Millions of words are written about meditation. Forgive me for making another contribution to this aspect of being a Well Being. There are many different ideas, how and why’s of this simple process. Let’s see if a simple guide to meditation can be condensed into a thousand words. First some questions and answers.
Q. Is meditation a process?
A. Everything we do has a process.
Q. Does meditation have a benefit?
A. Meditate often and feel the benefit.
Q. Is meditation difficult?
A. If you can think you can meditate.
‘At the most basic level during the process of meditation: all we need to do is sit or lay in a comfortable position: close the eyes and think about one specific question’.
Some will disagree advocating the only way to meditate is to sit in an upright position. I suggest we do whatever is comfortable. The more natural anything is to practice, the more likely we are to continue with the practice.
‘During meditation, the mind will drift, when it does, gently bring the attention back to the specific question. The objective is not to hold attention for extended periods of time’.
Again this will agitate those who feel the objective is to hold the focus of attention on a mantra. Some believe meditations purpose is to heighten one’s awareness and allow deep or profound thoughts to become awakened. There is no hard or fast reason to meditate, in the early stages, the objective of gentle relaxation will have far-reaching benefits to the meditator.
‘One purpose of meditation is to settle the mind and find calm.’
Few would argue with this comment. The ability to calm the mind is a majestic life skill. There is little doubt people who meditate are calmer individuals. The key to understanding meditation is to think about the influence of time. Indeed the idea of time is worthy of contemplation, so, we will begin with this focus point.
Set a part of the day for your meditation. You will only need five minutes at most and if you cannot find five minutes in a day your life requires assessment. The two most useful moments of the day are just after awakening and as we drift to sleep. At this time the brain wave cycle is in the alpha wave. The brain is ‘cycling’ at 7.5 cycles per second; this is acknowledged as the best wave-length for learning and creativity. Find a suitable time and stick to the schedule: five minutes each day for a week. Only plan week to week, before long, daily meditation will become an everyday pleasure. Over time you may decide to meditate three or four times each day. Keep this idea flexible; once a day is fine, allow the inner-being chose.
Prepare by thinking about the contemplation. In this instance think about slowing down the moving second hand of a watch or clock. There is no need to be able to visualise the hand slowing down. The mind can understand the meaning of the instruction. Those who can envision should create a clock with a second hand sweeping around the face. As the second-hand moves around the face, it becomes slower and slower. This is the preparation for the meditation.
The Meditation
The purpose of this meditation is to be able to slow down the perspective of time. It is an efficient way of enhancing decision making especially during conversation or negotiation. The elegant aspect is there is no need to meditate on anything more complicated than imaging the slowing down of the second hand of a time face. After following this mediation for two or three weeks, the pupil may discover his contemplation extending longer than the allotted five minutes. This is a real-time shifter and can be used whenever the need arises to find calm in a pressure situation.
After The Meditation
If the chosen time is waking hours take two deep breaths and either sit or stand up, say these words in your mind ‘My meditation is over, it has calmed my mind and body’. Then continue to your day. If your chosen time is before sleep allow yourself to drift into sleep, trust your mind to work in your best interests and discover the power of pure meditation.
I meditate on awakening – during the day – and before sleep. After so many years of short meditation; I can quickly enter an instantaneous state of absolute peace. Whether travelling on a local bus or across the Atlantic the place is of no importance. I can only think of three situations where I have lost my temper in fourteen years. I can think of no situation which has affected my inner-being in any way during this time. The reason for the inner calm is short meditation and the ability to ‘switch on’ this inner peace whenever needed.
Incidentally, if there is a situation where an answer is evasive the evening meditation is simple ‘Guide me during my rest to find a simple solution to this issue’. This meditation has never let me down, not once. Remember, I have used this short method of meditation for nearly a decade and a half, do not think you will have this type of benefit after three weeks. The time shift meditation is revisited two or three times each week. Other meditations focus on restricting waste of any kind, integrity, happiness and long-term security. These would make excellent titles for future articles in the future.
In conclusion: Once we learn to control mind time, the perspective of time grows, and this benefits all choices we make. The inner mind works in a slower and more deliberate pace relevant to the external environment. This is a real time-shifter: and can be used whenever the need arises to find calm in a pressure situation: all that is needed is to think ‘I will slow down time in this situation ‘ And while the external world continues at sixty seconds to the minute: you inner mind will function at 120 -180 seconds to the minute. Those who dispute this phenomenon may have experienced or listened to people who say after an accident or traumatic experience ‘My whole world slowed down’ or ‘Everything seemed to be in slow-motion’. The mind can see time shift, and this phenomenon can be learned to use to our advantage.
See You Soon
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