The next definition of meditation that I want to give is a simple one, and one that many people will associate with their idea of meditation:
''Meditation is stilling the mind''.
Many people are constantly trying to solve their inner problems and find inner peace by using their mind to ''think'' their way out. In many ways this is actually a contradiction, as the nature of mind in action is activity, and activity generally produces stress and and absence of peace to varying degrees of intensity. I remember in one of his books Osho said that anyone who writes a book called ''Peace of Mind'' is an idiot (he called quite a few different kinds of people idiots :-)) as the only way to find real peace is to move into a state of no-mind, where the thinking and imaging processes have stopped.
Actually, it is 100% true that if you can stop yourself thinking, then peace and a sense of well being will arise naturally and easily from your consciousness, because peace, wholeness, luminescence and stability are the true nature of your consciousness when there are no thoughts getting in the way of it.
So, of course simply stopping thinking will not solve all the problems in your your physically embodied journey through time and space. However, it can enable you to enjoy inner peace regularly through meditation, and this peace can give you the inner stability and perspective that you need in order to face your challenges without feeling as if they are harassing you in a way that is out of your control.
So then, stilling the mind, or learning how to temporarily move into a state of no-mind is an essential skill that we are trying to develop in meditation. In many meditation schools, such as Zen, moving into a state of no-mind and stillness is emphasized as a major goal right from the beginning, it is THE training.
Before I go onto explain two techniques for stilling the mind, I want to point out that many people consciously or unconsciously resist moving into a state of no-thought because a state of no-thought seems to be associate with a sense of emptiness (in the negative sense of the word) or meaninglessness. Moreover, to our egos a state of no thought seems like a death, and so our ego, interpreting it as a threat in this way resits vigorously!
This resistance can actually be solved through practical experience of the no-thought state, but in the interim period between fear of no thought and stable experience of it, it may be useful to consider as follows. When your mind is empty of thought, rather than considering such a state to be devoid of life, we can consider it to be in a state of wholeness of life, or fullness of life. When there are no thoughts dividing it up, our consciousness and being naturally and easily become whole, undivided, united. It is a state where we can find unity not just with ourselves, but also with other living beings, the planet, the universe. So, approaching the space of no thought in this way can help us build a positive relationship with it from the outset.
No-mind technique: Amnesia or becoming a Simpleton.
This meditation technique or form involves an act of imagination, where you either imagine that you have suddenly bee afflicted with amnesia and can remember nothing, not even your name, or that you have become a complete simpleton. You have become so simple-minded or ''stupid'' that you can no longer even string a sentence together!
Sitting quietly in your meditation seat in this way, just maintain the recognition of your amnesia or simpleton-ness. Progressively let go of any thoughts, images and feelings. When they threaten to arise, simply remember that you have amnesia, or that you are simply to simple to hold the sentence or stream of thought together in your mind.
Practicing in this way, you will find that your mind will gradually become more and more relaxed, with less and less thought activity arising. From this absence of thought will come a sense of inner peace. When you get good at this, you will be able simply to let your mind rest in a state of no-thought for longer and longer periods of time. This will give you a tangible experience each day of inner peace, and it will allow the mind to start engaging in a process of self-healing that affect your everyday life positively on many different levels.
Question: Won't meditating on no-mind in this way make me actually more stupid, less intelligent and more forgetful??
Answer: Quite simply, no. We are using our imagination here to create a condition of no-mind or no-thought within our consciousness. This in turn allows our mind to really have a good rest and recuperate its faculties, which in turn should result in an increase in our awareness, clarity, intelligence and natural creativity. It should also result in an improvement in mental factors such as memory.
Once you become used to moving into a state of no mind you will also discover that you can use it in many different situations in your daily life. For example if you find that as you walk down the street your mind is commenting in a negative way on all the passers by and this is upsetting you, you can simply ''switch it off'' and ride out your difficult mood in relative inner silence, without making it any worse than it needs to be.
To read the first in this series of articles on meditation definitions click HERE.
To read the next (3rd) in this series of articles click HERE.
© Toby Ouvry 2009 Please do not reproduce without permission.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Meditation Definitions Part 1 and a Positive Mindfulness Game
In the next few articles what I intend to do is to outline different definitions of meditation, and then give a practical technique of how it might be done. In general meditation is just a word, its meaning depends (like all other words I suppose) upon the context within which it is presented. So, different schools of spirituality and thought have different ideas about what meditation is about. For myself, I like to use multiple definitions as it broadens my practical ability to apply meditation to my daily life, and thus increase its level of quality, depth and effectiveness. So, without any further ado, here is the first one:
''Meditation means to focus on an object of mind (meaning a mental or inner object) that, when we contemplate it causes our mind to become positive, peaceful and happy.''
