus, belly, perineum, and back to your coccyx. Now imagine that river flowing in any direction inside your body. Watch it flow towards your arms and legs. Watch it move towards your whole torso, your vital organs, everywhere. Can you feel it?

Now, let’s briefly introduce energy to understand its nature and needs. Energy is the transmission of vibrations from one part of your body to the other. To fully understand this, observe a wave in the sea. Can you see how a wave moves toward the coast? Can you see how this energy that forces the water to move upwards is transmitted from one part of the water to the other? The same way your energy moves inside you from one group of cells to the next. Now imagine your energy trying to pass through your neck area. If the muscles around your neck are loose, the energy will pass unobstructed. This can happen because a loose muscle is flexible and can receive and transmit this wave of energy more accessible. To understand this, do the following experiment: Take a rope in your hands. Tight one end on a steady surface. Take the other end to your hand. Let the rope loose. Now with the other hand, try to move the rope in any direction. It is easy. Now tighten it as much as possible and try to move it again. It must be pretty challenging now. In the same way, work your muscles. If a muscle is too tightened, the energy cannot pass due to inflexibility. If your muscle is loose, the energy will pass easier.

This flexibility is what we are looking for. That’s why stretching is so important. Stretching techniques help your muscles and organs stay loose. They also help your bones move a bit away from each other so they can move unobstructed. When you do some stretching, your body is in a better condition to move your energy. The higher the energy, the deeper the meditation experience. Therefore, I recommend doing some easy stretching exercises before practicing any meditation. Be careful, though, not to overdo it. Stretching, like meditation in general, must be joyful, not painful!

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

The importance of distractions in meditation

Imagine this: You go to your favorite meditation place. Let’s say a fantastic beach. You arrived there just before sunset. You have chosen your favorite meditation posture. You observe the colors in the sky; you enjoy the evening. You are ready to deepen inside you and receive the beauty of what you experience. Suddenly, a group of people arrives, yelling at each other just a couple of meters away from you. It would be the perfect meditation experience, but these people came and destroyed your whole meditation day. How would you react to this distraction? I have already published a post about how to deal with distractions. In this post, we will go a bit deeper into this subject. We will talk about the importance of distractions. We will discuss why we need distractions while meditating and why we shouldn’t avoid them.

If you are a beginner, it is hard to meditate while someone or something distracts you. I was a beginner myself. I know how frustrating it is to try to meditate while your neighbors yell at their children or have decided to turn the volume of their hi-fi on to ten. I know how it is to try to concentrate on meditation while a dog barks right outside your door. But I must admit that these distractions, combined with my passion for moving forward in my meditating life, pushed me to become mindful!

If you are a beginner or a person who is just trying to experiment with meditation, quiet places are what you need to enter the world of meditation quickly. But if you are a person who already knows what you want and how far you want to go, distractions might be a handy tool for you. Let me clarify something. Distractions do not only come from the outer world. A thought which came to your mind while meditating or sudden pain in your body can also distract you from your meditation. Let’s talk about inner distractions first.

Inner distractions are distractions which happen inside you. The most common are your thoughts. The most challenging part of your meditation journey is to quieten your thoughts. But do you need to quieten them? The answer is NO! Many people quit their meditation journey because they cannot quiet their thoughts. Trying to meditate while a plethora of thoughts fulfills their minds makes them feel tired. This overuse of thoughts leads them to quit their meditation journey once and for all. But this is the biggest mistake you can make in your meditation journey. People who leave their meditation journey because of this situation are mainly people who lack knowledge about what meditation is. They also have many expectations about their meditation sessions which do not allow them to enjoy the experience. Let’s start with the basics: What is meditation? What is its purpose?

