I know what some of you are thinking. I’ve tried that. It doesn’t work for me, or I can’t do that. Meditation does not necessarily mean sitting cross-legged in a room with your eyes closed, trying to think nothing for a half-hour, or staring at a dot on the wall for hours. Meditation can be as simple as taking a walk or taking your coffee out on the front porch, looking at the yard, and clearing your mind. It doesn’t necessarily need to be one of the traditional ways.
What meditation is, is a break for your mind. It’s a break from the day-to-day minutia of life that allows spirit in. In these times of meditation, you can get insight, relaxation, and many other things. It’s up to you to figure out what works for you.
I can tell you how I meditate, but it is more of a traditional form and a bit involved. (See below) but it can be straightforward too. Someone I’ve met takes a few minutes after he works out and sits against the wall. He then breathes deeply and lets his mind flow. It helps clear it out and get on with his day.
It’s a good idea to try to meditate regularly. I know that’s hard for most of us to commit to, but I’m not saying twice a day here. Start with two or three times a week, and if you don’t get there right away, it’s okay. Try again. Finding a partner or group may help to encourage you too.
In quieting your mind, you create a space for the spirit. It allows your guides, angels, or simply just your own thoughts to communicate with you easily. Most of the time, spirit will not come right out and say, “Hey, call your old friend from college.” But you might start thinking about them when you hadn’t in years. There is a skill to listening to your thoughts and where they are. It is a skill that takes practice.
In this hurly-burly world we live in where we are constantly under the barrage of media and fast-paced living, it is sometimes hard for us to remember to look out for the messages being sent to us or even listening to our own mind’s ideas. Meditating and clearing our minds brings us back to a center point, allowing us to refocus our intentions, needs, desires, or goals. There is an abundance of guidance available. We only need to listen for it. Meditation is a way to clear your mind to make it easier to hear.
My Personal Meditation practice
As I stated earlier in this article, my meditation practice is a bit involved and probably not for everyone, and you need to find what works for you, but in sharing it, I hope some might find something that you can use.
Sitting or lying comfortably, I begin with several deep breaths. I breathe into the count of five, then hold the breath to the count of five, then exhale to the count of five, then hold to the count of five. After doing this several times, I reset myself into a deeper relaxed state.
I then begin to count down from 10 to 1 becoming more relaxed at each step.
10 relax my body
9 become twice as relaxed
8 become again twice as relaxed
7 become again twice as relaxed
6 become again twice as relaxed
5 feel entire body completely relaxed not being able to move it at all
4 allow mind to begin to drift
3 you can’t even feel your physical body
2 you are floating in a peaceful vibrating energy
1 you are completely relaxed and completely in and part of the universe.
I then take a few moments to just absorb my relaxed state. clearing my mind completely and thinking of nothing. If a thought does arise I simply gently sweep it away.
When I achieved this state, I then begin to raise the vibration of my energy and send it out to the universe. I am then open to any guidance or healing in this state that my personal angels or other spirits might want to communicate to me.
After an unspecified amount of time, I am dropped out of the energy for any number of reasons. These include: simply losing focus, real-world stimulus jars me, such as the phone ringing or a dog barking but more often my session just comes to a natural conclution.
One of the tools I use for my meditation is music that a friend composed that helps me focus. If you have trouble focusing, it could be a helpful tool for you as well.