How to...
...Meditate
Our expert: Jackie Hawken (LLB 1990), solicitor, psychologist, NLP Master, corporate coach, Buddhist and Founder of Equanalta.
‘All man’s miseries derive from his inability to sit alone quietly in an empty room’ – Pascal
Meditation does not necessitate the immediate ability to sit on a cushion in the lotus position with a serene countenance and an empty mind for hours on end. It is a gradual process that begins with regular practice. You can meditate while sitting, walking or washing up. It is the patient process of settling the mind in the present moment so that we are fully engaged with whatever we do.
Here is a simple sitting meditation approach taught in my workshop:
- Do some quick stretches to relieve tension.
- Sit comfortably: Your back is straight, your shoulders are back and relaxed, chest open. Imagine a golden thread attaching you to the sky, keeping you upright.
- You are sitting on a cushion, a chair or the floor with your legs comfortable – your back can be supported.
- Your hands are in your lap. Your clothes are loose.
- Your eyes are shut or half-open with a gaze down along the line of the nose, landing at a spot four feet in front of you.
- You are in a quiet place inside or outside in nature.
- Morning is ideal; more important is a regular daily slot when you are not sleepy, preferably before eating.
- Breathe into your stomach, emptying it on the out-breath but without forcing. Try to have a gap before the in-breath – the gap of ‘no-thing, no-thought’. ‘I breathe into myself purifying white light. I breathe out the black smoke of negativity’.
- You can use ‘supports’ – candles, images, natural sounds, mantras or CDs.
- Observe the whirling of your thoughts. Label them ‘thinking’ and go back to the gentle in and out of your breath. See the spaciousness of your mind – like a vast, calm lake. Your thoughts are ripples that come and go. Do not give in to frustration because you have so many of them. As you practice, they will calm down.
- You are aiming to find calmness and happiness by simply being. Just ten minutes every day can produce inner-balance and significant beneficial changes in your mind and body
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