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Meditation is a personal journey
Jul 21st, 2007
Meditation does not have to be a grueling regimented exercise in ignoring discomfort. If you're starting a meditation practice try these tips:
1. Make your meditation space comfortable
2. Make your meditation space sacred -- whatever that means to you, add candles, incense, music, pillows, and make it a space that is used primarily for meditation, even if it's just the corner of a room.
3. Focus on your breath - if your shoulders are moving up and down you're not getting enough oxygen. You should feel your stomach move in and out.
4. Honor yourself. What works for someone else in meditation may not work for you
Meditation has become like many religions in that there is a perception of how it "has to be done" in order to reap the benefits. Meditation is as personal as prayer -- some people even start their practice with prayer. Don't give up if the first method of meditation doesn't bring you peace. Try another, modify one, blend several. . . There is no right way to meditate. If it brings you peace and space and connects you to your heart, then do it.
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Great ideas. I think meditation can come in various ways. Sometimes it can come just through doing something very deliberately and slowly, for example, walking very slowly, with no destination in mind. It's interesting how this, or simply sitting and thinking about nothing can be very scary. It's this feeling of needing some kind of stimulus, something outside of us, to be okay. I think it's because all of those other things typically define us. If someone reading this wants to go "whole hog" look to see if there is a sensory deprivation tank in your area (it sounds a lot scarier than it is). With no visuals, sound, or even touch, one has no choice to but to be fully present. It's very cool!
Great suggestions Richman, and I beleive you're right on about meditation being scary because it forces us to step out of the definitions that we live by. It can also be scary because the practice of meditation reminds us that we are a part of something much larger than ourselves. For some this is a comforting space -- for others, it creates great anxiety as there is the feeling of "not doing it right" or "letting someone down." My very first attempt at meditation was using one of those silly toys in which a tube is filled with 2 or 3 different colors of gel and water and the colors drip and spiral, then you turn it over and it happens again. . . The one I had took 3 minutes for the colored beads of gel to displace the water. As I focused on the process everything else just melted away, and I did this exercise at work. Interestingly enough, I was never disturbed for those 3 precious minutes, and it created a non-scary entry into meditation. So, I agree, find your peace -- whatever that is and the sensory deprivation tanks -- way cool!
Peace and Light,
Teri Johnson
Spiritual Life Coach
Guiding You Into Authenticity with Grace
Thank you for bringing clarity to what can often be a powerful, yet sometimes simple experience. I concur with your idea that meditation is about people finding their own way. When I began meditating years ago I was initially frustrated because I wasn't seeing fireworks. Crazy, I know. But, then I realized that the objective was not about looking for something or forcing an event - it was just the opposite. To coin a phrase, "Let go and let God".