Why Meditation Is Your Foundational Tool

Meditation isn’t just a quiet-mind exercise—it’s the foundational tool that supports every part of your spiritual, emotional, and magical practice. In this episode, we break down the myths that keep people from starting, including the belief that you “can’t meditate” or must completely clear your mind. Using everyday examples—like highway hypnosis—we show how easily the mind slips into meditative states and how accessible this practice truly is. We also explore the difference between memory‑based meditation and transcendental stillness, and why both serve different but equally valuable purposes.

The conversation dives deep into meditation as a practical tool for real life. From processing memories safely to improving patience, reducing anxiety, strengthening creativity, and preparing for ritual, meditation becomes a flexible skill you can use anywhere. We discuss how visualization enhances performance for musicians, artists, writers, and students, and how tapping into the subconscious can unlock problem‑solving and emotional clarity. You’ll also hear how meditation supports spellwork, affirmations, and long‑term habit‑building through consistent daily practice.

If meditation has ever felt intimidating, this episode reframes it as an accessible, adaptable practice that grows with you. Whether you’re building a spiritual foundation, preparing for ritual, or simply trying to navigate everyday stress, meditation becomes the cornerstone that strengthens everything else you do.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Welcome to Taking Coffee Talk. If you enjoy our content, please consider donating and following our socials.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

We haven't talked about this in a while, so let's talk about meditation. All right. What's the majority of the stuff we hear when it comes to meditation to start with when we bring this up?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Don't have time. I can't clear my mind.

Autopilot Driving As A Clue

SPEAKER_00 0:38

I can't meditate. Right. Stuff like that. Uh, you know, though there's a lot of people that go around just saying, I can't meditate. So for those who sit there and starts off with this whole entire I can't meditate, I've tried enough, blah, blah, blah. I just can't get into that state. If you've ever been driving down the road and pulled up into work, thrown your car into uh, you know, in a park the whole nine yards of get out, and you realize you don't remember driving to work. Right. I mean, that's happened to me before. Does it happen to you every so often? It has happened, yeah. All right. That's a form of that's a form of meditation.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

That is a meditative type state.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah, I was gonna say for me, it's not that I don't remember, but the whole trip's fuzzy.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Very vague ish.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

It's like I re it's like I remember driving, I just don't remember passing any of the stops.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Right. Or I I remember getting onto the highway, but I don't really remember getting off and pulling into my parking space at work.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

I can vaguely remember maneuvering through traffic. Traffic, but yeah, it's all kind of fuzzy.

Guided Meditation Pros And Cons

SPEAKER_00 1:56

This is a form of meditation, right? All right, not a safe one for those not a safe one, not a safe one, but it is. Not saying that, but I'm just saying for those who sit there and claim, well, I can never do that. If you if this happens to you, that is a meditative state. This is what we're aiming for. Right. All right, that's the kind of state we want. Now, of course, there's multiple different types of meditation. You got guided meditations, correct?

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Now, I'm not a big fan. How about you? Do you like guided meditations?

SPEAKER_02 2:33

That would be a good place to start, but no, me personally, I don't like I find them too distracting.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

I find them less distracting and more like my brain wants to go left, they want me to go right.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, that's kind of what I mean. It's it's like they it's it's it's too much information for my purposes. Right. It's like you're wanting me to go somewhere where I'm well, we're planning on going to the same place, but you want me to go a different direction.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

And it's kind of like instead of the way I want to go. Yeah, it's like working against the brain.

Exploring Memories Versus Empty Mind

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Now that would now that could that could just be our style of meditation that we teach, where we tell you to dive into your memories and actually explore them. Not ruminate is not what we're doing. Right. We're just trying our best to clinically look at our memories. And the thought is, is as those memories come up, that's our subconscious going, okay, this is now safe to look at. So's this. Now this is safe to look at. You can actually handle part of this memory, right? And that's what we tell majority of people, all right? Because I I think when you're in that state, your your brain knows what you can handle and what you can't. I think so, yeah. To some extent. So that that's what we teach is how people to meditate like that, versus the transcendental meditation, which is no thoughts, clear your mind, concentrate on just your breathing.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Right. That one's that one's like ultimate connection to the universe.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Where you've blocked out everything on this realm of existence, your mind's completely still, you have no thoughts running through your head, and it's just you and the universe. That's it. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Again, nothing wrong with this, but no, these two different these two different meditation styles both deal with problems in a different way from one another. One is is uh the way we do it, is more like uh I'm cleaning my house out, I have to go through all the boxes and see what's in them, right? Throw out what don't need, back forth. Transcendental meditation is more like trying to sandblast all that away with just pure divine energy. Right. If it works for you, great.

