Today is day 7, the end of the first week. Any thoughts or experiences you would like to share so far?
I have talked briefly with some of you this past week and meditation seems to be the biggest challenge. From my own experience, developing a regular meditation practice took several years of curiosity and dabbling with different techniques before I made the commitment to a daily practice. This is a topic that Kyra and I have talked in great length about....how to support those of you who are just getting started without "teaching" meditation or a specific method. There are many schools of thought and technique on meditation and just like asana, we would advise that you experience them for yourself and find out what speaks to you. I believe that most of us come to the proverbial cushion with a desire to calm the mind and find more peace in our lives. Our lives are filled with a constant stream of distractions, multi-tasking and overstimulation. And then we expect that when we come to the cushion, all of those distractions should just fade away. When that doesn't happen, we are somehow deflated by the experience and the mind tells us a convincing story about why meditation is not for us.
Meditation is a practice and if it were easy, everyone would already be doing it. I hear a lot of students say they would like to meditate but they just can't sit still or their minds won't stop racing. Isn't that the case for all of us! When do we get the opportunity in our lives to practice 'sitting still' or for that matter, do we even want to sit still? How boring? The distractions are so appealing and entertaining, who wants to give them up? This is the work. And I have the same struggles as you. I continually have days where I am carried away in thought during meditation or I just don't want to make the time for it. But I am also aware of the subtle changes that I have noticed in my life through meditation.
So here is some advice if you are struggling with meditation....Begin your meditation practice by making the time, staying committed to it (all that comes up) and starting again if you fall off. If meditation is new for you, instead of coming to your cushion "to meditate", come to your cushion to practice being still and observe what goes on. There are many techniques for quieting the mind such as following the breath, counting breaths or repeating a mantra or passage. Try one of these techniques and see how it goes. Take time to set yourself up so that you are comfortable (your hips are higher than your knees) or if sitting on the floor causes you too much pain, sit in a chair. Begin again!
"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet.
It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there
Buried under the 50,000 thoughts
The average person thinks every day."
~ Deepak Chopra ~
I have talked briefly with some of you this past week and meditation seems to be the biggest challenge. From my own experience, developing a regular meditation practice took several years of curiosity and dabbling with different techniques before I made the commitment to a daily practice. This is a topic that Kyra and I have talked in great length about....how to support those of you who are just getting started without "teaching" meditation or a specific method. There are many schools of thought and technique on meditation and just like asana, we would advise that you experience them for yourself and find out what speaks to you. I believe that most of us come to the proverbial cushion with a desire to calm the mind and find more peace in our lives. Our lives are filled with a constant stream of distractions, multi-tasking and overstimulation. And then we expect that when we come to the cushion, all of those distractions should just fade away. When that doesn't happen, we are somehow deflated by the experience and the mind tells us a convincing story about why meditation is not for us.
Meditation is a practice and if it were easy, everyone would already be doing it. I hear a lot of students say they would like to meditate but they just can't sit still or their minds won't stop racing. Isn't that the case for all of us! When do we get the opportunity in our lives to practice 'sitting still' or for that matter, do we even want to sit still? How boring? The distractions are so appealing and entertaining, who wants to give them up? This is the work. And I have the same struggles as you. I continually have days where I am carried away in thought during meditation or I just don't want to make the time for it. But I am also aware of the subtle changes that I have noticed in my life through meditation.
So here is some advice if you are struggling with meditation....Begin your meditation practice by making the time, staying committed to it (all that comes up) and starting again if you fall off. If meditation is new for you, instead of coming to your cushion "to meditate", come to your cushion to practice being still and observe what goes on. There are many techniques for quieting the mind such as following the breath, counting breaths or repeating a mantra or passage. Try one of these techniques and see how it goes. Take time to set yourself up so that you are comfortable (your hips are higher than your knees) or if sitting on the floor causes you too much pain, sit in a chair. Begin again!
"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet.
It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there
Buried under the 50,000 thoughts
The average person thinks every day."
~ Deepak Chopra ~