Many people tell me they can’t meditate. Everyone can meditate. The mind can be stilled. Peace is real, and it’s in us all. We meditate to still the mind, once the mind is still peace is. That is It.
There are those that will say, I just cannot still the mind. I can’t sit still. I have to move. I have to think. What happens when we struggle to be silent? The struggle itself creates more chaos. Telling yourself to be still creates more mindlessness.
- Be MIndful To be mindful, choose, without words to focus on yourSelf. Focus on your breathing, lift your eyes and look into the darkness. This might take an entire session of stopping and raising your eyes or stopping and focusing on your breathing. You might feel that you accomplished nothing. Know that that thought is the ego and a distraction. In truth, you were meditating! The actions you took to slow down the mind did restore peace. They did create a chink in the defenses of thought. You changed your behavior and began a new habit. A habit that invites peace. Over time you will find closing your eyes and quieting the mind to be quick and easy. It’s ok to struggle. It took time to learn to think. It will take time to unlearn to think. Peace is real. The struggle is in your head.
- Use guided meditations You can find many wonderful, guided mediations on YouTube that will step you through the process of relaxing, focusing on your breathing or aid in focusing the attention on a particular chakra. I like the Psychic Soul, Alina Alive, Jason Stephenson, and Narayanjot, but you will develop your own favorites
- Use ambient music such as Tibetan Bells, crystal bowls to help create a relaxed vibration in your body and maintain your focus on silence. I use YouTube videos for this as well, Healing Vibrations, Templesounds and Meditative Minds are three of my favorites. I tend to stay away from piano music, I find it too jarring. Native flutes can be beneficial, but they tend to distract me. It could be a personal issue, I’m not sure. Do what helps you.
- Create a pre-meditation ritual or a particular spot where you meditate. When I first started meditating, I walked around the room and allowed my thoughts to slow. Sometimes I would fix my attention on an object and study it, in doing so my thoughts would wind down. I also found that I needed to wrap myself in a blanket and sit cross-legged on a soft, comfy spot with great back support. A friend of mine needed to sit next to an open window. She said it kept her from falling asleep yet maintained a deep sense relaxation. Whatever works for you, meditation is not one size fits all, and yet it is that in the end.
- Begin with humming to tune your body, in much the same way as the ambient music, did. In the beginning, after I walked around the room, found my blanket, turned on Tibetan Bells and found the right place to sit I spent at least five minutes humming. I liked to hum mmmmmmmmmm deep in my chest with the sound starting in the middle of my body or the solar plexus. You can also hum the vowels randomly or pick one. Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you hum.
Use any one of these techniques on their own or combine them. The important thing to know is that it takes regular practice. If you meditate every day, try to do it at the same time every day. If once a week try the same day every week at the same time. Healthy habits signal the body what is about to happen, take advantage of the body’s natural inclination to develop routines and it will make meditation easier. The struggle will lessen, and peace will prevail.
Namaste