SPEAKER_02 5:01

I mean it's a lot harder to achieve transcendental meditation, especially for beginners. So, you know, I I think that's probably a more advanced type of meditation that you have to kind of work up to.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Well, see, with the way we with the way we teach meditation, what we're talking about is after a while, those memories that you might first encounter when you first start your meditations will eventually start to stop. Because again, there comes a point to where, okay, we've done gone through everything, you're fine. And now you're this is when you're starting to get to more of a point to where you can do other things in meditation. You can you can do that transcendental meditation probably a whole lot easier by this time.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Yeah, I tend to disagree with that statement just a little bit, because I think there's always something that you think you've dealt with that you haven't. And at some point it's gonna resurface.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Well, at some point, but you know, after a while, it you do get breaks in there where you don't have memories flying up going, hey, yeah, we might want to export every time.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Well, no, I get that. I'm just saying I don't I don't think you get to a point where it's all completely dealt with.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Well, you no, you're right. You never do, but it gets to the point to where there's less of it.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Right. Like you said, there's there's periods where it's just peace. Right. It's just peaceful.

Using Meditation For Performance And Work

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Because it there's other things we can actually use meditation for besides just this process. All right. So if you're a musician, if you're a singer or something like that, you go into that meditative state and you visualize yourself doing these tasks, singing the songs, playing the guitar and stuff like this. It allows your subconscious to process it better. So when you go to do it, it's more instinctual. And you don't have to think about it as much. Right. You can also believe it or not, yes, you can do the same thing for your homework too. Yeah, yeah. You want to pass your math tests, do go into meditation state and do your math. Just keep on going back over the concepts and how it works, and it will stick a little bit longer. So there are other things we can do in meditation like this. All right. You can sit there and work on problems. You can, if you have an issue at work, go into a meditated state, think about it. You'd be surprised at how fast you might get an answer. Right. So again, it's not just for psychological issues.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

No, no, and it's surprisingly effective, too.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yes. I mean, this is a this is a tool that very few people use, and we put it on the table to start with. All right. I mean, what what what sort of things do you use your meditation for?

SPEAKER_02 8:09

I use my meditation for um well here lately I've been using it for patience. I'm in the process of uh training somebody new at work, and she's testing my patience. So I'm I'm using my meditation, and people at work they're like, I don't know how you have the patience for this. And I tell them, I meditate. So right now that's like you know, I've used it for um I guess you'd call it like stage fright. Yeah. Not not like true stage fright. Yeah. I don't typically get that, but you know, like when you're doing something new for the first time, especially in front of people, um, you get a little nervous. So I've used it for that. Um well and I've used it for rituals. I've done gone to do something that I've never done before in a ritual space. And yeah, uh, I've used meditation to kind of get me through that.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Well, we we we uh we encourage everybody to meditate for like ten minutes before ritual even starts. So yeah, no, I'm talking like weeks leading up to this, right? Yeah, so but again, that's just to help you when you get in the circle. Absolutely. Um so again, there's a lot of useful things here that meditation can do besides just sitting there in silence. Yes, yes, you can you can sit there. Lord, if you're a writer, sit there, think about your stories, think about what in the world you're wanting to write. You have access to your subconscious, and that's where most of our creativity comes from. And if you're a little bit more closer to it, God forbid, what ideas could come out?

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Well, and I was gonna say, you know, artists, painters, drawers, you know, all those things. If if you're if you got some type of blockage, use that meditation time to kind of unlock some new ideas, see yourself drawing things, see yourself creating, you know, visualizing. Doing. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Right. Visualize the paint you want to paint, then go paint it. I keep on thinking that we we we harp a lot on meditation, but we rarely tell people how to use it. Right. It's just, oh no, go meditate, go meditate. Here's how you meditate. And yeah, I I I can understand those people that sit back going, oh my god, can y'all shut up? I can't meditate. I don't want I'm done listening. There's more to it.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Well, and look, if you if you don't want to meditate, just say you don't want to meditate, and that's fine. And just go on with your life. But don't don't complain because you can't meditate.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Right. And and I am telling you that it when you sit there and tell yourself you can't, that's the roadblock you're putting. You're putting it there.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Grandma always said, can't never do nothing. Exactly. If you keep saying you can't, then you're gonna believe you can't.

