When meditation becomes training and a discipline
If you've been following what I've been doing this year, you'll know that I've restarted meditation practice from scratch and am working through all the various techiques that have brought some relief from the difficult thing that is me. So far I've been doing practices related to the body.
So, now we come to the point in our lives where we ask ourselves - is meditation just something I do to relax or is it something that I want to take seriously?
Ask yourself that question. Then ask yourself: does your life feel shit?
If it does then your mind is in the wrong place and you can benefit from meditation practice (or you can spend a few years doing therapy). Ultimately, you will find that the change only happens from within yourself and learning to meditate will show you how.
Anyway, let's say you've been doing some meditation for the last month or so. If I was a meditation teacher I'd now be telling you to keep sitting every day no matter what - meditation is a training and an art. It requires skill and practice to be able to see what is going on.
So this is what you must do: practice every day. Not every other day. Every single day. Even 10 minutes is enough to connect to the breath and allow the mind to relax a little bit.
If you're good with 10 minutes, move up to 20 minutes, then 30 minutes. Keeping adding time until you get to an hour or two. This is where you will learn what it is to meditate. You will realise mindfulness, knowing and calmness. You will know the difference between body and mind. You will experience the quieting of thoughts. This is what you must do to be able to move forward into the deeper aspects of the mind.
So I'll resume meditation instructions in a few weeks once I've done some proper sitting. None of that guided meditation stuff - just sit.
No short cuts. Give yourself a mind detox. Do it once and you'll never be the same again. You'll also know what I'm talking about which will be quite useful. I'm sure most of you don't....
So, now we come to the point in our lives where we ask ourselves - is meditation just something I do to relax or is it something that I want to take seriously?
Ask yourself that question. Then ask yourself: does your life feel shit?
If it does then your mind is in the wrong place and you can benefit from meditation practice (or you can spend a few years doing therapy). Ultimately, you will find that the change only happens from within yourself and learning to meditate will show you how.
Anyway, let's say you've been doing some meditation for the last month or so. If I was a meditation teacher I'd now be telling you to keep sitting every day no matter what - meditation is a training and an art. It requires skill and practice to be able to see what is going on.
So this is what you must do: practice every day. Not every other day. Every single day. Even 10 minutes is enough to connect to the breath and allow the mind to relax a little bit.
If you're good with 10 minutes, move up to 20 minutes, then 30 minutes. Keeping adding time until you get to an hour or two. This is where you will learn what it is to meditate. You will realise mindfulness, knowing and calmness. You will know the difference between body and mind. You will experience the quieting of thoughts. This is what you must do to be able to move forward into the deeper aspects of the mind.
So I'll resume meditation instructions in a few weeks once I've done some proper sitting. None of that guided meditation stuff - just sit.
No short cuts. Give yourself a mind detox. Do it once and you'll never be the same again. You'll also know what I'm talking about which will be quite useful. I'm sure most of you don't....
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