Meditation is a procedure which trains you to become mindful. Mindfulness means you are fully present. Distractions try to lead you away from your mindfulness. That’s why people believe that they ruin their meditation experience. But this doesn’t seem right. Distractions do not waste your meditation; they train you to become more mindful. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to move forward in this journey. Distractions are your trainer. Your thoughts are your trainer, a barking dog is your trainer, and your noisy neighbor is your trainer. Your ability to transform a distraction into a meditating object is the most powerful tool you can have in your meditating life. Do not fight your distractions. Neither are your thoughts. Experience them. Meditate and be thankful for them. This way, you eliminate their power. After a bit of practice, distractions will be unable to distract you. That’s the actual meditation. That’s the meaning of mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to be present no matter how many distractions you experience. So, use distractions wisely to train yourself to become mindful.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

How music affects psychology and vice versa

Music! A powerful tool which can affect your psychology so much. Music, indeed, has psychoacoustic properties which can activate any of your emotions, most of the time, instantly. But how can music affect your emotional world so much?

It’s all about vibrations. In reality, music is just a combination of sounds. A sound is a group of waves produced from a sound source and transmitted through the air until they reach our ears. These waves are alternations of air pressure. When a sound source starts to vibrate, it pushes the air around it back and forth, causing it to increase and decrease its pressure repeatedly. These vibrations (increasing and decreasing the air pressure), when they arrive at our ears, they are translated into sound. Now, you might wonder why these vibrations affect our psychology.

There is a repetition of vibrations at a specific time. The more flexible the sound source, the lower the number of repeats. The less flexible the sound source, the higher the number of repetitions. This number of vibrations is what we call frequencies. In music, a variety of frequencies are produced simultaneously. When these frequencies match, the sound is harmonious. If not, the sound is disharmonious. When a sound is pleasant, the psychology of the listener is good. This effect happens because the human brain also works with frequencies. Frequencies which match make the brain receive a clear message from the outer world. Our mind translates this message to: “everything is under control.” When the brain gets frequencies which don’t match, the message it receives is confusing. A confusing message means that “something isn’t right.” When something goes wrong, our psychology decreases because more negative emotions appear. I have already talked to another article about our negative emotions, which are our protectors. You can check it out!

That’s how music affects psychology. Confusing vibrations mean something is wrong. Precise vibrations, the opposite. So simple!

How does this apply to music? The scales, chords, rhythm, and performance of the musicians are all factors which affect the vibrations produced through their music. Positive music has a smooth wave of vibrations. Negative music has a clumsy wave of vibrations. When these vibrations arrive at your brain, it activates the required emotions according to the situation. When the message of the oscillations is clear, it triggers positive emotions that help you relax and be joyful. If the message is confusing, it activates negative emotions, which help you prepare for a fight, running, hiding, or anything needed to protect yourself.

The same applies to music according to the psychology of the performer or the composer. When the composer experience negative emotions, the vibrations inside him are confusing, that’s why he uses the musical tools (scales, rhythms, harmony) in a way that he can send a message that «something is wrong.» When he experiences positive emotions, he wants to send a clear message that everything is ok. That’s why he choose to use these tools in that way.

As you see, it’s all about the message you send (as a musician) or receive (as a listener). This message is sent by vibrations through the air and arrives at our ears. These vibrations are what we call “sound”. A combination of sounds is what produces “music”!

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

Why is it important for all of us to sing

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Some people were born blessed with the gift of a smooth voice. Others were born with the assistance of a perfect musical ear. Every detail of the music they perform or listen to, they can recognize it fully. Others lack any of these musical talents.

Although I am a music teacher now, I am a person who lacks all of these talents. It took so many years to be able to recognize the frequencies. Furthermore, my voice was always weak because of some medical issues. GERD and allergic rhinitis made my vocal abilities very difficult. In conclusion, I was always a mediocre singer (I still am), but people usually enjoy my singing. Why? Because when I sing, I do it with passion. Most of the time, I was out of tune, but according to the emotions I was singing for, I was always deep inside them. That’s why if you ask everyone in my live shows a question, they will say that I am not the best singer, but something makes them want to listen to me sing. My emotional statement on stage made them follow me in my shows. With these vocal abilities, I cannot pursue a singing career, but I can keep a balance in my emotional world just by singing a few notes. I can quickly transform my emotional statement into any emotion I want by singing for a few seconds.

