Meditation is a practice used for
relaxation and rejuvenation. It brings you to a state of peace and bliss, clearing
the mind of the day’s stresses so you can live happy. The purpose of meditation
is to bring you to the now and to awaken to your true self; you are that which
is aware of your thoughts and feelings, not your thoughts and feelings
themselves. This is mindfulness meditation. Through contemplation and practice
you can sense who you really are. As you meditate every day, you will continue
to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and the world. There’s no end to the
depth of the indescribable feelings and senses which you gain through
meditation.
Meditation can help to let go of past
grudges that you may be holding towards others, situations or circumstances,
let go of any worry or anticipation for the future and bring you to a state of
no thought. Life is happening now, not yesterday or tomorrow. During meditation
you may also have epiphanies, perhaps relevant to a problem you may be
experiencing or simply associated with life itself. Practicing every day
balances the mind, body and spirit. The best way to gain an understanding of
meditation is to try it yourself.
How to:
There are many different ways to meditate,
from sitting cross legged to lying on your back, even moving poses. You may
chant “aum”, focus on your breath, body, energy or chakras. You can take
yourself on journeys to your own sanctuary or practice happiness meditation by
focusing on positivity. You may connect with your higher self and find solutions
to any problems. Here are a few ways to practice meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation
Meditation is about living and experiencing
life right now. Try this exercise and then bring it with you throughout your
day:
Close your eyes and pretend as though
you’re new to this world, you have no labels or ideas about anything. Take a
few breaths to let go, feel your energy, relax and just be. Open your eyes with
the idea that you’re seeing everything around you for the first time. You may
pick up small items from around you, preferably things that have no sentimental
meaning to you or writing as those types of things cause you to think.
Most people simply label everything, that’s
a pen, a keyboard, a tree but when you do that, you never really look. Pick up
an object that has no meaning to you and really look at it, if this is your
first time you may realise you never really looked at anything because you’re
so entrenched in the mind and in thought. Try this exercise outside and see the
true beauty of nature. Bring this with you all day, stay present and feel joy
in everything you do.
Breath
Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit with
no distractions. If you’re out of practice sitting with your legs crossed then
sitting with your legs forward is fine. Also if you’d prefer to lean back on
something such as the back of a chair, you may, however be aware that by being
too comfortable you may fall asleep.
Close your eyes and take a moment to adjust
yourself to be sure you’re comfortable. With your eyes closed, begin to focus
on your breath. Take slow deep breaths; use your imagination and your senses to
focus completely on your breath. Feel it move through your nose, down your
throat, through your chest, into your belly, all the way down to your hips and
back up and out again. Imagine watching your breath as it moves down your body
and back out. Use your senses to feel as your body moves, expands and shrinks,
feel as your chest, belly, sides and back all expand with your breath. Feel the
oxygen throughout your whole body.
You will find this exercise very relaxing.
Other than relaxation, the purpose of this practice is to bring you to a state
of no thought however, you can’t try not to think as that is more thinking! This
exercise distracts you away from thinking. As you practice, you will find
thoughts sneak back in, each time you realise, simply re-focus on your
breath.
Noise and Sound
Eventually through practice every day, you
will realise there are no distractions outside of you and you will be able to
keep your concentration through external noise. It’s only your internal noise
which distracts you, your thoughts. When there’s noise around you, you can
simply stay as the awareness and use it to practice focussing on your senses.
Listen to any sound completely, with no labels or thoughts about it, listen to
the silence between the sound and listen to the space which allows the sound to
be.
You can, of course, purposely use sound for
meditation. Put on some meditation music and listen completely or head outside
to listen to birds, wind in the trees, waves crashing on the beach and even
cars passing by. There are also binaural beats which can be found online for
purchase or for free which assist you to have a deep meditation.
Body
While focussing on your breath can be a
full meditation in itself, it can also be a starting point before practicing
other meditation types. Always start by getting comfortable and focussing on
your breath for a few minutes to gain the initial relaxation. Once you are in
the state of stillness you can then focus on your body. Start with the top of
your head, relax and without moving, try to feel the inner energy of the top of
your head. Move down your body to each part, relaxing and feeling your inner
energy. Relax your forehead, feel the
inner energy, relax between your eyebrows and feel the inner energy of the top
of your head, forehead and between your eyebrows all at once. Keep moving down
until your whole body is relaxed and you can feel all of your energy. It may
feel like a buzzing, tingling or warmth.
