If a meditation technique resonates, commit to practicing it daily and attending annual retreats, as Rivers Cuomo has done with Goenka Vipassana since 2003. This consistent practice is key to long-term benefits.
Commit to a consistent meditation practice (e.g., two hours daily and annual retreats) with the understanding that it will improve whatever you are doing in life, beyond specific goals. Rivers Cuomo found it beneficial for his marriage, family, and band relationships.
When facing a busy schedule, prioritize your meditation by scheduling it first (e.g., an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening) and then arrange other activities around it. This ensures the practice remains consistent even during demanding times.
Engage in consistent meditation to become more focused and make better use of your time, leading to increased productivity and less wasted time. Rivers Cuomo found that meditation helped him get a lot more done.
Maintain a consistent meditation practice over the years to gradually reduce the impact of criticism and negative feedback, building resilience. Rivers Cuomo noted that over time, negative comments bother him less and less.
When faced with criticism or negative feedback that causes physical pain or upset, meditate for an hour to relax and regain a sense of calm. Rivers Cuomo uses this to deal with fan and critic reactions to his music.
Approach meditation as a training in resilience, learning to repeatedly return your focus when your mind wanders, a skill that translates to greater resilience in daily life challenges. This practice of ‘coming back’ is scalable off the cushion.
Engage in meditation to boost your creativity and artistic output, recognizing it as a powerful tool for maintaining inspiration, as Rivers Cuomo found for his music. He returned to meditation when his inspiration was drying up.
Sharpen your mind through meditation to perceive and utilize subtler emotional disturbances for creative expression, observing them as they are without needing to amplify them. Rivers Cuomo uses this to write tortured rock music even when he’s in a good place.
Approach meditation by focusing on the immediate, in-the-moment benefits and how much better you feel after each session, rather than solely on a distant goal like enlightenment, to maintain discipline. Rivers Cuomo sits daily because he feels better after each session.
If a two-hour daily meditation seems daunting, break it into smaller, manageable increments throughout the day (e.g., 75 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes) to fit your schedule. Both Dan Harris and Rivers Cuomo have adopted this approach.
Try Vipassana meditation, which involves observing sensations on the body, as Rivers Cuomo found it to be a profoundly effective technique for him. He committed to this technique after trying various methods.
Incorporate daily mantra meditation, even for a few minutes, to concentrate and calm your mind, as Rivers Cuomo did in his childhood. This practice can be a foundational step in meditation.
When facing a crisis situation, remember to use mantra work to calm yourself down, leveraging a technique that Rivers Cuomo found instinctively helpful from his childhood.
For a deeper spiritual practice, commit to keeping ethical guidelines like the five precepts (e.g., no lying, no sexual misconduct outside of committed relationships), as Rivers Cuomo did after his first course.
Before undertaking long meditation courses, ensure your partner and family are supportive, as this support is crucial for navigating the difficulty of the retreat. Goenka’s application specifically asks about family support.
If you aspire to attend long meditation courses (e.g., 20+ days), commit to their prerequisites, such as two hours of daily meditation for a specified period, to ensure eligibility and motivation. Rivers Cuomo used this as a motivator for his daily practice.
If aligned with your spiritual path and goals, practice celibacy outside of lifelong committed relationships, as Rivers Cuomo did for three years, as a form of discipline. This was part of keeping the five precepts.
Through meditation, particularly Vipassana, observe the sensations and changes within your body to become deeply aware of your physical impermanence (Anicca), fostering a broader perspective. This understanding is a core insight from deep practice.
When confronted with thoughts of decay or skeletons, reframe the emotional reaction of ‘morbid’ by recognizing it as an undeniable truth about impermanence, rather than something to avoid. This helps keep perspective on life.
To reduce strong attachments or sexual arousal that hinder meditation, contemplate the reality of decay and the impermanent, often ‘disgusting’ ingredients of the body, as taught by the Buddha. This is a specific, ancient technique for detachment.
If you’re an artist, use platforms like Tinder for research, seeking new friends and experiences to inspire songwriting, clearly stating your intentions to avoid misunderstandings. Rivers Cuomo used this for his ‘White Album.’
When traveling to unfamiliar places, use dating apps to find locals who can show you around, enriching your experience beyond staying in a hotel room. Rivers Cuomo found this particularly useful on tour.
For creative projects, immerse yourself in relevant environments to gather images and visual details, observing, walking, and interacting with people to inform your work. Rivers Cuomo spent time at the beach for his ‘White Album.’
Plan your retirement to include meaningful service, such as volunteering at meditation centers, as Rivers Cuomo intends to do after his music career. This offers a purpose-driven post-career path.
Reflect on external feedback, such as articles or observations from others, to learn about yourself and identify areas of personal growth and change. Rivers Cuomo learned a lot about himself from a Rolling Stone article.
Be careful not to adopt a proselytizing tone when discussing personal practices like meditation, recognizing that such things are deeply personal and require internal propulsion. Rivers Cuomo learned this from past experiences.
Acquire a skeleton model to visually understand your body’s structure, identify past injuries, and locate future ones, as Rivers Cuomo did after his bus accident.
A mantra is a phrase you repeat in your mind to concentrate and calm yourself down, often a Sanskrit phrase. This provides the foundational knowledge for mantra meditation.
To meditate, observe your breath and count it up to nine, then start again, a technique Rivers Cuomo learned from a book on ninjas. This is a simple, accessible breath-focused meditation.
Download the 10% with Dan Harris app and sign up for the 14-day trial to access guided meditations for various needs, weekly live Zoom community sessions, and ad-free podcast episodes. This offers a structured way to engage with meditation.
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