Meditation Intimidation

Guest post by Devin McCrorey

Over the past few years, in teaching people how to meditate and be mindful, I’ve realized something - people are genuinely afraid to try meditation. They make excuses, cast dispersions, and do whatever it takes to avoid the practice. As a person who has experienced the benefits of mindfulness and meditation I found it odd that anyone would be nervous about something that could induce such bliss, calm, and confidence. After some thought, I’ve arrived upon a few reasons why. 

First, meditation is an experience that reduces external stimulation. In a world where every moment of the day is filled with social media, television, Spotify, face time, and celebrity gossip, the idea of turning all that stimulation off is frightening. People have developed a phobia of silence. The term people have used with me is “boredom”- however, what they really mean is they are afraid that less stimulation and less distraction will lead to less excitement. 

Another issue is the fear of closing one’s eyes to look within. Without distraction the mind focuses. Being self-aware creatures, when silence is upon us so is our focus. In a bizarre plot twist we live in a social media culture where people have become self-obsessed and simultaneously afraid to know themselves. Many of us are avatars in an imitation of life, an outer shell that looks like our fantasies of who we want to be. Meditation pulls our attention inward, in the direction of who we are. For some this is heaven. For others, hell. 

Mindfulness helps us see things as they are, peeling away illusion to reveal truth. And a major part of the truth is that most people are taught to not like themselves. In fact, there are entire industries that feed self-hate. Surgery, skin-bleaching, fake hair, fake tans, make up, butt lifts, push-up bras all generate billions of dollars. There are legions of hustlers who have profited from the insecurity market. However, in time we all find it is easier to hide external blemishes than it is to conceal spiritual ones. In other words, it’s easier to hide what we don’t like about ourselves on the outside than it is to hide what we don’t like about ourselves on the inside. A blemish on the skin can be concealed with make-up. A sense of despair in the soul is something more difficult to keep hidden. Thus the fear of looking within. 

What would happen if, when the eyes closed in meditation, we saw the truth about ourselves for the first time? What if we find that we have not healed from past trauma? Or that we have hurt someone we loved? Or that we have hurt ourselves due to a lack of love? What if we had to face all the insecurities our distractions and illusions were supposed to keep hidden? 

​When you sit still and close your eyes, there is nowhere to run. 

It’s important to remember that some fear is natural. Fear of fire, for example. All animals are instinctively afraid of fire. This is reasonable, considering fire’s destructive power. However, some fear is programmed. For example, some people are afraid of others tweeting mean things about them on social media. When our ancient ancestors were battling the elements to build civilization they had no instinctive fear of strangers writing jokes about them, or drawing funny pictures of them. 

The fear of memes (memophobia; not a real diagnosable phobia yet, but it will be) is a programmed fear. We were taught that fear by unseen cultural forces. Just as we were taught the fear of looking within ourselves. All those centuries of being taught abject insecurity have taken a toll. Now, people are afraid to look in the mirror of their own minds and see their true selves. 

​Let me raise a question. How will you ever know how truly beautiful you are if you won’t look and see? How can you improve? How can you change your life and live the life you’ve always dreamed of? 

​People who change the world know themselves. They may struggle to do so; they may be shocked by what they learn of themselves. However, they overcome the fear of self-examination. That is how to make dreams come true.

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Devin McCrorey is the CEO, Founder and President at The Wellness Initiative. He founded The Wellness Initiative to make a positive impact on the community, the nation and the planet. Devin has many years of experience teaching meditation and mindfulness. He began by teaching students in public schools and clients in drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs to use meditation to regulate behavior. He also developed a program centered on meditation and mindfulness to directly assist clients dealing with trauma, depression and anxiety. He is the author of, Easy, A Guide to Mindfulness and Meditation for children 8 – 12.  www.DevinMcCrorey.com 

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