This is the definition that I learned when I first joined the Tibetan Buddhist group that I was connected to for many years and that, as a Buddhist monk I would teach to people. It is at once quite specific, telling us that meditation is a form of mental focus that functions to generate and hold positive states of mind, but also quite general, leaving scope for the meditator to choose the particular objects that he or she wises to focus on. During my training in Tibetan Buddhism the foundation of the daily meditation practice that we had were twenty one specific positive or ''virtuous'' feelings and determinations that we would study and train our mind to hold without distractions.
So, working with the above definition, you can if you like take a little inventory of all the things that, when you think about them cause you to become happy, peaceful, energized, appreciative, grateful and so on. All of these things are possible objects of meditation for you. The interesting thing about making such an inventory is that it can cause us to reflect on the things that we currently THINK make us happy, and make us realize that actually, maybe they don't make us a happy as we thought. Conversely, some of the things that are right in front of us all the time have a substantial power to make us happy, but we realize we are not appreciating them, and so this reflection can cause us to re focus on these potential causes of happiness.
What I want to explain now is a mindfulness game that we can play with ourself as a form of meditation. In this exercise the positive object of meditation is not so much one particular object, feeling or affirmation. Rather it is the PROCESS that it invokes that is the object of our meditation and that functions to make our mind peaceful and happy. One of the main benefits of this exercise is that it gradually trains our mind to orientate itself around positive thoughts and feelings, and consciously edit out our negative ones.
STEP 1:
Sit down and either think of or write down three things in your life that you feel positive and happy about. There are infinite possibilities here, here are three that I am going to pull out of my mental hat right now:
1)I enjoyed my Qi Gong class this morning, I was encouraged by the progress that people seemed to be making.
2)Enjoying learning about how to create a website
3)Daughter was happy going to school this morning, no tears!
So there we are, three things.
STEP 2:
Set aside a certain time, say ten minutes. During this time you can choose to sit in meditation, or you might choose to go for a walk, have a bath or any activity where you can maintain a relative state of relaxation and focus.
Once you have settled yourself and the allotted time has begun, your job is simply to keep your mind oriented around three above three topics, and the positive feelings, thoughts and images that are generated in your mind in association with them. Your mind may wonder onto any object that is positively related to the above, but it MAY NOT move onto and object of contemplation that is either unrelated to your three topics, or that is a negative contemplation of them.
So, for example of what I MAY contemplate with regard to my above three topics above are:
- A sense of the positive flow of Qi/light and energy within my body (relating to point one).
- The harmonious sense I get from one of the Artworks that I have placed on my website
- An appreciation of my relationship to my daughter.
Examples of what I may NOT contemplate or get distracted by:
- Recalling something I disliked about one of the Qi Gong class members
- Getting involved in a ''to do list'' for my website
- Worrying about my daughter on any level
So, you get the idea, as long as you are keeping to an aspect of the three topics that is making your mind positive, happy, peaceful, appreciative etc, then you are on the right track. Any negative or worrisome thoughts are not to be followed, as are any thoughts that are simply distractions!
This is a simple meditation or mindfulness form that I would say is a very good for the overall long term health of our consciousness. It leaves plenty of room for us to make the practice ''our own'' and be creative. It enables us to experience first hand how to train in the meditative activity of learning to generate and hold positive and peaceful states of mind for extended periods.
To read the next article in this series of meditation definition articles click HERE.
© Toby Ouvry 2009 Please do not reproduce without permission.
''Meditation means to focus on an object of mind (meaning a mental or inner object) that, when we contemplate it causes our mind to become positive, peaceful and happy.''
This is the definition that I learned when I first joined the Tibetan Buddhist group that I was connected to for many years and that, as a Buddhist monk I would teach to people. It is at once quite specific, telling us that meditation is a form of mental focus that functions to generate and hold positive states of mind, but also quite general, leaving scope for the meditator to choose the particular objects that he or she wises to focus on. During my training in Tibetan Buddhism the foundation of the daily meditation practice that we had were twenty one specific positive or ''virtuous'' feelings and determinations that we would study and train our mind to hold without distractions.