If you’ve never felt your inner energy
before or are having a hard time gaining an understanding, try this small
exercise: Lift your hand so it’s not touching anything. Close your eyes and try
to feel your hand, the inner energy of your hand. You may feel a warmth or
tingling. If you’re having trouble feeling it ask yourself, “How do I know my
hand is still there?” Then feel for the inner energy.
Journey
You may take yourself on a journey or
imagine yourself in a relaxing place. You can use this type of meditation to
completely let go and surround yourself with peace and serenity and you can
also use this to connect to your higher self. Here are some techniques and
examples.
Secret Garden
Start by relaxing yourself through
awareness of the breath. When you are fully relaxed, imagine yourself in a
beautiful garden. This is your secret garden, a place for you and only you. It
can look and feel any way you like, have things in your garden that relax you
and bring joy. Imagine the look of the plants, flowers and any wild life which
may be in your garden, enjoy the vibrant colours. Imagine the smell of
beautiful flowers and even herbs. Contemplate how the ground feels under your
feet and touch the soft petals of the flowers. Imagine the sound of wind
through the trees and the sweet sound of birds singing. What else can you see,
touch, hear and smell in your garden?
Train Journey to Meet Your Higher Self
This meditation, I stumbled across a few years
ago and I’ve had quite profound experiences with this practice although I have
only used it 2-3 times. The train journey meditation guides you to meet your
higher self. Your higher self is that which is connected to all, it is who you
essentially are. Remember, you are not your thoughts and feelings; you are that
which is aware of your thoughts and feelings. When we practice meeting with our
higher self within meditation, it’s to tap into our subconscious/oneness/true
self. Just like your secret garden, your higher self can look however you wish.
You will see your higher self as a separate being to you but this is only
because this is how we as humans are comfortable, as this is how our world is,
people are seen as separate but your higher self is a part of you and a part of
all. If you have a problem you can ask your higher self, you will usually have
an instant answer that you just know and this is because you are bringing your
subconscious knowing through to conscious knowing.
People with different belief systems have
their own interpretation of who they meet and what they see during meditations.
Some believe they meet with God or Jesus as they are Christian in belief,
others believe they are meeting with Angels who are there to guide them in life
and some believe you may meet ghosts, spirits and demons. These people warn
that when doing such meditations simply imagine a bubble around you which
guards against any evil, choose your favourite colour and put out the intent
that it’s for your safety and you only wish to see that which has your best
intentions at heart. I personally believe that when I meet other people during
meditation, it is aspects of myself. For example, I have met with my inner
child. I don’t believe in evil demons trying to take over my body or scare me
however, I still put my shield on as a precaution.
Once again, begin by relaxing through
breath awareness. Once relaxed, imagine yourself at your train station. This
can look how you’d like; this is your station after all. There may be other
people there, or it may be just you. Look around your station, how does it look
and feel to you, what features does it have?
When you’re ready, a train will come. Board
the train and find a place to sit. Enjoy the train ride, look around at the features
of the train and watch out the window, what do you see? Eventually the train
will go around a large bend and soon after you will arrive at another train
station. This is where your higher self is. How does this station look? You may
leave the train and go sit with your higher self, ask any questions you feel
you’d like answers to, perhaps ask about any problems you may be experiencing
in your life. You may not always receive an answer but there will be times when
you’re amazed by sudden epiphanies. When you’re finished meeting with your
higher self, board back onto the train and go back to your station.
During this meditation you may also meet
others on the train. I personally meet different aspects of myself on the train
which I only realise who they were afterwards but I always have a very
profound, eye opening experience with great epiphanies and lessons.
Through daily practice you will find that
your life is happier, peaceful and more at ease. With the practice of
mindfulness meditation, you will expand your awareness and live in the now.
Your reality and life is in this present moment, live completely by being here
and now and find that everything naturally falls into place when you simply
just be.
Namaste
Belinda
