1 minute read
Many of us feel that meditation is a good idea yet we wonder why we are not meditating. I have a treat for you. Here’s a trick I use to help myself and my students meditate. It is a practice called "Where I Am" meditation. Close your eyes and listen to the video above.
We might feel that we have to launch into meditation floating like Buddha, but that is the end point not the start. You can instead start from the familiar place you are already in.
We welcome any emotion, posture and distraction, just as they are. All are welcome. If you can't be bothered turning off the screen you’re using that's fine. Slide into meditation with the electronic device on, and in a few minutes things might shift.
The discipline and unnaturalness of sitting upright can be an obstacle to meditation.
Allowing your familiar holding patterns can be helpful. It softens the mental and emotional barriers. Meaning….your tension is there to hold, help and serve you which is why it is unnatural to let those tight shoulders and knitted eyebrows relax. Let your shoulders be as they are. Let your eye brows knit til their hearts content!
Once we become a little more still and can listen to what is around and within us, we can have fresh insight into what's actually going on. Insight transforms us. It is one of the cherished gifts of meditation.
Our physical posture has clues for us. Our body tells us what we need.
It can tell us how we feel, what we fear and what we are perpetuating. We may decide we'd like to turn off the visual noise of the electronic device after a little while.
Tuning into what you are actually feeling is already a heroic act. Let's make it as easy as we can. Gentle listening is the technique. We can avoid imposed discipline.
"Where I am" is not only a radical place of acceptance, it also makes you a detective and helps you take the measure of how you're going through your day: Did that second coffee overwhelm my system? Are my shoulders tense because of responsibilities I feel I must bear?
I recommend one listens to their mind-body state with softness and warmth. Where we ARE holds so many wondrous gems.