So, working with the above definition, you can if you like take a little inventory of all the things that, when you think about them cause you to become happy, peaceful, energized, appreciative, grateful and so on. All of these things are possible objects of meditation for you. The interesting thing about making such an inventory is that it can cause us to reflect on the things that we currently THINK make us happy, and make us realize that actually, maybe they don't make us a happy as we thought. Conversely, some of the things that are right in front of us all the time have a substantial power to make us happy, but we realize we are not appreciating them, and so this reflection can cause us to re focus on these potential causes of happiness.
What I want to explain now is a mindfulness game that we can play with ourself as a form of meditation. In this exercise the positive object of meditation is not so much one particular object, feeling or affirmation. Rather it is the PROCESS that it invokes that is the object of our meditation and that functions to make our mind peaceful and happy. One of the main benefits of this exercise is that it gradually trains our mind to orientate itself around positive thoughts and feelings, and consciously edit out our negative ones.
STEP 1:
Sit down and either think of or write down three things in your life that you feel positive and happy about. There are infinite possibilities here, here are three that I am going to pull out of my mental hat right now:
1)I enjoyed my Qi Gong class this morning, I was encouraged by the progress that people seemed to be making.
2)Enjoying learning about how to create a website
3)Daughter was happy going to school this morning, no tears!
So there we are, three things.
STEP 2:
Set aside a certain time, say ten minutes. During this time you can choose to sit in meditation, or you might choose to go for a walk, have a bath or any activity where you can maintain a relative state of relaxation and focus.
Once you have settled yourself and the allotted time has begun, your job is simply to keep your mind oriented around three above three topics, and the positive feelings, thoughts and images that are generated in your mind in association with them. Your mind may wonder onto any object that is positively related to the above, but it MAY NOT move onto and object of contemplation that is either unrelated to your three topics, or that is a negative contemplation of them.
So, for example of what I MAY contemplate with regard to my above three topics above are:
- A sense of the positive flow of Qi/light and energy within my body (relating to point one).
- The harmonious sense I get from one of the Artworks that I have placed on my website
- An appreciation of my relationship to my daughter.
Examples of what I may NOT contemplate or get distracted by:
- Recalling something I disliked about one of the Qi Gong class members
- Getting involved in a ''to do list'' for my website
- Worrying about my daughter on any level
So, you get the idea, as long as you are keeping to an aspect of the three topics that is making your mind positive, happy, peaceful, appreciative etc, then you are on the right track. Any negative or worrisome thoughts are not to be followed, as are any thoughts that are simply distractions!
This is a simple meditation or mindfulness form that I would say is a very good for the overall long term health of our consciousness. It leaves plenty of room for us to make the practice ''our own'' and be creative. It enables us to experience first hand how to train in the meditative activity of learning to generate and hold positive and peaceful states of mind for extended periods.
To read the next article in this series of meditation definition articles click HERE.
© Toby Ouvry 2009 Please do not reproduce without permission.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Wheel of Life summary meditation
I am pasting the class notes for the Wheel of Life Class 1, principally so that those attending later classes can consult it as a point of reference:
July 7th Class1: Introduction and Overview of the Planetary, Lunar and Solar Wheel of Life, Finding the center of our own Wheel of Life.
The main content of the talk of the class was a review of the diagrams that were handed out in class, if you have the time to review the diagrams before the next class, just to get a little bit more familiarity with the constitution of the wheel of life it will pay some dividends! (pdf copies of the diagram attached)
One basic point about the Wheel of Life is that it has evolved out of received ancestral wisdom, rather than being a revealed teaching from one particular master.
Received ancestral wisdom is really an organic body of ever-evolving wisdom that we inherit and build upon.
Revealed teachings are where a teacher such as a Jesus or a Buddha makes some form of revelatory format for a new spiritual path, and then his or her followers create a path or religion based around that approach.
The meditation:
This is the basic format for meditation work on the Wheel of Life, it can be done as a 5 minute exercise (once familiar with it), or as a longer more contemplative meditation.
Awen and Ioho
Use of the Awen (pron: AA-OO-EN) and the Ioho fo activate the directions.
Awen is the ancient Celtic (and pre-Celtic) invocation meaning ''fluid inspiration'', or ''blessings of God/the Goddess.
As we focused on the ''Aa'' we focused our energy on the sky and stars above. As we changed to the ''Oo'' we sent our energy down into the earth and land below. As we changed to the ''En'' we focused our attention on our inner center. We did this three times and then just felt the flow of energy activated between above, below and our own inner center.
