Meditation
What is Meditation?
A loose definition that covers most types of meditation is "consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consiousness". Directing your attention can mean focusing on your breathing or an object or even an activity. Altering your state of consiousness can mean anything from becoming more relaxed to exploring higher realms.
Why Meditate?
In general, meditation is used as a tool for spiritual growth. Our everyday lives are filled with activity, commotion, chaos. Our minds spend most of the day sorting information. We think over conversations that didn't go well, worry about finances, deal with coworkers. So when you want to sit down and spend some time working on YOU, how do you quiet the clutter running rampant in your head? This is important. Through meditation you can build mental discipline. You can decide when to worry about the bills...and when to quiet those voices so you can spend a little time unfolding your inner consciousness.
We can benefit from meditating in many ways. First, it teaches us discipline. We learn to get our thoughts in order so we can focus them at will. Once the focus is attained, meditation can be a vehicle for growth and experience. It will heighten your sensitivity and expand your awareness. Many use meditation for healing, emotional cleansing, developing intuition, communicating with guiding forces, exploring other realms, really the list is endless. Once you learn the basic ideas, you can make them up as you go. There is no wrong or right thing to meditate on. If it works for you, go with it.
Getting Started
With any meditation, the first thing you'll need to do is make yourself as relaxed as possible. Find a quiet place to practice with few distractions. Sit in any way that you are comfortable. If you want to use a chair or lean on pillows or against the wall, that is fine. I don't recommend laying down, only because it is likely you'll fall asleep. However, if you can only be comfortable laying down, that is fine. Try to choose a position that allows your spine to be straight, as that helps keep your energy flowing freely. You'll want the temperature to be comfortable so it won't distract you. If it's a bit chilly, you might want to cover in a blanket before you start. Once you are situated, begin to relax your body. Start by focusing on your toes, and conciously relax them. Move on to your feet, and shins. Move your way up until you have relaxed every part of your body. Don't forget your jaw and eyes. Sometimes, with especially tense muscles, it helps to flex them and then release in order to get them to relax. Take a few deep breaths, and let them out slowly. Now that you are fully relaxed, you are ready to move into any meditation of your choice.
A Few Helpful Hints
~ Perfection is not the goal. The goal is to put forth an honest effort. Move into your practice without expectation, and when you are done, try not to criticize your "performance". If you have been completely honest with yourself in your effort, then you have done your practice perfectly.
~ Keep in mind that there are a couple of stages in learning meditation. The first stage is not actually meditating, but concentrating. You concentrate on the exercises given, in an attempt to reach the meditative state. At some point, there will be a sense of release. You will realize it is no longer a struggle to focus completely on the object or subject you have chosen. Distracting thoughts are no longer an issue. Your mind is simply and effortlessly calm. This is the meditative state. Allow yourself to enjoy the process of each stage.
~ Pace yourself. A daily practice of 20 to 30 minutes is plenty. Any more than that - especially if you're just starting out - and you could easily end up simply burning yourself out. Give yourself time to reflect on and integrate what you've learned.
~ Often, meditating can unexpectedly open up old emotions and memories, bringing them to the surface. This can be a painful process, but if you allow it to happen, it can also be deeply healing.
Meditation Techniques
As your practice grows, you will find it easy to customize your own meditations to fit your needs. Choose subjects of meditation based on what feels right to you. If you visualize colors, pick the colors based on what they mean to you. Do the same with symbols or imagary. There are no limits on what you can do with your meditation time, the most important thing is your intent. Before you even begin your practice, set your intent. What is it that you plan to do with this meditation time and why? If your intent is simply to relax, that's fine - but set your intent ahead of time. If you want to do some emotional cleansing, wonderful - know that that is your intent before you even start. It really does not matter what means you use to reach a goal in meditation. If your intent is firmly set, your intent is what will lead you to reaching your goal. Your experiences follow your intentions.
Enjoy the calm that meditation will bring into your life. The experiences meditation brings are unique to each individual. Be open to those experiences and allow yourself to learn and grow from them.
- Written by Yoga (aka Yogaom) (asst. manager at SLC) Thank you Yoga for this great info... its one of our oldest pages and one of our most frequented.
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