Susan is a client of mine and this was his feedback from our mediation this morning:
I sat focusing on the sound and vibrations of the breath along with visualizing air going into my lungs and oxygen flowing around my body, nourishing my body and mind. After a few seconds I sensed a feeling of gratitude to the universe for sustaining my life, along with a wave of relaxation. My mind became free of the stress. My body felt heavy and my mind so light, but completely as one. I visualized my mind expanding and no longer being separated from the power of life. Then I let go and I simply sat enjoying the feelings of peace without objectively analysing them. After the practice I felt happy and light-hearted.
The most common things people say to me everywhere I go are:
I can’t meditate
and
I am not good at mediating
There is absolutely no need to think this, of course with practice it’s easier to have more peaceful and beneficial meditations but we all have to start somewhere. The first benefit comes from having the correct intention, I want to mediate to feel better in some way.
Many people incorrectly assume that to mediate properly you have to stop all thoughts. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. The mind is not like a television that can simply be switched off. Thoughts and ideas will naturally arise. Try to imaging your mind like a river allowing thoughts to simply flow away as they arise. This is meditation, aim for softness and peace. It is easy to become attached thoughts by holding on to them and exploring them, simply aim not to do this. The worst thing to do in meditation to become angry with yourself for not mediating properly, especially think things like ‘I just can’t do this’ or ‘I am useless at this’. If you find your mind becoming busy all you have to do is simply bring you attention gently back to your breath and relax.
Be aware we all have the self-critic, that voice we hear telling us we are not good enough and we don’t try hard enough, warning us we will fail and can’t achieve the things we want in life. This relates to what is known as the negativity bias. Humanity has survived much darker and harsher conditions than most of us live in today. During those harsher times the mind had to constantly be on alert looking for threats and dangers, resting and being mindful was not safe so the people’s minds learnt to be on edge to be aware of things that may cause harm, being paranoid. We do not need to be like this nowadays
The key to enjoyable mediation is not to be angry with yourself for thinking and not to hold on to thoughts telling you are not able to do it.
Simply be kind to yourself and say I am going to relax and mediate because I deserve to be well and happy. If and when my mind starts to jump around like a monkey I won’t be angry with myself. Instead I will just say its ok relax and gently bring my awareness to my breathing. If this happens once or a hundred times it does not matter.
I have always thought even If I sit for an hour but today my mind is so busy I only get to rest it for 5 minutes. Then those 5 minutes will still greatly help me.
Mediation is healing for the mind and the body so why do so many people take it so seriously and label it as such a difficult and strenuous thing to do? Relax, enjoy be kind to yourself and simply aim to do your best without trying too hard and most of all when thoughts come in don’t not upset or angry with yourself, just relax and let them flow away.
Martin Jones
《Martin Jones（マーティンジョーンズ） さんの記事一覧はコチラ》
https://www.el-aura.com/writer/martin-jones/?c=139479