Ioho is the word for the Yew tree, and invokes the mysteries of life, death and rebirth/regeneration.
We focused our attention on awareness of the 4 directions (NSEW) stretching across the planet around us, awareness of the movement of nature and the seasons and ourself as the center. With this awareness we then recited the Io-ho three times. We then sat in silence and felt the flow of directional energy activated by our chant.
Within the context of the 7 directions (invoked above), we then saw two intersecting, moving circles of light in the center of our meditation space, one embodying time (past, present, future, the cycle of the 4 seasons and 4 times of day, 4 stages of life), the other embodying energy (4 elements, 4 states of consciousness, 4 energies of creation).
These two circles expanded to enclose us, we then focused on placing our energy in the center of the still point in at the middle of this cycle of time, space and energy.
(Note: If we are doing this meditation by ourself the center of our circle/wheel of life is our own center (within our heart center), if in a group we can feel the center to be the central point within the space that we are working in).
We held our awareness in this center, and moved our mind gradually and without hurrying into a state of stillness.
After staying with this state for a while we then visualized 4 gateways around us. In the north was earth, night, winter. In the east air, dawn, spring. In the south fire, noon day, summer. In the west water, evening, autumn. We felt the energies of each of these gateways, and the effect of the interaction of these 4 directions when visualized together.
In the intermediate directions we then visualized the 4 stages of life, and the 4 stages of manifestation.
NW: Old age, death completion.
NE: Birth, childhood, new creation
SE: Young adult, formulation
SW: Maturity, manifestation
Again we felt the effect of these energies in our space for a while.
We then moved back into the center of the wheel, back into silence and stillness for a short while.
Without hurrying we then moved out of the meditation and back into full awareness of our physical being.
July 7th Class1: Introduction and Overview of the Planetary, Lunar and Solar Wheel of Life, Finding the center of our own Wheel of Life.
The main content of the talk of the class was a review of the diagrams that were handed out in class, if you have the time to review the diagrams before the next class, just to get a little bit more familiarity with the constitution of the wheel of life it will pay some dividends! (pdf copies of the diagram attached)
One basic point about the Wheel of Life is that it has evolved out of received ancestral wisdom, rather than being a revealed teaching from one particular master.
Received ancestral wisdom is really an organic body of ever-evolving wisdom that we inherit and build upon.
Revealed teachings are where a teacher such as a Jesus or a Buddha makes some form of revelatory format for a new spiritual path, and then his or her followers create a path or religion based around that approach.
The meditation:
This is the basic format for meditation work on the Wheel of Life, it can be done as a 5 minute exercise (once familiar with it), or as a longer more contemplative meditation.
Awen and Ioho
Use of the Awen (pron: AA-OO-EN) and the Ioho fo activate the directions.
Awen is the ancient Celtic (and pre-Celtic) invocation meaning ''fluid inspiration'', or ''blessings of God/the Goddess.
As we focused on the ''Aa'' we focused our energy on the sky and stars above. As we changed to the ''Oo'' we sent our energy down into the earth and land below. As we changed to the ''En'' we focused our attention on our inner center. We did this three times and then just felt the flow of energy activated between above, below and our own inner center.
Ioho is the word for the Yew tree, and invokes the mysteries of life, death and rebirth/regeneration.
We focused our attention on awareness of the 4 directions (NSEW) stretching across the planet around us, awareness of the movement of nature and the seasons and ourself as the center. With this awareness we then recited the Io-ho three times. We then sat in silence and felt the flow of directional energy activated by our chant.
Within the context of the 7 directions (invoked above), we then saw two intersecting, moving circles of light in the center of our meditation space, one embodying time (past, present, future, the cycle of the 4 seasons and 4 times of day, 4 stages of life), the other embodying energy (4 elements, 4 states of consciousness, 4 energies of creation).
These two circles expanded to enclose us, we then focused on placing our energy in the center of the still point in at the middle of this cycle of time, space and energy.
(Note: If we are doing this meditation by ourself the center of our circle/wheel of life is our own center (within our heart center), if in a group we can feel the center to be the central point within the space that we are working in).
We held our awareness in this center, and moved our mind gradually and without hurrying into a state of stillness.
After staying with this state for a while we then visualized 4 gateways around us. In the north was earth, night, winter. In the east air, dawn, spring. In the south fire, noon day, summer. In the west water, evening, autumn. We felt the energies of each of these gateways, and the effect of the interaction of these 4 directions when visualized together.
