Basic Meditation
Technique
Throughout thousands of years, meditation practice has proved its efficiency. When practiced regularly twice a day it unfailingly gives 100% positive result.
Meditation technique consists of several steps. Anyone can start practicing it without special preparation.
Meditation technique consists of several steps. Anyone can start practicing it without special preparation.
Step 1.
Posture for Meditation
For meditation practice it is important to be able to detach from the external world and from the body. Comfortable sitting posture comes to be very helpful for that purpose.
The best posture for meditation is considered to be Lotus pose (padmasana). If it is too difficult you can try ardha-padmasana (half-lotus pose), sidhasana (cross-legged position – one feet is placed on another) or sukhasana (just cross-legged position). If these postures are too difficult you can meditate sitting on a chair with your back straight.
There are many benefits of the proper posture for meditation. It gives stability, helps to relax the body, makes breathing smooth and rhythmic, which consequently promotes calmness of the mind.
Once you have taken one of the meditation postures, it is important that you keep your back vertical and straight and the lower back in particular. It will help you to achieve a certain degree of concentration right away.
To stay in the proper position throughout all practice the beginners might like to put a pillow under the buttocks. The higher the pillow is the easier it is to keep the position during meditation. It will also help to prevent the tension in the knees.
Apart from taking a certain pose for meditation, it is necessary to bring the sensory organs under control. Therefore, the senses of sight, taste and touch need to be controlled. For that purpose, we close the eyes, tuck the tip of the tongue, hold it to the upper palate and lock the fingers. The senses of hearing and smell are not controlled by the pose, so it is recommended to do meditation in a calm place where there is no any smell, smoke or noise.
Following the tips above it would be much easier for you to detach from your body and calm the mind down.
The best posture for meditation is considered to be Lotus pose (padmasana). If it is too difficult you can try ardha-padmasana (half-lotus pose), sidhasana (cross-legged position – one feet is placed on another) or sukhasana (just cross-legged position). If these postures are too difficult you can meditate sitting on a chair with your back straight.
There are many benefits of the proper posture for meditation. It gives stability, helps to relax the body, makes breathing smooth and rhythmic, which consequently promotes calmness of the mind.
Once you have taken one of the meditation postures, it is important that you keep your back vertical and straight and the lower back in particular. It will help you to achieve a certain degree of concentration right away.
To stay in the proper position throughout all practice the beginners might like to put a pillow under the buttocks. The higher the pillow is the easier it is to keep the position during meditation. It will also help to prevent the tension in the knees.
Apart from taking a certain pose for meditation, it is necessary to bring the sensory organs under control. Therefore, the senses of sight, taste and touch need to be controlled. For that purpose, we close the eyes, tuck the tip of the tongue, hold it to the upper palate and lock the fingers. The senses of hearing and smell are not controlled by the pose, so it is recommended to do meditation in a calm place where there is no any smell, smoke or noise.
Following the tips above it would be much easier for you to detach from your body and calm the mind down.
Step 2
Relaxing the Body and Mind
As a rule, many assume that meditation is when there are no thoughts, thus trying to suppress their thinking process. Obviously, this does not produce a long-lasting positive result. The efforts to get rid of the thoughts can be compared with the attempt to stop thinking about a polar bear. You say to yourself, “Think whatever thought, but not about the polar bear”. And your mind would immediately produce an image of a polar bear.
Do not suppress the thoughts.
Relax as deeply as you can.
After having taken the posture for meditation, it is necessary to relax the body, all muscles except those of the lumbar area. Pay special attention to relaxing the muscles of your face and neck. Try to remove tension from your eyes, eyebrows, forehead, ears, and back of the head. When the body is relaxed, start working with your mind.
It looks like we constantly have to run somewhere, do something. We cannot allow ourselves a single minute of doing nothing. Thus, it is difficult for us to just sit quietly – it is absolutely necessary to check the e-mails, call somebody or search something on the internet. All these things are just far-fetched reasons to get distracted, since all of them are not high priority and can wait 15-20 minutes. Therefore, just observe your thoughts without delving too deep into them.
This process may take 2-3 minutes. Try to realize how blissful it is just to stay quiet and observe your thoughts.
It looks like we constantly have to run somewhere, do something. We cannot allow ourselves a single minute of doing nothing. Thus, it is difficult for us to just sit quietly – it is absolutely necessary to check the e-mails, call somebody or search something on the internet. All these things are just far-fetched reasons to get distracted, since all of them are not high priority and can wait 15-20 minutes. Therefore, just observe your thoughts without delving too deep into them.
This process may take 2-3 minutes. Try to realize how blissful it is just to stay quiet and observe your thoughts.
Allow yourself not to think about anything,
just sit down and relax.
Step 3.
Detach yourself from the external world
The external world inevitably provides a certain impact on every one of us. Have you noticed that once you find yourself in a particular environment, you behave and think in a certain way, but once the environment changes, the state of your mind and behavior also change?
We need to withdraw the mind from the external world during meditation. For that purpose we are to use our imagination.
Having relaxed your body and made your mind an observer of your thoughts, try to imagine yourself sitting in a secluded place. It may be a top of a mountain, a desert, an ocean shore or another place. You are there completely alone and enjoying peace and calmness. Use your imagination and keep the following idea on your mind: “I am sitting in a beautiful place, I feel very calm. I am enjoying the quietness inside my mind.” After some time you will really start feeling that you are sitting in that imaginary place. At that very moment, the objects of the external world will no longer exist for you.
We need to withdraw the mind from the external world during meditation. For that purpose we are to use our imagination.
