Why meditate?
Put most simply, meditation is a way to train the mind. Most of the time, our minds are wandering - we're thinking about the future, dwelling on the past, worrying, fantasizing, fretting or daydreaming. Meditation brings us back to the present moment, and gives us the tools we need to be less stressed, calmer and kinder to ourselves and others.
"Meditation is a training of our attention” says Tara Brach.
Meditation (Eastern)
In order to be able to meditate you have to be able to concentrate. In order to concentrate, you need to be able to draw the senses inwards as a tortoise draws in its limbs. Before you can do this, you need to have stabilised the ‘life currents’ in the various layers of your being. (Example, breath, thoughts, emotions) and to do this, it’s is helpful to have strengthened, balanced, relaxed and harmonised the body too.
Meditation and Mindfulness, what's the difference?
Though the words are sometimes used interchangeably, it’s useful to draw a distinction between mindfulness and meditation.
As Tara Brach puts it: “Mindfulness is your awareness of what’s going on in the present moment without any judgment. Meditation is the training of attention which cultivates that mindfulness.”
It is important to prepare for meditation.
We often hold tension in the body unconsciously. Physical, mental and emotional. “Our issues are in our tissues” So by moving the body intentionally, with mindfulness, breath and awareness, we can let go of this tension held in joints, muscle, tissue and facia and actually free up energy in the body.
For optimal meditation, we need energy and to be in a relaxed alert state. Very often when tired, it’s because we have an inability to successfully access our untapped energy resource eg: stuck in tight muscles, a clenched jaw, a strained back, tight hips, locked joints.
Breathing techniques will have a direct impact on our Autonomic nervous system. We can “tone” our nervous system by breath practices to up or down regulate. If we are sleepy, we can become more energised, if we are stressed with an over active mind, we can become clearer and calm. This will help us to sit with more alertness or less restlessness.
Sitting down to it:
You don’t need to sit in full lotus posture on top of a mountain or in a cave to achieve a successful meditation practice.
You can sit in a chair, use a kneeling stool, kneeling bolster, sitting on blanket / bolster/ block, knee support.
An important support for a straight spine while meditating (why that’s important to follow) is to create a pelvic tilt so as not to collapse in lower back. This is achieved by any number of sitting aids as listed above.
We need openness around the lower nerve plexus of sacral / lumbar area of spine to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which promotes relaxation in the body as well as an upright spine around the thoracic spine - mid back to activate the sympathetic nervous system to keep us alert. This creates a balance of relaxed alertness we need for optimal meditation.
Inspiration
Regular meditation builds our attention span, our emotional resilience which can be the ability to stay calm in emotionally charged states. We grow an awareness of our own flavour of thought patterns, because of the 75-90,000 thoughts we experience each day, many of them are repetitive. So meditation can bring a clarity and freshness to our thoughts (like the experience of looking out of freshly cleaned windows) This promotes creative out of the box thinking.
How?
From a regular meditation practice, we develop an awareness of the state of equanimity. This is the intelligence that natually occurs within each of us.
Where we can remain equanimous or detached by being a witness to our inner processes rather than be controlled my them unconsciously. We can witness our ever changing states of being and unlearn reactivity, learning greater personal responsibility or put another way, we can improve our response ability.
Think of a lake…
Deep, wide, clear, cool calm. This lake is your mind.
The bottom of the lake is still, quiet and remains unaffected by what is happening on the surface. Perhaps a pebble is tossed onto the surface of the lake which sends ripples across it, or a wind whips up and creates waves. Perhaps birds come to on the water, noisily honking.
These surface disturbances are like our thoughts and emotions and so our practice of meditation which brings us back time and again to the bottom of the lake, each time strengthening our awareness of this state of equanimity which anchors us in minor and major upheaval. Building a meditation practice is Building a relationship with our deep, unwavering stillness, our innate intelligence that is unchanged by external and internal weather patterns / disturbances.
Mental flossing.
Just as we don’t floss our teeth to become good flossers we don’t meditate to become a good meditator although you will become more aware and efficient. That’s not the goal, however.
As a cumulative affect, you will improve overall health and well-being, a sense of contentment, emotional resilience and thus, happiness and fulfilment. What develops is an authentic acceptance and appreciation for our whole self and others, not just the “good bits”
A Birds Eye view, an ability to perceive multiple perspectives. Self awareness, awareness of others and increased empathy.
Theres a reason people have been meditating for thousands of years, come and discover the benefits for yourself!
Author - Rebecca Foster, Nurture Soul