Meditation Techniques
Meditation techniques are numerous with many different schools of thought and purposes for the practice of meditation. It often becomes overwhelming and confusing when deciding which meditation techniques to use. So how do we know what is useful and what will work for us? Well first of all you need to know your purpose for practicing meditation. It can be used for many things like increasing health and vitality, pain control, healing, relaxation, developing inner strength or chi (Ki, Qi), concentration, visualisation and many other uses. For each of these purposes there are multitudes of meditation techniques to choose from and figuring out which one actually works is hard enough, you then have to apply it, get it right and then make it work for you. Geez, who would have thought that sifting through meditation techniques would be so overwhelming? I mean after all, meditation should give you inner peace. Another obstacle that often pops up is time. Most people believe they don’t have time to meditate, they just have too much going on. Well I will provide ways that you can incorporate various simple meditation techniques into both formal sessions and into you day to day activities. What is meditationMeditation is a self-directed practice for calming the mind, relaxing the body and achieving a heightened state of conciousness and awareness. Most meditation techniques known to western civilisation come from eastern religion, martial arts and other practices such as yoga. The health benefits of meditation have, in recent years, been proven extensively through scientific research. The best meditation techniques for particular benefits are disputable and often not clear to distinguish. I could go into all the various meditation techniques and explain the history of meditation and a bunch of complicated methods but that would just confuse and overwhelm you. I will share with you the meditation techniques that I use and explain the purpose for each. I use three meditation techniques and I perform them in various ways and varying durations as time permits.
The three techniques I use are:1. Visualisation meditation; this is designed to cultivate focus, concentration and control over various outcomes in your life. It can be used to control pain, control various physiological processes such as heart rate and metabolism, strength and physical ability and to visualise and manifest your goals. 2. Choiceless awareness; this meditation technique is used to empty the mind without focussing on anything but being totally aware of all things. Many things come up with this method and thoughts are recognised but not judged, focussed on or held for any length of time. Whatever comes up should be allowed to run it’s course with no emotional attachment. The purpose of this method is to increase awareness of all things without choosing anything in particular to be aware of. It’s like how Bruce Lee discusses this term when talking about martial arts. If you are focussed on one technique or defence etc, then you may miss something else that happens or is happening. The same is true in life, if we constantly try to focus on one thing then we might miss other important things. 3. Faith meditation; ok this one may sound strange. This meditation technique is used to create absolute certainty in everything you want in life. By practicing this you will be able to eventually have concrete belief in the attainment of your goals, the prevention or cure of disease or illness and anything else in your life and the lives of others you are associated with.
So how do we practice these three meditation techniques, for how long and how frequent?Visualisation Meditation This form of meditation has a simple concept but is not always easy to do when you are starting out. Keep at it and eventually you will notice enormous benefits. Step One: Sit, stand or lie in a comfortable position. It can be in a chair, on the floor or anywhere you feel comfortable, the position is not important. Ensure there is adequate quiet and no major distractions. Keep your tongue pressed lightly to the top palate of your mouth. Step Two: Now begin breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth for eight counts in and eight counts out. The breathing should eventually maintain rhythm without thinking about it. Do this for a couple of minutes or until you feel the tension in your body dissipate and your mind begins to relax and stop wandering. Step Three: This step will vary from one person to the next so feel free to visualise anything that applies personally to you. To begin, start visualising the feeling of levitating. Imagine you are levitating off the ground. While you do this, with eyes closed, roll your eyeballs up slightly and look at the back of your eyelids. Do this for as long as you feel it is necessary. You can even make this your point of visualisation throughout the entire process. Step Four: Now begin visualising one important thing and that thing only. If your mind wanders then bring it back, it will become easier over time. What you visualise is up to you, it could be something to take you away from pain, maybe it is a goal, an ability, focussing on healing an injury or disease, anything. Perform this meditation technique for at least 20 minutes. Variation: Another great form of visualisation meditation is focussing on the heat and energy produced by the hands. Just perform the same breathing as the ordinary visualisation meditation but this time have your palms facing each other about six inches (15 cm) apart. Now imagine as though there is energy between your hands in the shape of a ball. Eventually it should feel like you have a balloon between your hands that you can actually move. You should also start to feel heat being generated after much practice. Choiceless Awareness This meditation technique is very similar to that of the Buddhist and Taoist monks. That is, the practice of mindfulness. The principle is about being aware of everything and ready for any thought that comes up without being specifically focussed. This is where solutions to problems will appear and ideas and creativity are born. It is also a great basis for stress relief and harnessing the ability to live in the present moment. By practicing this meditation technique you will be more effective in everything you do in your daily life. Step One: Begin in a comfortable position and breathe in the same manner as for the previous meditation technique. Begin relaxing one part of the body at a time until you are totally relaxed and at peace. Step Two: Whilst maintaining the breathing rhythm, release all thoughts from your mind without forcing them. It is impossible to think of absolutely nothing at all but you can empty your mind. Every time a thought comes up just let it run it’s course without judging it or holding onto it. The key is to have no opinion of the thought and nothing lingering. Acknowledge all thoughts and feelings but don’t create a meaning for them. Step Three: Ask silent questions. Rather than actually speaking in your mind, create the subtle feeling of accepting answers to things that have been on you mind. This can be difficult to do at first without actually lingering in thought but over time and with enough practice it will become easier. Your mind will be clear and the solutions, ideas and abilities that were always there begin to surface. Faith Meditation This meditation technique is very basic and after some practice it will become fairly simple to do but will create enormous power. This is what puts the law of attraction to work for you in the strongest possible way. Step One: Begin the same as the previous two methods and with the exact same breathing technique. Now once you’re relaxed, begin to feel a sense of warmth and pleasure. This feeling is a feeling that everything will work out for the best and there are no doubts or judgements of any kind. Step Two: The important thing here is to remain mindful just as in choiceless awareness. Acknowledge your thoughts and your wants but this time when they come up, have absolute faith in the fact that you will achieve what you want no matter what. Try intensifying the feeling until you feel unstoppable. You may feel like an indestructible martial artist, a healed and disease free person, super successful, anything. Just remember not to try and focus on the individual thing you have faith in, just have faith in life and the universe in general. Do this meditation technique for at least 20 minutes a day. Please note though that I realise you may not have time to do all three methods every day but here is an option.
Perform one of these meditation techniques per day as your primary meditation session and use the others as secondary. What I mean is that you can perform the other methods for maybe five minutes each and the main one for 20 minutes. The technique you choose for the main one should rotate from day to day. Some pointers for incorporating meditation into your busy lifestyle
Now, I won’t go too much into the benefits and uses for meditation and these meditation techniques because you obviously already know most of them if you are reading this. Do some research and find out some different schools of thought and discover other meditation techniques. Remember though that what I have outlined here is the most effective and simplest way to meditate for the modern day person. There is a certain amount of your own individuality you need to bring to any meditation technique. These instructions are not rigid and you may find that after applying some of them, you will discover the way you personally like to do it. Just keep practicing and make it a pleasurable experience. Don’t place too much stress on what’s right or wrong or on the so-called rules.
Return home from meditation techniques
|
