The journey of an ordinary person in search of the extraordinary.
This is a long one, so feel free to skip to the highlights if you are running short of time, or attention 🙂
If you have been considering meditation, there are a million reasons why you should give it a shot. If you have already had a tryst with meditation, you will know the peace you have felt, however fleeting.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question”. By William Shakespeare, that’s what the title is a take on 🙂 The question of meditation is as existential as it gets.
I started meditating back in April 2017. I did not know where it would lead me, but I was seeking for something to stop the bickering and constant fight I was getting into with my spouse.
The rage, anger and complete lack of self control and being my worst self with the one person I was closest to, was getting to me. There had to be a deep rooted method to pull all the negativity out of me and as a desperate measure, I joined the Inner Engineering Program of Isha Foundation run by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
This meant 7 days of early morning drives and hurry back to my little one and hurried house chores afterwards. In my early days of motherhood, I remember pushing myself twice this much for my needs – once to learn how to drive, once to learn how to meditate. Both were life-altering skills that made me 10 times stronger from within immediately.
If you understand the need for driving as a life skill, you will be able to appreciate the value I place on Meditation too.
When I started, Meditation was just a set of actions – a Kriya that took 21 minutes to complete. I didn’t know how it would help me with emotional issues. It took many years and many many emotional spirals and learning to finally realise how meditation could help.
I am deeply filled with grace as I even write about this – my ultimate prayer is to be able to touch something remotely in the vicinity of enlightenment. To be hopefully free from the cycle of life and attachment.
Ok, enough serious talk!
For those who may have thought about and are yet to get their feet wet in the pool of what’s called meditation, here are some basics to get started.
WHAT IS MEDITATION
I am at the start of this journey. From that stand point – I can tell you, if you are able to spend a reasonable amount of time without the act of thinking – you are home!
It is SO difficult to be without thoughts – you will know when you give this a try. To Understand what I mean – pause for 10 seconds and try to bringing awareness to the number of thoughts that pass through you. 1..2…3…4…5 – I bet you have lost the game already!
So before you get deeply involved in understanding the theory behind meditation, just realize that your thoughts are running you and you are a mere puppet. Know, that every problem – and I mean EVERYTHING will fall into place once you start separating your thoughts and emotions from facts.
I use the word REALISE deliberately. The difference between reading about -50 degrees Celsius and feeling the temperature without protective clothing is the difference between reading, thinking or hearing about a concept and the power of experiencing the concept. Experience allows the concept to sink in so deep that you never really have to memorize it ever again. You will just not forget it. That’s the difference between any other method of learning and REALISING.
That is a HUGE Step 1 – notice that your thoughts are always all over the place. You are without thought in very rare fleeting moments and those are the moments you have felt completely at peace.
The people around me have experienced peace when they were immersed in an activity – work, reading, playing a sport, even driving.
The idea is to remind your self to be IN THE MOMENT. Don’t let your thought wander off. Bring them to what you are doing.
There are a MILLION teachers/preachers to this task – but the solution is one.
Here are some resources I found very useful:
- The Power of Now by Tolle Eckhart – I confess I did not read the entire book. I got what I needed. A reminder that I need to keep awareness on the present moment and watch myself if my awareness is drifting away. This is very hard to practice – Trust me 😀
- Talks by Thich Nhat Hanh on Mindfulness
- The Three Pillars of Zen by Roshi P. Kapleau
- The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer – this was a book gifted to me by a well-wisher. It really slapped me awake to the sound of the voice inside my head. On the path of seeking, we come across many teachers, many preaching and repeating almost the same final truths. But some words finally get through to us and turn on a switch that sets you on a different course. This book did that for me. Mainly because Michael is not some monk or a Sadhu. He is a regular guy who just happened to catch the sparkle of flying stardust and that was enough for him to be catapulted into another dimension of life!
- Awareness: The Key to Living in Balance by Osho – misunderstood or controversial, whatever the case maybe – its a good book. Do give it a try.
Now don’t go on searching through your Spotify app for a trending meditation audio. There are plenty of them available. For all you know, you will forget why you opened spotify in the first place and before you know it, you would have turned on a playist and started working.
You don’t need any external stimulation. You can start on your own.
Here are some steps: They are basic and simple, but not easy to follow, don’t get cocky :).
- Find a quiet time
Try and wake up early, before the world wakes up. Start with 15 minutes early. Even before thoughts of your responsibility, fantasies, day dreams wake up. If you have managed other things right, you would be quite the clean slate early in the morning. - Sit in a comfortable position and adjust so that you don’t feel the need to move or fidget once you get started. Account for drafts of cold air, mosquitoes, strands of hair on your neck, sneezes – whatever that may come in the way of you sitting without movement for a while.
- It helps to have stretched your wrists, ankles, neck and spine so that your body is restful and comfortable.
- Tell your mind to bring awareness to the present. “What am I sitting down to do?”, “Where are my arms and legs placed?”, “Am I clenching any part of my body – shoulders, back, fist anything at all?”
- Now relax yourself and focus on breathing in deeply, let your chest and even your stomach fill in. And then breathe out fully, slowly.
- Catch yourself if you are ‘thinking’ about something. Let the thoughts come and go, don’t try to control and certainly don’t hold on to any thought.
- Catch yourself if you are pushing your body physically during the breaths – bloating your stomach instead of letting the air fill – naturally, forcing your breathe out instead of letting it out gradually and naturally etc
- Only keep your mind on the flow of breath in and out of you.
- Very importantly – be open to the idea. Don’t conceive notions for or against. Just try with an open mind religiously for 3 months and see if you feel the effects. Undoubtedly, your friends and family will start noticing a remarkable change in your before you.
This may seem simple. But the power of it can be felt when you are able to practice this even for just a few moments in a day
If you need some more motivation – Meditation is not just for people lost to the living world. Even Naval Ravikant, as attached to the modern world of business as may seem – believes in the power of meditation too.
“Meditation is the art of doing nothing. You cannot do meditation. By definition, if you’re doing something you’re not in meditation.” – Naval Ravikant
Here, have a read!
Naval Ravikant on Meditation, Self-Examination and The Art of Doing Nothing
So that’s it for now!
Thank you so much if you read through the entire post…It means a lot for me to be able to share my journey and help even a single person in turn if it does.
Those of you who are already on this path in one way or another must have a lot of interesting realisations, anecdotes, findings. Do share – I would really love to hear from you
QUICK SUMMARY FOR THE EAGER ONES
- What is meditation – the art of doing nothing. Not, thinking, just being.
- How to do it – any method that lets you suspend thought. You could start with being present in the moment with whatever you are doing – driving, writing, bathing, even packing lunch!
- How will this change your life? – You gotta sincerely try it for a few months to feel the difference. Even the most basic form of meditation when regular can be life altering.
Until next time,
Ciao! Sending lots of love and grace your way
#meditation #yoga #love #mindfulness #spirituality #healing #spiritual #peace #selflove #motivation #nature #selfcare #inspiration #life #spiritualawakening #wellness #happiness #mentalhealth #energy #health #art #positivevibes #consciousness #fitness #wisdom #quotes #meditate #awakening #gratitude #sou #yoga #love #mindfulness #spirituality #healing #spiritual #peace #selflove #motivation #nature #selfcare #inspiration #life #spiritualawakening #wellness #happiness #mentalhealth #energy #health #art #positivevibes #consciousness #fitness #wisdom #quotes #meditate #awakening #gratitude #soul #zen #zenlife #slowliving
MY HAPPY TRYBE 
Leave a comment