Let’s make this clear. You do not need to be a singer to have the right to sing. Singing, dancing, swimming, and many other arts or sports are physical needs of every human and are not a luxury for a few people. It doesn’t matter if some people do it better, or to say better, in a more fancy way. One person’s ability in a specific field doesn’t forbid others to practice it. Imagine allowing people to sleep only the ones that don’t snore or allow people to smile according to the color of their teeth!

So, it doesn’t matter if you are a good dancer. It is your right to express your emotions through dancing, even if you don’t know a single dancing step. Maybe you will never be able to win a dance competition, but you will benefit yourself with this psychosomatic procedure—the same thing with music. You don’t need to be a singer to sing. Even if your vocal abilities are weak, singing is still a powerful tool that helps you express your emotions and release energy. This way, you can achieve balance in your inner world. Nobody has the right to deprive you of this therapeutic procedure. Singing is a natural need, like food and sleep. Make singing a part of your everyday life via the I.M. Meditation technique. Close your ears and open your soul to let your internal melody act beneficially to yourself.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

Baby Breathing

Have you ever heard about baby breathing? Or, in other words, embryonic breathing? Baby Breathing is one of the essential techniques in the I.M. Meditation method.

Baby breathing is the technique that babies breathe. Everyone used to live using this technique when we were babies, but while growing up, we trained ourselves to lose the ability to use this technique. So, what is Baby Breathing?

You might have heard about the term “Diaphragmatic Breathing.” Diaphragmatic, Embryonic, or Baby breathing, say it as you wish, is the correct way to breathe if you want to receive the most energy around you without wasting the energy you have already had inside you. How can you do it? Easily.

Baby breathing helps you to breathe deeply without putting in too much effort. Now let’s look at the mechanisms they work on breathing deep and how you can activate them.

First, you must inhale the right way to push the air as low as possible. This technique will allow your diaphragm to move as low as possible, leaving more space for the lungs to fill with oxygen. You can use many methods to push the diaphragm as low as possible. The easiest one is to use your imagination. While the diaphragm moves down, it forces your organs to move out of their way. The organs have nowhere to go, so they push your abs to expand outwardly. The result of it is the expansion of your belly in every direction. It feels like you have a giant balloon inside your belly. You can use this image to help you push the air as low as possible. Let’s take a look at how to inhale profoundly using your imagination.

Inhale normally. Don’t force the air to move low or your belly to expand. This expansion must be the result.
While inhaling, imagine a balloon that inflates inside your belly. This image will cause the air to move as low as possible, pushing the diaphragm downwards.
Now, it’s time for exhalation. Exhalation must be long to remove the whole CO2 from your lungs. Long exhalations will help you to receive more oxygen in the next inhalation. To exhale long, let your diaphragm return to its normal position without forcing it. Just relax your muscle and allow the diaphragm to return to its place. Use your imagination again to help you push the whole air out of your lungs. Imagine the inflated balloon on your belly starting to deflate slowly.

Baby breathing must happen naturally. Don’t push yourself to do anything. Inhale and exhale while imagining the balloon that inflates and deflates inside your belly.

Baby breathing can be more profound, but we will discuss this in another article. This article aims to help you send the air as low as possible to receive more oxygen and release more CO2. Of course, more breathing techniques focus on different benefits. We will talk about them in the future.

Keep in mind to use your nose for inhalation. Preferably for exhalation too. Avoid breathing in through the mouth because it dries the air and makes breathing more difficult.

