How To Meditate
We have three usual or normal states into which we all enter every day, these are;
- The awake state
- The sleep state
- The dream state, and
- The self-healing meditative state
Here are the four steps to begin your daily meditation practice.
1. Comfort-Ease: Adopt a seating position that is comfortable for you. One caveat is that you don't want to be so comfortable that you fall asleep. The reason is that sleep and meditation are different states, you actually get a deeper 'mind-full' rest with meditation. The
intention of the creation and modulation of energy is a very important step. I always begin my group meditation practices inviting everyone to silence the mind, eliminating distractions
by focusing on silence and an inner smile to tune-in to relaxation, a state of ease and peace. Then I invite everyone to
choose the intention of this practice, for example; i.e., my intention is to shift my focus to light and love, or my intention is to improve my vibrational energy to a happier state... etc.
- I invite everyone reading this article to sit down for a moment and write down a list of some
a daily habit that you want to cultivate.
mindful intentions you could focus on to begin your daily 20 min of meditation. Do this at another time, preferable when you are calm and have some quiet personal time. Having a daily quiet personal time as part of your daily life style is very important and
2. Quality of Time: Meditation time is a special time, not to be interrupted by the telephone, fax machine, pets, cell phones, noise or temperature. Decide to make your time to meditate a sacred one. If you choose to meditate with someone else, please make sure that they are willing and ready to join you having the same intentions and understanding how important this is for healing and better health. The same holds true for children, friends or social groups - prayer circles.
3. Breathing: In the basic form of meditation, your most help-full tool can be any thought, sound, short prayer, mindful intention or phrase (mantra) that you would like to focus on. I personally like to focus on my breathing, observing my breathing first, listening to my body first, without changing anything. Then I slowly and
kindly guide the rhythm of my breath to a more calm, deep and conscious-to-flow one.
- Words mean different things to different people. Choose words during meditation that have a positive, calming, uplifting meaning for you. In a research project at Harvard Medical School, for example, the Kundalini (*) yoga sounds of
Sat Nam on the inhale and
What Hey Guru on the exhale were shown to directly activate the memory area of the brain.
4. Conscious Better Habits: Once you begin to meditate, you'll be surprised to discover that your mind is restless even when you expect it to calm down, it will actually speed up. Why is this so? Well, well, well... our patterns of thoughts are taught to the brain consciously or unconsciously. When we begin to choose consciously what do we store in the brain and the assign meaning that we give to stored memories/mental images and stored emotions in the brain, we begin a process of
self-discipline the mind deliberately. When we begin to meditate and to focus on a calming breathing, we begin to instruct the brain of new and better patterns of thoughts that are focused on ease, relaxation and positive emotions as a premise to let go of pressure, stress, expectations or negative emotions. It is as if a locked door opens up to let light and peace to come in.
- For those who being to meditate, phrases like these ones may come to mind when you "try" to calm or silence your mind. For example; i.e.,
- "Why didn't I go to the bathroom before I started this."
- "I have to balance my checkbooks and call the bank."
- "What am I going to eat for dinner tonight."
When we meditate
we are in the "energy" of the life style we live in and we can't expect to turn it off out of the sudden. Becoming aware of our life style choices helps us make better choices. What can I do to improve day-by-day a life without clutter, a simple life, a less stressful life? What sort of habits of behavior do I practice that create more clutter? What habits of behavior could I practice to eliminate clutter and to live a life of clarity, organization, serenity, relaxation and peace.
Continuity is of value. Give to yourself
the time and attention that you need to begin practicing new and better habits of behavior and better habits of thought. Be kind to yourself. Love is attention.
When your brain moves from silence or calm into distractions or negative emotions,
pause and shift your focus to more of what you want. This is how we re-wire and re-train the brain into new habits of thought that work with us to achieve our new points of clarity for better health and life-styles. Smile to yourself, mind-fully and at ease. It is what you do with your thoughts that really matters and transcends in your life and the lives of others.
5. Focus Your Attention and Mind To Light: When you achieve a state of calm, ease and deep breathing bring your focus of attention to light. The brightest and loving ball of light you can possibly imagine, visualize it with your mind as if you were looking at it with your "inner vision" and breath that light in. Focus your attention to this light and let it fill you up; mind, body and like your soul, let it expand and grow from with-in you to all around you.
Timing: Practice your daily meditation for about 15 min daily. When you are one-with the light with-in you could pray, recite a mantra or send love to yourself and to others. Loving the self is important. This aspect of the meditation decreases brain activity and allow us to feel the blending with our cosmic conscious inner being.
Meditation develops many positive psychological health characteristics within us like; forgiveness, compassion, empathy, self-discipline, continuity and optimism.
More information and the study of meditation and better habits of behavior and better habits of thought are explained in these two CDs and self-study guide. :)
To obtain a copy of this CD and self-study handouts, please write to:
dearestsource@gmail.com
Katherine :)
