The path to spiritual development does not come to us through intellectual processes, but rather through rehabituating the mind to observe thoughts as they move through our mind without reacting to them. The practice of meditation, in it's various forms, is a method for us to do this. However, identifying too much with one particular form of meditation is another way the mind can "sneak back in" and control the process. Therefore in order to connect to our true nature, it is important to vary the forms of meditation we use, whether it is focusing on breath, body, objects, positions, praying or simply sitting still. We want to feel the vitality of our beingness without the thinking, solving, spinning that our mind likes to do. This is how we can connect to our true nature, our consciousness, our spirit. So the big picture is that meditation is a method for us to create the habit of "stillness" that allows us to feel greater peace, even when the world seems to be "bouncing around" us. We are the quiet in the storm.
Try this exercise (I posted this in an earlier blog): Take a piece of paper, and write down everything that is "spinning" through your mind - be sure to leave some space in between the "to-dos" for some notes later in the exercise. This includes big and little things - from feeling sad over a loss, relationship decisions to a grocery shopping list. Just let it out, get it onto a piece of paper. Once you have it all written down, sit or lay down in a comfortable position, with the note pad or journal close by - and use the 6 minute energy body meditation to redirect your mind. If a particular thought or another urgent "to-do" pops up, crack your eyes open just enough to add it to your list, and then send the thought away on a cloud or in a bubble! Stay with the meditation.
When you are finished, look at your list - triage the things you have written down by putting a number next to it indicating it's importance. As you read each item, take notes on what emotion you feel when you read it. Is it anxiety, resentment, fear, or a different emotion? Take notes next to that item about what you are feeling. Really pay attention to where that feeling is in your body - and just observe it without judgement. Now, observe the feeling in your body - and write down where in your body you feel it? Notice that as you consciously observe the feeling in your body, the emotion will dissipate and break up, so that it is no longer quite as emotionally charged as before. For larger, more important issues, it may take a number of rounds of feeling it and paying attention to the emotion in your body. But stay with it!
Try this exercise (I posted this in an earlier blog): Take a piece of paper, and write down everything that is "spinning" through your mind - be sure to leave some space in between the "to-dos" for some notes later in the exercise. This includes big and little things - from feeling sad over a loss, relationship decisions to a grocery shopping list. Just let it out, get it onto a piece of paper. Once you have it all written down, sit or lay down in a comfortable position, with the note pad or journal close by - and use the 6 minute energy body meditation to redirect your mind. If a particular thought or another urgent "to-do" pops up, crack your eyes open just enough to add it to your list, and then send the thought away on a cloud or in a bubble! Stay with the meditation.
When you are finished, look at your list - triage the things you have written down by putting a number next to it indicating it's importance. As you read each item, take notes on what emotion you feel when you read it. Is it anxiety, resentment, fear, or a different emotion? Take notes next to that item about what you are feeling. Really pay attention to where that feeling is in your body - and just observe it without judgement. Now, observe the feeling in your body - and write down where in your body you feel it? Notice that as you consciously observe the feeling in your body, the emotion will dissipate and break up, so that it is no longer quite as emotionally charged as before. For larger, more important issues, it may take a number of rounds of feeling it and paying attention to the emotion in your body. But stay with it!
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