Stereotypical Meditation Pose
Disobey The Rules!
There are many benefits to meditation, listed as number one is self-awareness. The whole purpose of meditation is to allow us to connect with our inner being. There are so many suggestions on how to meditate that we often times mistake them for rules. However, some suggestions on meditation are pretty good but remember they are only suggestions. No rules apply when zoning in on your inner Self. A word of caution, however, be prepared for what you will learn, see, hear, and feel. Our inner and outer versions of Self do differ.
Too much instruction on how to meditate takes away from the main reason we do it, to connect to Self. Meditation is an exploration of our inner thoughts and feelings, assessing and balancing them out is an internal process. Too many so-called rules will only divert our attention away from the process by getting us caught up in the right way of doing things. Meditation is all about focus, do what feels right to you in order for you to focus.
The number one myth I want to dispel is that meditation has to be done in a quiet place with soft lighting sitting with your legs folded like a pretzel, palms up and thumb and pointer fingers touching.
Wrong. If you are able to meditate in a loud, busy, and noisy place standing in a corner all the better for you. That will only strengthen your ability to focus. It is easy to focus in quiet, but the goal of meditation is to teach our minds to focus effortlessly on demand in a very busy world.
Another myth is that you should focus on this or that when you are meditating. Humming or reciting certain mantras or words all while doing breathing exercises.
Meditation is just closing your eyes and focusing on the back of your eyelids, which is pretty much darkness. When you focus on the darkness long enough you will start to see some amazing stuff happening. Breathing regulation helps with calming and relaxation, but it is still an object used to try and help you focus. Learning to see in and through the darkness reveals some interesting stuff, it's called connecting to your 3rd Eye,
A huge myth is that if you meditate you will start to reap all these wonderful benefits as soon as you close your eyes and be quiet.
There are definitely benefits that come along with prolonged sessions of meditation. It’s very possible that you may experience these benefits from the very first session, however, the benefits received are unique to the individual. The scale of benefits to the individual depends on your concentration levels, attention span, and ability to focus. Also, intention plays a big part of the meditation benefits. Until you learn to master the art of meditation, it is recommended that your only intention be to achieve a sense of control over your awareness.
The last myth to dispel in part 1 of this post is that if your mind is racing you are not meditating properly.
I promise you that every single person who meditates, even the self-proclaimed “yoganis,” their mind wanders from time to time during a meditation session. The important thing to master is to immediately notice that your mind is beginning to wander and reaffirm control of your awareness. Meditation occurs in the current moment only. Once you begin to master this process your mind will wander less and less but it will probably never stop completely. Meditation is not sleep so you are aware of what is happening in your surroundings. Again, with practice and time, you may get to a point that you are so immersed in the inner world that the physical world gets totally tuned out.
In closing, meditation times vary, do it as long as you are able to focus and quiet your mind. The longer the better is true but even five minutes seems like an eternity and makes a world of difference in your temperament if you utilize those five minutes to the best of your ability.
To learn more, pick up from this point in part 2 of Meditation Myths.
Transformation is a process, to be successful in your growth focus on each step accordingly. - E. Lynn
Comments