Solitude Vs. Meditation

I was reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport for the Janes Agenda Masterplan course, and I noticed he spoke about solitude. The dictionary explains solitude as the state of being alone, but in the book, Cal Newport says that solitude is time spent alone with your thoughts. Now meditation on the other hand, isn’t as simple to explain as it’s more of a personal experience. Again, the dictionary explains it as a practice of clearing your mind and/or focusing using a combination of mental and physical techniques. This is varied as there are many different things people use in their own meditation practice. For example, some people use mantras, some use flame and others use water. The dictionary goes on to say that meditation is used to relax, and to reduce anxiety and stress.

Now, if you consider meditation as something you would do alone, then we can compare the two. For me, I would say solitude is where you have quiet time (no inputs from any other sources such as music, books or people talking), and you just think. In meditation, you are either allowing the thoughts to enter your mind, but then let them pass, or, attempting to sit in quiet and (attempting to) prevent the thoughts from entering your mind.

I always struggled with meditation, because I have a million thoughts a minute and I found it hard to focus for 5 minutes, let alone 20 minutes. Also, I didn’t know what I needed for my personal meditation practice - should I sit normally in a chair, should I sit cross-legged on the floor? Is it better to stare into a candle flame, or is it better to keep my eyes closed and say “Ohmm…”?

To be fair, I did try a bunch of different techniques, and they just didn't seem to work for me. The one thing that did work was something that I very much enjoyed. I sat out on my back step and listened to the bird song in the morning around 5am. No, it’s not quiet, but I still have thoughts that try to invade my head, so I actively try to chase them away, and I spend my meditation time doing that and it does seem to calm me down in anxious moments.

Solitude is something that I never actively considered doing until after reading the book, Digital Minimalism. I do it every day, but in short bursts and I never think of it as solitude. I find myself in quiet, thinking about things in my life in the morning before my kids wake up and as I complete my morning routine. I also find myself doing it as I garden and when I fold the mountain of clothes every day.

It’s actually interesting upon reflection that when I don’t get that time to think, I really do miss it. For example, I might sleep in and have to wake the kids up right after I get up, and then I basically have no quiet time the rest of the day.

Another thing to note is that the author said there were studies done proving why todays’ youth (who are so addicted to their tech) are anxious and depressed. They haven’t learned to practice solitude because they are too busy filling their heads with social media/tech/screens. We need that time alone with our thoughts to recharge and figure out who we are without someone or something telling us what we should be or how we should act.

In conclusion, I’m going to challenge myself to try and do both of these things and add them to my wellness schedule. I love setting new goals for myself, and I will definitely add these to my 2025 goals, but I won’t wait! I will also add them to my quarter four goals for 2024 as well so I can get a head start and begin practicing right away! How about you? Do you practice meditation and solitude?

Thanks for reading!

Sandra