Meditation is a full-time job. Of course, we meet our basic responsibilities, but these are simple and few. We meditate when we observe without comment every act we perform and every thought we think. Like standing outside of ourselves until it’s time for bed.
If nothing is an option, do that. But furlough the head. Do it with your whole heart, as if you had 90 seconds to live—alert, aware, not thinking. This is a profound and dynamic state. Laozi: “When nothing is done, nothing remains undone.”
Some Jungian analysts believe that the first 45 minutes after awakening are uniquely generative and creatively potent. The mind is still, savouring its experience of liminal space, and ego’s defence systems are down. The question “What’s next?” does not occur.
If I do not desire anything and I am not afraid of anything, then the mind is quiet. Not asleep or chewing its cud, but alert, watchful and ready. Like a top-of-class majordomo.
Men's Work 