When Lyn asked me to write a piece on Mediation I was
surprised, I practice meditation, I’ve taught meditation but I never really
considered myself an expert on meditation.
I sat down to write this and many thoughts flooded my mind (this happens
when I sit down to meditate too…) and I
wanted to write a prolific piece on the many benefits of meditation, the beauty
and peace of the practice, but a voice kept coming to me WHY do you meditate,
why?
So, time to get honest I meditate mostly to avoid being an asshole. When I don’t meditate I find I am often
annoyed, slightly irritated by traffic, I am impatient with my son and can be
quite a smarmy bitch to my husband. This
isn’t my regular behavior, by nature, I believe I am a kind hearted and
compassionate person, I’ve created or learned some pretty gnarly coping
mechanisms early on in my life to deal with deep insecurities and retraining
myself not to react but to act has been a lifelong process.
Simply put meditation is a necessity for me, it is not by
some virtue that I found the practice; it was out of desperation and desire
that I found it. There is a saying I
heard early on in my journey “religion is for people who don’t want to go to
hell, spirituality is for people who have been there”. I had been there and meditation is a way
out.
I picked up my first book on meditation almost 20 years ago,
its concepts and ideas were leap years beyond anything my mind could
comprehend, I clearly was not ready, but the seed was planted. I have found myself over the years drawn to
meditation in strange ways, but they always seemed to be attached to a deeper
commitment than I was ready to make.
About 15 years ago I was introduced to Raj Yoga and attended weekly
meditation for a brief time, but they were recruiting for their center in NY
and the rebel in me still wouldn’t let me join anything, but I did find I liked
the way I felt after our weekly meetings and desired that feeling for many
years to come.
I found Reiki & Yoga 10 years ago and that began my real
practice of a consistent meditation.
Coming to a regular practice is hard; I have had some resistance towards
it for most of these years. My spiritual
experiences have always come as more of the educational variety anyway, and so has
it been with meditation. This has been a
benefit because it has allowed me to slowly evolve and steep myself more into
an authenticity I never knew existed. It
has allowed a process of becoming rather than just changing. I am who I am meant to be at this exact moment
and I even believe that some of the time!
How do you do it, you ask?
I’ve learned all you have to do is just sit and be quiet and you can do
this anywhere. But… when you are
beginning you should create a ritual (a set time, so you have something to
commit to) create a space, I have an altar, but this can be a chair in your
favorite room, you can have candles, a deity or any other object that softens
your heart, right now I mediate on my beautiful porch overlooking an English
garden. I found it easier to start in a
quiet space with very little distraction, on my porch I hear cars go by, birds
chirping and general neighborhood noise which I embrace, it teaches me I can
find stillness anywhere. Next, set a timer, as little as 5 minutes a day can
make a difference. I’ve found that rarely is my mind ever void of thought, so
don’t get discouraged when you start creating lists or when random thoughts
invade your space. The practice of
meditation isn’t to become void, but to become as “full”y present as you can be
in each moment. It teaches you to act
rather than react, to begin to know yourself, without judgment, but with clear
eyes and an open heart.
Some techniques that helped me out early on were to simply
count my breath, it was the first real deliberate meditation practice I was
consistent with. It gave me something to do while I was trying to be (you can’t
go from “doer” to “be-er” overnight). I
tried a Zen meditation where you count to ten and then begin again, this never
worked for me as I would always go past ten then berate myself for not doing it
right. Counting my breaths 108 times (a single breath being a complete cycle of
inhale and exhale) was a regular practice at the beginning. I’ve used mantra which is also very
powerful. This can be a Sanskrit mantra
or just a positive statement such as I am peaceful, I am happy, I am loved, I
am abundant or I am here. Just the
repetition of a beautiful phrase in and of itself is healing, but repetition is
where the true practice of meditation begins.
Many people close their eyes during meditation, which was
very helpful for me early on. I now
practice with a steady downward gaze my eyes looking over the bridge of my nose
a foot or two in front of me. This is a
common practice for meditation in Reiki which is my regular practice. There are
other meditation techniques in Reiki I use and they can be found in the
Japanese Art of Reiki http://us.ihreiki.com/shop/product/the_japanese_art_of_reiki.
My Reiki teacher has a meditation CD with guided meditations and is very
helpful when you are first beginning (or something fresh for the seasoned
practitioner), it takes all the guessing out of it http://www.thereikijourney.com/The_Reiki_Journey/Welcome.html.
If you prefer print, I am currently reading Be the Change by Deb and Ed Shapiro
which shares personal experiences from many modern day practitioners http://www.amazon.com/Be-Change-Meditation-Transform-World/dp/1402760019. There are many great resources and ways to
meditate, but the only way to begin is to begin. Ask people around you, read
excerpts on Amazon, find guided meditations, anything you desire, there are
many resources, just seek.
I’ve found meditation
is strong and grounding, which surprised me when I started. It should help
immerse you into the world, or perhaps it will be a bridge to find your place
with in it. Either way the practice of
meditation is never about moving away from the world, but finding your true
“seat” within it. Don’t expect anything,
don’t expect a quiet mind or a more peaceful life, don’t ask it for anything. Meditation will give you more than you ever
knew existed, I promise.