Baby breathing is very effective. Practice it every day for a couple of minutes. It helps you release stress, fill your body with energy, slow your heart rate, and many more.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao)

Music And Emotions

Music is a potent tool. It can affect your psychology very fast. Remember the last time you listened to a happy song while in a bad mood and got high before the song ended? Or the opposite. Remember the last time you were high, and while listening to a sad song, your psychology dropped suddenly. It is for sure that music plays a massive role in our psychology, and there is a reason for that.

Music has psychoacoustic properties. What does this mean? It means that the way music vibrates can affect our nervous system. Why? Because, in reality, music is a combination of sounds, and sounds are waves. Just like the waves your neurons deliver to your brain. So, you might imagine where it goes. When the waves of sounds produced by music coordinate with the waves delivered from your neurons to your brain, the provided information also carries the music information. If the waves produced by the sounds of music are harmonious, they will improve your psychology. If the waves produced by the sounds of music are disharmonious, your psychology will fall.

The above is a straightforward explanation of how music affects your psychology. The opposite is also true. While trying to produce a song (even a single melody), your psychology plays a massive role in how you build a tune. If your psychology is high, your theme will be harmonious. If your psychology is low, your melody will be disharmonious.

These two facts are what the I.M. Meditation technique uses to help you become mindful of your emotional world and completely transform it into a balanced and joyful world. You don’t need to be a musician to achieve the benefits of music.
If you want to learn how to do it, follow me on Instagram. You will find plenty of step-by-step guides on how to walk this joyful path.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao)

Emotions (the strange transformation of them)

Emotions. We all experience a variety of emotions every day. Some are positive, while others are negative. Some emotions are robust, while others are weaker in comparison with others. There are also situations in which we experience mixed emotions. In reality, in every moment of our lives, we experience mixed emotions. Why? Because every feeling we experience is a combination of positive and negative emotions.

Every time we experience an emotion, we share many feelings at the exact moment in different amounts. Some emotions contain considerable energy, while others just a little. But, the final result we feel combines all these different emotions.

For example: Imagine you have a feeling of sadness. The opposite of sadness is happiness. Both emotions are inside you at the exact moment. If you feel sad, it means that sorrow has a more considerable amount of energy than happiness. The more you feel sad, the bigger the energy of sadness, according to joy, flows inside your body. If you feel sad but not so sorry, sadness and happiness are somewhere in the middle. Of course, the scale turns slightly to sorrow.

The above applies to emotions of the same category (positive or negative) too. For example: when you feel sad, it doesn’t mean you only experience sadness. All the negative emotions are present at that moment. Again, different amount of energy for every emotion flows inside your body. So, when you experience an emotion, it is always a combination of positive and negative emotions with different values. When you feel sadness, this emotion also includes a taste of fear, anger, hatred, and positive feelings like happiness, courage, or others.

Now, there is a tricky part. If you have all these emotions inside you simultaneously, why do you feel only one of them? This sense happens for two reasons. The first one is obvious. It occurs because the emotion you experience is the biggest of all. If you train yourself to become mindful, you can see all the other emotions inside you. But, there is another (not so apparent) reason you feel only one emotion.

There are many times we experience a transformation of emotion. What does this mean? Often, a feeling (let’s say fear) activates itself by external information (for example, a hungry lion in front of us). To fight this emotion, we deny it, making ourselves believe we don’t experience it. In addition, we block all the other emotions we experience to avoid the presence of the real emotion. But the energy of this emotion is enormous, and it needs to be released somehow. Then, the emotion delivers its energy to another emotion (anger, for example). Now we feel angry, but the real emotion we need to calm is not anger. It’s fear! We can fight anger for a long time without any result. We will not feel cured by our anger until we find the emotion hidden behind this energy.

The I.M. Meditation technique can do miracles in this field. I.M. Meditation can help you be mindful of your emotional world so you can work with real emotion each time. Of course, this is not overnight progress. It takes time, but you have nothing to be afraid of as long as you walk the right path.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

The walking meditation

Something trendy these days is “The Walking Meditation.” I hear many people saying that they enjoy doing the walking meditation, but when I ask them, “how do they do it” and “what is it that they like so much about it” their answer always makes me wonder if they know that they are doing it wrong. Here is the most common response to this question:

“I enjoy Walking Meditation because when I go for a walk, I can think clearly about my problems and find the solution easier than sitting in my office.”

