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6 - Nothingness

Other Meditation Techniques

Happy Day! 🥳

I think of meditation as a group word — like sports or birds.

If you were an alien landing from Orion and asked me, “What is sport?”, I wouldn’t hand you a rulebook. I’d take you somewhere.

If I loved soccer, we’d go to a stadium and then kick a ball around in a park.
If I loved bowling, we’d head to an alley and roll a few frames.

Different settings. Different movements. Different rules.

But at their core?
Play. Focus. Skill. Coordination. Growth.

Meditation is the same.

There isn’t one technique. There are hundreds. Some focus-driven. Some movement-based. Some silent. Some sound-oriented. Some structured. Some fluid.

In this course, I offer TQT because it’s simple, practical, and habit-friendly. It removes the mystique and gets you into the practice without ceremony.

But doing the same thing every day can get stale.

So I mix it up.

I use the “Ahhh” meditation while walking alone. I use night-based meditations. Sometimes I sit. Sometimes I lie down. Sometimes I anchor to breath; sometimes to sound.

The key isn’t rigidity.

The key is connection.

Don’t fall for “one-size-fits-all” claims. Your nervous system, personality, and lifestyle are unique. Explore. Search. Your RAS will start filtering and highlighting what resonates.

Meditation is not about copying someone else’s ritual.

It’s about finding your vibrational match.

A Night-Time Solution Practice

There is a powerful window just before sleep.

At that moment, your analytical guard is lowering. The brain-mind is powering down. The subconscious is about to take the wheel.

Whatever direction you set before that handover matters.

So here’s the practice.

When you lie in bed, before sleep overtakes you:

Clear the field.
Forgive anyone you feel has wronged you.
Forgive yourself for anything you think you’ve mishandled.
Not because they deserve it — but because your nervous system does.
Elevate the tone.
Fill your heart with thoughts of love, gratitude, grace.
Let go of resentment. Let go of replay loops.
Install the vision.
Now imagine your most fulfilling, balanced life as already achieved.

Not vaguely. Specifically.

Your company thriving.
Your work impacting millions.
Your family secure and joyful.
Financial freedom expressed responsibly and generously.

Feel the air.
See the textures.
Hear the conversations.
Sense the pride and peace.

If your vision includes taking your family and closest friends on a private jet to Necker Island for two weeks — fine. See the sand. Feel the warm wind. Taste the food. Experience the ease of being both successful and grounded.

Then drift to sleep.

This isn’t fantasy indulgence.

It’s directional programming.

When sleep arrives, your conscious control loosens. The deeper mind continues in the direction you last pointed it.

Give it something worthy to work on.

The First Thought of the Morning

When you wake, don’t reach for your phone.

Before the world enters, choose your first signal.

Something like:

“I am ______ and I am a hugely successful ______ with a net worth of ______ which I use for the highest good of all.”

Or your version of that.

It doesn’t matter if you feel groggy. It doesn’t matter if the previous day was messy.

First thought.
Strong direction.

You are training your baseline.

The “Ahhh” Practice

Wayne Dyer popularized the “Ahhh” meditation in recent decades, and his gravelly voice makes it compelling to listen to. But the technique itself is ancient. Sound-based resonance practices have existed for millennia.

The premise is simple:

Tone.
Resonate.
Align.

A long, sustained “Ahhh” sound vibrates through the chest and throat, calming the nervous system and settling mental noise. After a few tones, I often speak my affirmations or intentions aloud. The body is relaxed. The mind is open. The signal lands cleanly.

You don’t need elaborate rituals.

You need consistency and sincerity.

Here’s the deeper truth:

Meditation isn’t about escaping life.

It’s about calibrating it.

It’s about choosing your last thought at night and your first thought in the morning.

It’s about placing your attention deliberately instead of letting headlines and notifications place it for you.

Explore the forms.
Find what fits.
Stay curious.

And remember — you are always meditating on something.

Make sure it’s worthy of you.

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Meditation isn’t a trend.

It’s ancient infrastructure.

Nearly every culture has developed its own version — not as decoration, but as a tool for clarity, humility, and connection.

In Judaism, contemplative practice appears in traditions such as Kabbalah and hitbodedut — forms of inward reflection that include meditating on the names and attributes of God, or speaking directly and personally to the Divine in solitude. It is structured stillness mixed with heartfelt dialogue.

