Without meditation we are constantly carried away by an automatic stream of thoughts, moods, feelings, without direction and without center. This flow is never in the here and now, but is guided by what happened in the past and what could happen in the future: fears, wishes, dreams, all kinds of associations, reactions. We lose ourselves in it because we think we are these thoughts, feelings, sensations.
All true meditation techniques help you to break free from this automatic flow and return to your own center, in the here and now where real life is taking place.
Meditation techniques are not an end in themselves, but a means, a help. Once you start with a technique, you will naturally feel the need to allow meditation more in the rest of your life. In doing so, the general principle is: be present in what you are doing, be aware of what is happening every moment. It is easiest to start with normal daily activities, such as eating, showering, brushing your teeth, etc.
For example, you can turn your daily shower into a meditation by being fully present, aware of your movements, of the water on your skin, the sounds, the smells – of everything that is happening in and around you at that moment. Try it and see how it can change your showering routine!