Well, this doesn’t sound like a meditation experience to me. Meditation is the conscious observation of the present. While walking, to do the Walking Meditation, you have to think about the walk. Any other thought than the walk itself is just a distraction that pushes your mind away from meditation. If you try to find solutions to your problems while walking, you don’t meditate. You carry your office with you in nature. The fresh air may help you to clear your mind partially. Perhaps it opens a window to the solution in front of your eyes, but meditatively, it doesn’t offer you anything.

Meditation is something more profound; its purpose is to help you balance yourself. It also allows you to know yourself and to understand yourself. Walking meditation is a great tool to understand your body and connect to the earth. Use it like this.

To practice walking meditation correctly, you need to be conscious of what happens in your body while walking. Feel your muscles and how they work together to move you forward. Feel how your feet are connected to the earth in every step. Feel how the air enters your lungs while breathing. Feel your heart and how it beats to send blood to your whole body. Feel the wind on your skin, the sweat that clears your body of toxins. That is meditation. That is a total reprogramming of your mind.

Walking and thinking about solutions makes you stress-addicted. Walking meditation makes you feel mindful. That is the difference. If you practice walking meditation right, you can go back to your office and do miracles. On the other hand, if you use walking as an extension of your office, you need to walk on the right path. Keep this in mind and transform every step into a meditating experience. It is so beneficial that you can’t even imagine!

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).

How to deal with distractions

Do you find it difficult to focus on your meditation procedure? Do you often feel distracted by thoughts, sounds, or anything else that happens around you or inside you while you meditate? Does it sound like a reason for you to quit your meditation? If you feel like this, then this article is for you. Here is a simple tip you can use to continue your meditation, no matter how many or how often you experience distractions.

You experience problems with your concentration because you give more value to your distractions than you should. In other words, when a distraction comes to you, you put too much effort not to be distracted, which has, as a result, distracting you from your meditation. So, as you already guessed, it is not the distraction that makes you lose concentration but your reaction to it. In reality, you are distracted from your distraction to the distraction! Sounds confusing? Let me explain it.

First, you need to understand that distractions do not push you out of your meditation. They are part of the meditation. They help you train to stay focused on your meditation. So, the secret to not being distracted by the distraction is this:

When a distraction comes your way while you meditate, it is natural to catch your attention. Now, if you try to throw this distraction away and push yourself to concentrate again, you have already become distracted. You stop thinking about your meditation. You think about how to return to your meditation. So you use your mind to fight against your distraction. Now you don’t meditate. You argue with the distraction. It happens because you react to the distraction. If you let the distraction be, it will lose its power.

So, the next time you experience a distraction, whether it is a sound of the surroundings or a thought in your mind, do this: Welcome the distraction and embrace it. Act as if it is something natural. Act like you expected the distraction to come. Don’t react. Observe the distraction. Now the distraction becomes a meditation object. It doesn’t have the power to distract you anymore. Once you have watched the distraction and how you reacted to it, you can lead your distraction to be out of your mind and return to your meditation. Don’t try to fight it. Don’t pretend you are not distracted. Observe your distraction, and you will not lose the benefits of the meditation. Because, in reality, at that moment, you meditate on your distraction. After a while, another distraction will come. Do the same no matter how many or how often distractions will come.

The purpose of meditation is always to bring you back to the present, no matter how many distractions you experience. Meditation is not something that happens only in a perfect environment away from distractions. Meditation creates an ideal environment inside you no matter what happens in and out of your body. So, next time a distraction comes to you, remember this:

Distractions are your trainers! Trying to efficiently experience them without affecting you is actual meditation.

Fotis Tampas (De Tao).