In Islam, meditation is expressed through Tafakkur — deep reflection on creation, on morality, on the balance between good and evil. It is contemplation as devotion. Thinking not to accumulate data, but to refine character.

In Buddhism, meditation is central. Whether Zen, Tibetan, or Theravada, the aim is awareness — seeing reality clearly enough to dissolve illusion. Different techniques, same direction: wake up.

Across traditions, the outer forms vary.

Silence.
Chanting.
Breath.
Scripture.
Mantra.
Movement.
Sound.

But underneath?

Attention.
Intention.
Elevation.

Even simply listening to sacred tones — Gregorian chants, Sufi recitations, Buddhist bowls, Hebrew melodies — can settle the nervous system. Sound bypasses argument. It regulates before it persuades.

You may resonate with one tradition.
You may resonate with none.

That’s fine.

I’m not suggesting you adopt a religion. I’m showing you that the impulse toward stillness, reflection, and inward calibration appears everywhere humans have gathered meaningfully.

This isn’t fringe behavior.

It’s foundational.

The forms are many. The field is one.

Explore what speaks to you. Or create your own quiet practice. The goal isn’t conformity — it’s connection.

Inspiration comes from unexpected places.

Stay open.

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Speaking of sound, here is an interesting clip of the power of sound frequency.

A wonderful companion for meditation is a singing bowl.

We were recently gifted one, and I have to admit — I love it. Not because it’s mystical. Not because it’s exotic. But because it makes the experience playful.

And that’s the point.

Meditation should feel like exploration, not obligation.

Singing bowls — sometimes called standing bells, Tibetan bowls, Himalayan bowls, rin gongs — are usually made from metals such as copper or tin. You either strike them gently or run a mallet around the rim, and they produce a long, resonant tone that seems to hover in the air.

The sound vibrates through the room. Through your hands. Through your chest.

Some traditions say the tone represents the sound of the “void” — the hum of the universe itself. Whether you interpret that poetically or literally doesn’t matter. What matters is that the sustained vibration gives your mind something simple to rest on.

And resting the mind is the whole game.

I’m not mentioning singing bowls to convince you to buy one. I’m making a bigger point: meditation is not one rigid technique performed in a silent cave at 4 a.m.

It’s more like sport.

If someone told you that “exercise” only meant marathon running, you might avoid it entirely. But if you discover that exercise includes walking, swimming, dancing, tennis, stretching, climbing — suddenly it becomes accessible.

Meditation is the same.

Breath awareness.
Sound.
Walking in nature.
Sitting in silence.
Repeating a word.
Watching the sky.
Listening to rain.

No single method is superior. The best technique is the one you will actually do.

Too many people are put off because meditation is presented as complicated, spiritual theater requiring incense, robes, teachers, or perfect posture.

It doesn’t.

It can be as simple — and as joyful — as kicking a ball around a field.

Play with it.

Experiment.

Let it feel light.

When you remove the pressure to “do it right,” something interesting happens — you start doing it naturally.

And that’s when it works.

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Leland joined us as a guest on one of our monthly Zoom gatherings, and his story stopped the room.

He shared a near-death experience that should have ended very differently. After the emergency, doctors told him he would be paralyzed for life. No ambiguity. No optimism. Just a sentence handed down in clinical language.

But life had other plans.

Through what he describes as a chance — though perhaps not accidental — encounter with a yogi, he was introduced to disciplined breath-work. Not casual breathing. Not relaxation breathing. Focused, intentional, structured breath.

He committed to it.

Slowly, steadily, against every prediction, he regained full motor function.

Today, Leland is not only walking — he is a trained neuroscientist and psychologist. He bridges lived experience with scientific understanding. He explains breath not as mysticism, but as biology. As neurology. As access to the autonomic nervous system — the control panel most people never learn how to touch.

In his session with us, he guides a full breath-work practice designed to elevate clarity, regulate emotional state, and amplify Intention.

Because here is the truth: breath is the only autonomic function you can consciously override at will.

Heart rate, stress response, focus, resilience — they all respond to breath.

When you change the breath, you change the brain.
When you change the brain, you change perception.
When you change perception, you change what becomes possible.

His story is inspiring.

His science is grounding.

And his practice is practical.

Take it seriously. Try it fully. The breath you’ve taken for granted your entire life may be the most powerful tool you own.

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