I'm trying to go to sleep so I'll keep this short, but HOW do you actually learn to meditate? I hear all this talk of it in left wing spaces, I know Breht from RevLeft is biiiig on it and some other non leftists I follow also advocate for it as a method of consciousness exploration so I've been thinking I should start doing something like it.
Are there good resources out there for this that aren't neolib corporate happiness woo? I've been freaking the fuck out lately about how we all gonn' die and climate change and The Fash (which must be bashed, or so I've been told) and I gotta try....something to get me to chill the fuck out. I may genuinely start a psychiatric medication soon but I'm really trying to get my life back on the rails, I really found a lot of the last two years traumatic for a variety of reasons so I'm trying to integrate additional healthy habits as well as getting back onto old ones that fell off
Also bonus points for lectures/podcasts on Eastern philosophy in general
So the thing about meditation is that it refers to several different practices that might not be that closely related. In Daoist/Zen Buddhist tradition, meditation is often described as "just sitting," which is what you do. You go somewhere and sit and don't do anything for a little while. No phone, no books, no stimuli, just you and the vast space between your ears. A notch up on the formality scale is Zazen, where you sit in a neutral position such as the Burmese pose and focus on you breathing. Count your breaths up to 10, then restart. If your mind starts to wander, gently draw your attention back to your breath. Neither attempt to push away nor embrace the thoughts that arise in your mind. Over time, you can gradually shift to counting only your exhalations, then stop counting. Walking meditation is similar, but you add in focusing on slow deliberate steps. Other eastern traditions like tai chi/qigong, yoga, etc. also incorporate movement.
I think what you'll find is that solo meditation for processing trauma is a bad idea, because you're just increasing the time you spend alone with your thoughts and no other external stimuli. That initial phase where you're learning to sit can be very challenging if you're also under a lot of stress, and there's a reason people join communities of practice (Sanghas to use the Sanskrit term) for support. You could probably find a Zen or Vipassana group around you that might be helpful. Meditation alone without emotional work like cultivating compassion can lead to the situations Wertheimer mentioned, where you're just numbing yourself to the status quo. Organized Buddhism also has its own problems, but having a group of people around can be important for the longevity of your practice and finding emotional stability.
I think that some of meditation's current cultural cachet has its origins in Orientalism, and it should be noted that there are equivalent (if not greater) mental health benefits from a lot of activities that allow you to get out of your head and focus on what your body is doing, such as social dancing, sports, and exercise. The important part is to cultivate focus on what you're doing in that moment.