Building The Habit Without Overdoing It

SPEAKER_00 11:14

And you never will. So there's the first thing. That's why we do meditation so early in the classes and stuff like that. So we can start getting this concept across to y'all. All right, you won't know until you do it, not until you get it habit. And yes, you're gonna have to force yourself to make it a habit. Three months, meditate, start off five minutes. You do not have to sit there for eight hours. Get that out of your head. I I would sit there and tell you, don't go past 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

I was gonna say, please don't sit there for eight hours.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Please don't. All right. Just start up five minutes and slowly increase it. Right. If you have to meditate for five minutes for a week, next week add two minutes and keep on doing that until you get up to 45.

Affirmations, Ritual Prep, And Spellwork

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Right. And quite honestly, you know, it's speaking of can't never could do nothing, like my grandma used to say. But um speaking of that, that's another thing that you can use your meditations for. Use it for those positive affirmations. Yes. You know, it's you know, you hear all the time positive affirmations, do them in front of a mirror, da-da-da, whatever. Right. Do it in your meditative state. Please, God will sink in like you will not believe before you even know it. Right, because you are because like you've said before, you are tapped into that subconscious mind.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yes, you're you're in a state where you're you the subconscious mind is active and working. Yes. When you're meditating. So again, when you're there, yes, you you have more of a direct access there. Yes. Do them, do your affirmations during your meditation.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Just the important thing to remember, it's not just like you said, it's not just the psychological stuff. Use it for just about anything you can think of. Anything.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

I've said this before in a meditative state. If okay, if I want to cast a spell for something, I know I need I know I need energy. I know I need emotional energy in me. So what I spend a week or so meditating on something to make me feel the feeling I want to feel. Yep. And then I attach a symbol to it. So I see the symbol and feel the feeling in my meditation over and over again that keeps on locking in. That every time I see this symbol, I need to feel this feeling. That way, when I go to do the spell, I have that symbol off to the side right there, I can look at to get that feeling going again.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

To fuel the spell. Makes sense. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. But yeah, but what does it take? It takes you meditating. It takes a few, you know, a week or so to do this, to where in the world, yes, every time you see this symbol, you're happy or you're sad or you have this oversense of need. All right, because because again, we can you we're using meditation to do the Pablo dog to ourselves. Yes. It's basically what we're doing. So again, when I sit back and tell people, okay, doing spells are a little dangerous because we're psychologically scarring ourselves. This is some of the stuff we're talking about. It's all done through meditation.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Yep. This is yeah, this is this is what's so hard sometimes to get through people's head when we say that meditation is like the cornerstone of everything that you do. Oh god, yes. This is why. This is what we're talking about. It truly is the cornerstone. Everything else off of meditation.

When Missing Meditation Feels Off

SPEAKER_00 15:12

We refer to meditation as a tool. We literally mean that. It is a tool. Yeah, it is it is a tool that you use to adjust yourself to fit the problem. Uh before you throw it away, think about this stuff, all right? Take a moment, right? Yes, it it will it's gonna take on average about three months meditating every single day for it to become habit. Is it gonna be easy?

SPEAKER_02 15:41

No.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

No, no, and I'm gonna stress this one more time. To make anything ha habit, you have to do it for at least three months. Right. You don't have to do it long. Again, like I said, five minutes.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Right. Yeah, because after a while you're gonna start, you're gonna start being like, oh, I didn't meditate today. Oh, I I've got to go meditate.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Your body will have it. I know no. Meditation by the time you make it a habit like this, the meditation becomes like the habit of you feel sleepy. Like when you're starting to feel sleep right before bed, you know, meditation sort of does the same thing to you. You start feeling weird when you don't do it. Yeah. You're kind of like, hmm, something ain't quite right. Something's off today. What did I feel? Oh, hell, I didn't meditate. Oh crap. And your body's sort of pushing you to do it at the same time because you get a little spacey.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Well, I was gonna say, especially if you're picking, if you have a specific place and a specific time that you normally do it, your your body's gonna tell you you've you've missed it.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah. Yeah, because trust me, I've been on vacation and be outdoing and realize I missed my meditation part and be sitting there going, uh looking like you know, that thousand-yard stare, you breeze in the wind. Anybody home? No, kind of deal. You you will feel it kind of like that once it starts to become habit. It's gonna you can feel the difference. You will, yeah. At least I can. So you know what else is a habit?

Coffee Closing And Where To Find Us

Closing Poem

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Coffee. Yes. Let's go get some coffee. Thanks for listening. Join us next week for another episode. Pegan Coffee Talk is brought to you by Life Temple and Seminary. Please visit us at Life Temple Seminary.org for more information, as well as links to our social media Facebook, Discord, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

We travel down this trodden path, the maze of stone and mire. Just hold my hand as we pass by a steel blazing fires. And so it is the end of our days to walk with me till morning breaks. And so it is the end of our days to walk with me till morning breaks.