An Internet forum thread on meditation addressed the question of how you should feel when you meditate.

One answer went as follows: "Close your eyes and breathe normally in and out. Then, on an in-breath, briefly hold your breath. When you do this, you'll discover that any 'thinking' you may be doing either diminishes greatly or stops completely. That's how it should feel."

The person who first asked the question thanked the respondent. We may care to wonder how that person has used the information she received. For a moment's reflection will show us that the recommendation is -- in practical terms -- quite useless.

It is indeed true that if we do the exercise as suggested (perhaps during our Step 11 practice), our thinking seems to slow down considerably or stop altogether, and we "feel" differently. However, this merely moves our focus from the question "how should it feel?" to "how do I make myself feel that way?" Clearly, the answer cannot be, "Continue to hold your breath ...."

All our fretting about how we should feel when we meditate, or how we can induce that feeling, is a substitute for meditation itself. Each time we meditate, it's an adventure. We don't know what's going to happen, how we're going to feel, whether we'll be able to stay focused or experience a wandering mind. It turns out that it doesn't matter either. The only question we need to ask ourselves is, "Am I meditating?" If the answer is yes, then we're on the right path.