Photo by vined mind
Meditation really is the most wonderful tool, once you learn how to work with it. There are a variety of methods of meditating and even more purposes for which meditation can be used. During this article, you will learn a very simple method of meditating. You will also be instructed on several uses of meditation including The Stillness Exercise and Guided Meditation.
Let’s begin with setting the scene. Although with some practice, you can meditation just about anywhere, to begin with at least, it is best to choose a quiet, peaceful place where it’s not likely you will be disturbed. If you have a room designed for sacred space with an altar and so on, then that is ideal. You can however use any part of your home as long as it is quiet, or even a garden, park, or similar.
It is good to set a little ritual in preparation for the meditation, this acts as an anchor, i.e., a practice that, after a few times, helps to bring your mind into the state of meditation. Actions like taking the phone off the hook, hanging a sign on the door, lighting a candle and some incense, are good examples of such a ritual. You can also say a prayer affirming that you are about to meditate and that you want this meditation to be clear, peaceful and healing/empowering/informing depending on your meditational goals.
It is best to meditate sitting up with your back straight, however, you can lie down if you need to.
Once you’ve chosen your meditation area and performed your ritual, it is then time to meditate.
1. Sit comfortably, with a straight back, feet flat on the ground, (use a pillow under your feet if you are too short),
2. Focus on your breathing. Feel the breath moving in and out of your body. Do this for a few minutes, until you feel yourself relax,
3. Check over your body for any areas of tension or tightness, then focus on that area and drop it, relax it, focus on your breath pouring into that area, releasing any tension,
4. Slow your breathing right down, so that you are very, very relaxed,
5. When you are ready, begin your meditation, examples are given later in the article,
6. When you have completed the meditation, return your attention to the room or garden where you are meditating from. Notice the clothes on your skin, the chair beneath you, your feet on the floor. Then wiggle your fingers and toes to bring yourself back completely.
7. Make sure you keep a journal of your meditative experiences, as sometimes things that show up in your meditations (just like dreams) will make more sense further down the track than they do now.
8. Finally you may need to do some grounding exercises if you are feeling a bit lightheaded or vague. Examples of Grounding Exercises include walking around barefoot on grass, eating or drinking something, washing the dishes and stretching exercises.
This is the Meditation framework within which you can work. It may take a bit of practice, but it is worth the effort. From here, you need a few ideas on what to do with this meditational space you’ve created for yourself.
The Stillness Exercise
The first method of meditation is sitting in stillness. This is done by simply emptying your mind. Not thinking anything. Anytime you notice a thought entering your mind, just let it go and return to stillness. This takes practice, but it’s a wonderful exercise. You can start with 10 minutes per meditation and build from there. Many people meditate using this practice for 2 hours per day!
Guided Meditation
This practice is done by using your imagination to follow a journey from beginning to end. It can be done many ways including having the journey recorded on tape or cd, following a guided meditation in a group, with an instructor guiding you, reading it through just like you do a book, remember it and take yourself through it, just as examples.
A lot can be done with this meditation, everything from spiritual journeys, quests, healing, chakra balancing and much more. One simple example, designed by the author, is given below.
Full Moon Meditation
You are lying on your back, floating in a beautiful pool of water. All around you is ancient forest, and above you, lighting your way is grandmother moon, full and glowing brightly. The water supports you completely, the perfect temperature, you feel completely safe. You stare up at the moon, feeling relaxed and comfortable, and you begin to feel her becconing you, drawing you up to her. The feeling is lovely, and as you enjoy her calling you, you suddenly realise that you are in fact no longer floating in the water, instead, you are moving upward, gently, flowing, upwards, you look beneath you and see the canopy of trees. You feel free! You feel as though you can do anything, go anywhere. Gently, you try to somersault, and it works! Take some time to play with your new skill. Fly off to wherever you want to go. Or just twist and turn where you are.
When you are finished, thank Grandmother Moon for your new skill and tell her you wish to return to the earth. Slowly you move back down, until you find yourself standing on solid ground. Now return to the room you are in.
How To Use This Meditation
To make use of this meditation, you can read it and use your imagination to follow it, commit it to memory and follow the journey in your mind, or you can record it.
Recording A Guided Meditation
If you decide to record a meditation, there are a few important points to make.
1. Keep the meditation in third tense (using words like ‘you’ and ‘your’) don’t change the wording to first tense (‘me’ or ‘mine’). It doesn’t matter that you are speaking to yourself, you will be listening to this from a recorded device, you need to feel as though it is speaking to you.
2. Speak slowly, rhythmically, read out one phrase or instruction, e.g., “You are lying on your back, floating in a beautiful pool of water…” and then leave a few seconds space. This is time for you to process, and experience the bliss of this part of the journey. Usually 10-15 seconds is enough for the short instructions, in the more complex instructions you can leave a longer break. For the flying and exploration instruction in the above meditation, for example, you can leave a full 5 minute break so that you can really explore.
There are many books, internet sites and meditation groups that give great examples of Guided meditations. After practicing meditation for a while, you may even feel drawn to designing your own meditations.
Meditation is practiced all over the world, by people of different beliefs, faiths and cultures. This is a tool that can transform and empower your life even if you only use it for as little as five minutes a day, although the greatest rewards are to be had by committing to meditation as an important part of your spiritual and self empowerment practice.
Author: Daniella Breen
Daniella Breen B.Sc. (Psych) has been practicing meditation for most of her life and has been a Meditation Instructor for 9 years. Daniella does design personal meditation for specific issues or focuses.