Having relaxed your body and made your mind an observer of your thoughts, try to imagine yourself sitting in a secluded place. It may be a top of a mountain, a desert, an ocean shore or another place. You are there completely alone and enjoying peace and calmness. Use your imagination and keep the following idea on your mind: “I am sitting in a beautiful place, I feel very calm. I am enjoying the quietness inside my mind.” After some time you will really start feeling that you are sitting in that imaginary place. At that very moment, the objects of the external world will no longer exist for you.
Step 4.
Concentration
In order to reach concentration we repeat the mantra. The sound of the mantra makes the mind light, inspired and free.
We use the universal mantra, which in Sanskrit sounds like “Baba Nam Kevalam”. Its meaning is “Supreme Consciousness is all there is”. Everything that I see, hear, breathe in, what I think or touch, is in fact a modified, cruder form of the Supreme Consciousness, or Supreme Love.
This idea of absolute positivity helps to feel the essence of meditation. If the term “Supreme Consciousness” or the meaning of the mantra are not completely cleat to you, you might like to use their emotional connotations: Supreme Love is all there is, the Supreme Joy is all there is, and so on.
We use the universal mantra, which in Sanskrit sounds like “Baba Nam Kevalam”. Its meaning is “Supreme Consciousness is all there is”. Everything that I see, hear, breathe in, what I think or touch, is in fact a modified, cruder form of the Supreme Consciousness, or Supreme Love.
This idea of absolute positivity helps to feel the essence of meditation. If the term “Supreme Consciousness” or the meaning of the mantra are not completely cleat to you, you might like to use their emotional connotations: Supreme Love is all there is, the Supreme Joy is all there is, and so on.
For a start, it is important just to focus
on the sound of the mantra
Repeat the mantra to yourself slowly and distinctly. Try to make the mantra sound deep and rich so that it would fill up all the space inside your mind leaving no intervals or gaps through which some distracting thoughts might permeate. There should be nothing inside your mind but the sound of the mantra.
Remain in the sound flow of the mantra.
If you fail to keep concentration - no worries. As soon as you realize that you got distracted, just return yourself to repeating the mantra. The attention will be sneaking away clinging to coming thoughts. You just bring it back to the center of your meditation, which is the mantra and its repetition. Immersion into the sound of the mantra should become very deep.
Remain in the sound flow of the mantra.
If you fail to keep concentration - no worries. As soon as you realize that you got distracted, just return yourself to repeating the mantra. The attention will be sneaking away clinging to coming thoughts. You just bring it back to the center of your meditation, which is the mantra and its repetition. Immersion into the sound of the mantra should become very deep.
BABA NAM KEVALAM
Step 5.
Realizing the Idea of the Mantra
As soon as you feel that the mind has focused on the mantra deeply enough, start immersing into the meaning of the mantra: “Supreme Consciousness is all there is”. The sound of the mantra, the feeling and comprehension of its idea is called ideation.
Meanwhile it should be mentioned, that it is impossible to intellectually grasp the idea of the mantra. To reach this understanding one should penetrate into the sound of the mantra, to delve into this state. What does the saying “Supreme Love is all there is” mean? How is it that you and all around you is Love? Try to feel the idea of the mantra with the other meanings, for example, “Supreme Joy is all there is” or “Calmness is all there is”. How is it to be Calmness, to be Inspiration, Joy, Absolute, Freedom, or Quietness?
Repeat the mantra, listen to its sound, and penetrate into this state. Keep on meditating in this way.
Meanwhile it should be mentioned, that it is impossible to intellectually grasp the idea of the mantra. To reach this understanding one should penetrate into the sound of the mantra, to delve into this state. What does the saying “Supreme Love is all there is” mean? How is it that you and all around you is Love? Try to feel the idea of the mantra with the other meanings, for example, “Supreme Joy is all there is” or “Calmness is all there is”. How is it to be Calmness, to be Inspiration, Joy, Absolute, Freedom, or Quietness?
Repeat the mantra, listen to its sound, and penetrate into this state. Keep on meditating in this way.
Tips for Meditation Practice
Set the alarm-clock or timer to control the time that you have allocated to the practice. The signal of the alarm clock should preferably be soft and quiet.
Choosing the place for meditation make sure nobody is going to bother you. Fresh and clean air benefits good meditation, so air the room before the practice.
To ensure stable positive effect from meditation and to progress in mastering the meditation technique it is advised to practice regularly twice a day. For a start, make it 5 minutes in the morning and in the evening. It should not be a problem to allow 10 minutes a day for the practice. Then try to gradually increase the time to 20 minutes and more.
Choosing the place for meditation make sure nobody is going to bother you. Fresh and clean air benefits good meditation, so air the room before the practice.
To ensure stable positive effect from meditation and to progress in mastering the meditation technique it is advised to practice regularly twice a day. For a start, make it 5 minutes in the morning and in the evening. It should not be a problem to allow 10 minutes a day for the practice. Then try to gradually increase the time to 20 minutes and more.
As a conclusion
Meditation practice is a vital thing in the life of every person. It is a unique opportunity for personal growth. Our mind is organized in such a way that the recently received information should be used straight away; otherwise, it is going to be forgotten.
So, it would be nice if you could find some time today and start practicing. You are sure to feel your life changing and more magic coming into it. You will realize that there appeared something in your life, that makes your thoughts and actions intuitively correct.
So, it would be nice if you could find some time today and start practicing. You are sure to feel your life changing and more magic coming into it. You will realize that there appeared something in your life, that makes your thoughts and actions intuitively correct.
~
