Images of Monks perched on the mountain tops of Tibet
make meditation look difficult. Long haired, flower powered meditating Guru’s fuel
the stereotype that meditation is for nut-bars. Words like Zen, Buddha, Tao, and
Lama invoke the belief that meditation is an eastern religious practice.
Here’s the truth; if you want to begin a practice of
Meditation you have to forget everything you think you understand about
meditation.
The truth:
·
Meditation is simple, like breathing
·
Meditation does not make you a nut-bar…unless of
course your true nature is that of a nut-bar
·
Meditation is not a religious practice, but most
every religion practices meditation in some form or another. Eastern religions
call it what it is; meditation. Western religions most often disguise it as
prayer.
Hopefully these 3 truths wash away any preconceived notions,
religious guilt and performance anxiety.
With a clean slate and a clear conscious how do you ……meditate?
Good question –
Simple Answer
Sit-
In a
quiet, uncluttered space where you won’t be disturbed by people, by phones, by
the dog needing to lick your face and make sure you are okay.
How you sit is up to you. You can sit on the ground cross
legged, you can sit on your calves, you can sit in a chair with your feet on
the ground. You can sit on a meditation cushion (zafu). Sitting in a chair is
easiest in the beginning because it is the most comfortable. Sitting cross
legged on the floor if you haven’t done that since grade 3 will have you focusing
very quickly on how uncomfortable you are.
The important part about sitting is that you are comfortable.
Saying this I try to avoid being too comfortable like say…lying down. Sleep
comes much too easy.
The keys are comfort, tall posture and maintaining
connection to the ground or the floor – this all promotes exceptional energy
flow and helps you maintain concentration.
Hands-
What do you do with them? – whatever you want, whatever is comfortable. You don’t
have to maintain a ‘hand position’ I like to lay my hands open, palms up on my
lap.
Eyes –
Keep them gently closed and focus them on the space between your eyebrows –
heard of the 3rd eye? This is where it is, the space of intuition.
Breathe –
At the beginning I always like to take 2 or 3 deep cleansing and relaxing
breaths. Breath in through the nose all the way into your lungs, fill them all
the way up. Then release all of that air slowly and completely through the
mouth. Concentrating or ‘following’ these breaths in and out – feeling the air
move into your nostrils down your windpipe, feeling your lungs inflate and then
feeling the air move back out of the body, deflating the lungs and moving out
of the mouth. I find these breaths help focus your concentration and signal
your body that it’s time to relax into meditation.
After those first 2 or 3 cleansing breaths, the rest is just
breathing; natural breathing. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale – your job now is
to just notice the breath.
Notice the inhale, notice the exhale. Notice the inhale,
notice the exhale.
Mantra –
Sometimes it is easier to concentrate on the breath if you attach it to a
mantra. My favourite is So Hum – So silently on the inhale
Hum
silently on the exhale. So Hum means –
I am. I Am works too or Breath
In – Breath Out. …Whatever you like to say.
Mind –
This is the part that everyone most wonders about. What am I supposed to do
with my mind? What am I supposed to think about while I’m trying not to think
about anything? Think about your breath, it is your anchor, focus on it.
Here
is what will happen:
You will focus on your breath So Hum – So Hum – So Hum – So Hum – the cat needs foods … notice
this and go back to your breath ..So-Hum
So Hum – So Hum – So Hum
– So Hum – I can’t believe that ass I work with….notice that you work with
an ass and go back to your breath…So Hum
So Hum – So Hum – So Hum
– So Hum – So Hum – don’t forget to make that eye doctors appointment…notice
that you need to do this and go back to your breath…So Hum
So Hum – So Hum – So
Hum – So Hum – So Hum – So Hum – So Hum………. I need to start that diet (Are you
noticing a pattern here?) ….So Hum
Meditation is training the brain to stay on task. Eventually
your mind learns to fall into a place between consciousness and sub-consciousness
that some refer to as the ‘gap’. You
breathe more and ‘think’ less. The gap is where the answers are, where your
spirit speaks to you, where you are honest with yourself.
I’m not going to lie, the Gap can be a scary place and you
might be surprised by the memories and worries that are hiding there waiting
for you to acknowledge them. It is really hard to explain that to someone – it is
something explained best by experiencing it. Once you do, the gap will become a
place of great peace and joy, a place where you can vacation to at a moment’s
notice anywhere you are. You will come to love the gap.
A few little tips
and tidbits
Time –
How
long do you sit? As long as you like, start with 5 minutes each day, work your
way up. 20 minutes is very comfortable. It takes time to relax your mind into meditation;
once you are there you want to enjoy it for a while. Don’t rush into meditation
or out.
How long has it been – If you are not used to being quiet, 3
minutes can seem like a week. Take the guess work out and remove your focus
from ‘how long’ by setting a timer. I use the one on the microwave – I can hear
it from other areas of the house, it only beeps once and doesn’t frighten me
out of the gap.
Emotions –
You might experience some strong emotions, it’s not unusual to laugh, cry, feel
rage or fear and those emotions might come right out of the blue, unexpected
and take you by surprise. This is good, just acknowledge them, feel them and
let them go just as they came. This is you—healing.
How do you keep
from getting stuck?-
It can be
hard sometimes to move back to the breath, especially if an issue arises that
consumes you—an argument or conflict. It helps sometimes to visualize that you
are sitting on a riverbank; thoughts come up and you watch them float in front
of you, down the river and they are gone. Go back to the breath and watch the
next thought float by. You aren’t trying to solve any problems here – you are
just acknowledging that they exist and watching them float away down the river.
The solutions will come in their own time – usually when you are not
meditating.
Music –
Some people find it helps them relax – I find it sets a tone for my sitting
time and distracts my concentration.
Guided Meditations
–
Are a fantastic way to begin meditation. I did guided meditations for months
to start. They keep you focused, on track and teach you along the way. Eventually
mix silent meditations in with your guided meditations so that you learn and
become comfortable under your own power.
The Chopra Centre online has some great guided meditations
to enjoy for free. I like this best because I was a little concerned that YouTubers
with guided meditations may be planting subliminal messages in my untrained
brain – LOL if you like but….I promise the thought will cross your mind.
A Boost-
Yoga before meditation = amazing results.
A Boost-
Yoga before meditation = amazing results.
The minutes after
Meditation –
I usually find the time right after meditation to be a
time of very clear thinking – this is usually where the solutions are found. It is good to stay quiet and enjoy the peace of this space for some time following meditation before you jump back into things, electronics and conversations.
Advancement –
There are so many forms of meditation and practice, so many theories, books and
schools of thought. You can always expand and grow your own practice. Add and
subtract elements as you feel suit you. I begin each ‘sit’ with a short prayer.
The point is that there is no right or wrong way to do this. Spending the time on
yourself is the point – as long as you are giving yourself that gift – you are
doing it just right.
Expectations –
Have none. No two ‘sits’ will be the same – some days it will be hard, some
days it will be easy , some days you will be able to endure 3 minutes some days
you will feel capable of 3 hours. Some days you may receive a breakthrough
message, some days you may get nothing. Sometimes you may sit for weeks with no
changes, no insight. It is what it is –
come, sit, breathe, leave. Come again tomorrow. There is no judging, rating
or analysing in meditation. Meditation takes time to learn, commit to a time frame and stick with it. One truth about life (and meditation) 'great things usually happen right about the time you are ready to give up'.
Share -
Your experience with others who meditate; ask for help, tricks, favourite books and tools.
Enjoy
