How-To Meditate

Lately I’ve had a lot of my friends ask me how to meditate. I’ll be teaching a class very soon teaching mediation, and exploring different types of meditation some common, some not so common! The intent will be to use your discernment to identify a type of meditation that you can incorporate into your life that you’re comfortable with, and that works for you.

That being said, there are a few tips I can offer here to help all of you who want to begin to learn to meditate. One of the critical elements of understanding the common thread in the diverse types of meditation is having an understanding of what I call the thinking mechanism.  The thinking mechanism is merely a part of the mind that generates thoughts. Your mind has the capacity to follow those thoughts generated by the thinking mechanism, but it cannot actually produce thoughts. Think of it, when you are trying to recall someone’s name, or address, or information and you can’t seem to recall it. It’s because your thinking mechanism can’t “find” the information. Your mind is aware of it’s existence, your heart wants it, your brain has the info stored somewhere in it’s neural pathways, however your thinking mechanism can’t get to it! Thus you only have the power to follow thoughts, not generate them.

It has been said that your mind can only follow one thought at a time, so if you choose what thoughts to accept then no other thought can occupy the stage of your mind. This is true for temptation, and it’s also true for meditation! Meditation translation? In one-way or another all meditation techniques will focus your mind on something other than the products of your thinking mechanism. That might mean focusing on light, a sensation, a color, a sound, a phrase, an emotion, a memory, a scripture, or your breathing.

Doing this sends your thinking mechanism into a state of rest like the 15-minute break you get at work, it’s not down-and-out, it’s just giving your mind a breather so it can do it’s job the rest of the waking day calm, and refreshed. Even in sleep your mind does not get this kind of rest! In sleep, dreaming occurs in which the mind is processing, dumping, storing, and retrieving; the thinking mechanism is very active during sleep! Thus, meditation can be as healing as sleep!

Research done by Harvard Medical has shown that engaging in meditation (resting the thinking mechanism) can regrow grey matter in your brain, a feat once thought impossible by scientists! Resting the thinking mechanism is as important to your mental health as rest is to your physical health.

As you begin meditating, don’t let yourself get discouraged if it seems like your thinking mechanism never quits. I have a friend who, after a month of meditating had 3 seconds without a spontaneous thought being generated. What she needed was a different type of meditation that used more than breathing. If when you meditate your thinking mechanism is particularly noisy, the key is to not get upset. Your thinking mechanism is just doing its’ job. It’s like a workaholic who has been asked to take time of work, and ends up in the office anyway. Just acknowledge it, thank it, and go back to whatever it is you’re focusing on!

World-famous yoga teacher Erich Schiffman suggested that there are two phases to meditation, the first is slowing down, and eventually stopping the thinking mechanism, the second is enjoying the mental quiet. He prescribed 10 minutes to slow down, focus, and rest the thinking mechanism, and then 10 minutes to enjoy the stillness. The first time I tried his prescription was amazing! 20 minutes later and I felt like a whole new person! I couldn’t do 20 minutes consistently though, which brings me to my next point, your edge.

The edge is one of the most important elements of yoga. People who don’t know what their edge is either hurt themselves or never experience growth. With too much of a stretch to our mental, emotional, attention, physical, spiritual, or energetic experience we experience pain, which hinders our growth. With too little stretch there is no challenge, and no invitation to open up to greater good.

Erich Schiffmann said: “Somewhere between these two points (too much stretch and too little stretch) is a degree of stretch… called your ‘edge.’ The body’s edge in yoga is the place just before pain, but not pain itself. Pain tells you where the limits of your physical conditioning lie. Edges are marked by pain and define your limits. How far you can fold forward, for example, is limited by your flexibility edge; to go any further hurts and is actually counterproductive. The length of your stay in a pose is determined by your endurance edge. Your interest in a pose is a function of your attention edge.”

I found it very interesting that there are many different types of edges. If you try one type of meditation and you find that you dislike it, or it isn’t relaxing to you, it may be that this type of meditation is outside of your “edge” and that you ought to try a different type of meditation! I tried and quit many types of yoga before I found a yoga practice that I’m comfortable with. I didn’t realize how many different branches there were! I kept coming back to yoga, and eventually I found out why! I now have a yoga/meditation practice that I enjoy very much! It serves me, and is very satisfying.

So! As you go forth trying guided meditations, yoga classes, singing, visualizations, chanting, or any other type of meditation, just remember to be patient with your thinking mechanism, and to listen to your body for it to tell you when it reaches it’s edge.

For now you can start with this simple meditation taught by Deepak Chopra M.D. that I got from a friend.

1.     Sitting position both feet on the floor, hands on lap palms up:

a.     Just listen to all the sounds around you

2.     Pay attention to your heart:

a.     Think of all the things you’re thankful for

b.     Think of all your blessings

c.      Think of everyone you love, recall and experience of love

3.     Ask yourself a few questions: (don’t answer the questions)

a.     Who am I?

b.     What do I want?

c.      What is my purpose in life?

d.     What makes me happy?

4.     Notice all the sensations in the body: just simple awareness of your body

a.     Your heart beat

b.     Any vibrations that you feel

c.      Your breathing

5.     Be aware of your breathing as it goes in and out:

a.     Take deep breaths and hold for 12 seconds (do this a few times)

b.     Then breathe in and say the word in your head “so”

c.      Then breathe out and say in your head “hmm”

d.     If your mind starts to wander do the breathing again

e.     Do this for about 2 minutes without interruption

6.     Focus your attention on your heart again:

a.     Notice the feelings of your heart beat

b.     Notice the sound of your heart beat

7.     Move your attention into your open hands

a.     See if you can sense your heart beat in your finger tips, as a mild throbbing or as warmth, or as a tingling sensation

8.     Bring your focus back into your heart and relax into your body, take a minute and gently open your eyes

Well, there you have it friends! If you have questions or comments, feel free to comment below. I love comments, and I try to answer all the questions I get. (Sometimes I’m not great at answering questions, so if you feel like your question wasn’t answered, message me, and I’ll try and better answer any questions.)