How to Meditate

We all know meditation is good for us yet surprisingly few people indulge in the activity. It can be challenging at first but it really doesn't have to be. Some insist on adopting a certain posture that won't work until core strength is built. One must be comfortable in order to relax. So just get comfortable in any place that works.

Begin by listening. Close your eyes and listen to the sound of the world around you. Do it as if you were listening to music. Don't try to identify or name a sound, just let the sound massage your eardrums. There are no proper or improper sounds, they must not be judged.

You will find that naming and identifying sounds happens automatically but you must not try to push these thoughts out as this will have the opposite effect. Your internal dialogue will inevitably interrupt but the key is to accept this and incorporate it into the general noise from all around. This brings the outside world and the inside world together. With practice, your thoughts become merged with the outside and somehow one is removed from them and able to observe them as something happening along with the rest of the world.

Meditation will bring forth your awareness of breathing. As you allow it to run, notice how it just happens automatically with no effort. In ordinary language we use the term 'I breathe' as we use the terms 'I walk' and 'I talk' but of course there is a difference. It is curious as we observe our breathing how we notice that not only is it something we do but it is also something that happens to us. Indeed breathing is so important in meditation because the arbitrary nature of the difference between the voluntary and involuntary is highlighted.

This can raise a dilemma because on the one hand one could see this as meaning we are mere puppets at the whim of nature or on the other hand one could see this as meaning we are all encompassing gods in full control of all that happens. The truth of the matter is that both meanings are accurate. We are able to see that both everything is happening to us but we are also doing everything. For example it is our eyes that turn the sun into light, our nerve endings that turn the outside world into heat and temperature and our eardrums turn vibrations into sound and it is in this way that we create the world. Without discussion, introspection and meditation we would be unable to make sense of the 'happenings' that just happen to us. There cannot be an inside without an outside.

When we focus on our breathing we are able to breathe more deeply and arrive at the desired sensation as if the relaxation breath is just falling out to it's fullest. Then you are able to allow the breath to simply fall back in. The breath becomes easier, slower and more powerful. It is this state of unaware awareness, where one can watch ones breath and be aware of the sensations without thinking that is the meditative state.

One shouldn't worry about anything; rather observe whatever is happening and allow this acceptance to be the path to clearance.

Meditation should be a daily event in our lives, such is its power. It's a good idea to try to put aside a little time to find this state and make use of the benefits.

Thanks for reading

STEEMONKEY🐒