In the intermediate directions we then visualized the 4 stages of life, and the 4 stages of manifestation.
NW: Old age, death completion.
NE: Birth, childhood, new creation
SE: Young adult, formulation
SW: Maturity, manifestation
Again we felt the effect of these energies in our space for a while.
We then moved back into the center of the wheel, back into silence and stillness for a short while.
Without hurrying we then moved out of the meditation and back into full awareness of our physical being.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Housework Meditation
I was talking to one of the meditation class members the other day, and she was mentioning to me how she had started doing her own housework again (as opposed to getting a cleaner in), and what a grounding and positive effect she had found it had on her. I have also found that cleaning forms a regular part of my overall weekly routine, and that it is a great way of doing a little bit of active meditation. This is because when you are cleaning the movements are simple enough such that you can combine them with being mindful of the present moment, and of your body. An hour of mindful cleaning work can really bring your mind into a wonderfully relaxed and calm state. When I was a Buddhist monk cleaning was very much a part of my meditation practice, and in many of the different Buddhist traditions mindful cleaning is a central part of the path to enlightenment. There are quite a few stories in the Tibetan and Zen traditions of people attaining spontaneous and profound spiritual insights in the midst of sweeping this or cleaning that!
Recently quite a few of the machines in my house have been breaking down. One of them was the vacuum cleaner. Initially I was a bit irritated, as I had intended to vacuum and mop the house on that particular day. I picked up a dustpan and broom and started sweeping the floor of dust. Very quickly I was quite glad that the vacuum cleaner had broken, as I found the activity of sweeping in silence much more conducive to mindful cleaning. One hour later the floor was swept and mopped (actually it was about the same time as doing it with a vacuum cleaner, surprising but true!), and I felt truly grounded and happy. Needless to say, my vacuum cleaner is still sitting unrepaired in the cupboard!
Cleaning meditation is as simple as can be; just keep present, focus on what you are doing, don't go too fast or too slow. You'll be truly surprised how many worries and anxieties can be let go of through this process, and how much natural, uninhibited peace and happiness can be generated without much effort. In these days of trying to cram all our activities into too little time, and also in a maid-culture like Singapore where it is all too easy to get others to do it for us, maybe it is time to integrate a little mindful cleaning into our routine?
Recently quite a few of the machines in my house have been breaking down. One of them was the vacuum cleaner. Initially I was a bit irritated, as I had intended to vacuum and mop the house on that particular day. I picked up a dustpan and broom and started sweeping the floor of dust. Very quickly I was quite glad that the vacuum cleaner had broken, as I found the activity of sweeping in silence much more conducive to mindful cleaning. One hour later the floor was swept and mopped (actually it was about the same time as doing it with a vacuum cleaner, surprising but true!), and I felt truly grounded and happy. Needless to say, my vacuum cleaner is still sitting unrepaired in the cupboard!
Cleaning meditation is as simple as can be; just keep present, focus on what you are doing, don't go too fast or too slow. You'll be truly surprised how many worries and anxieties can be let go of through this process, and how much natural, uninhibited peace and happiness can be generated without much effort. In these days of trying to cram all our activities into too little time, and also in a maid-culture like Singapore where it is all too easy to get others to do it for us, maybe it is time to integrate a little mindful cleaning into our routine?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Colour Walking Meditation
I spent much of last weekend painting at a Steiner colour workshop, which was a wonderful experience and has made me think quite a lot more about the influence that colour has on our lives, and how we can go about interacting and engaging with it in a way that really opens up our emotional,spiritual and energetic being. So, below is one meditation that I invented and have been using over the last couple of days to consolidate the practise of working with colour. It is a walking form, you can read more about basic aspects of walking meditation from a previous article which you can find here.
Anyway, here's the meditation:
As you are walking along in an outdoor environment, be aware of the principle colours of your environment. Generally the main colours will be the green of the trees and other flora and fauna, the blue of the sky (various shades depending on the time of day), yellow golds from the sun, silver from the moon and white from starlight and clouds. If you are near water, then there are options there as well.
Select the colour from your surroundings that you intuitively feel is the one that you are most going to benefit from at that particular time (for example today I mainly worked with the yellow gold of the sunlight). As you are walking along, simply imagine yourself surrounded by that colour and its vibration. Feel its beneficial effects in your energy field and within the cellular structure of your body. Feel its effect upon your emotions and sense of well being. Breathe it in and out of your body with each inhalation and exhalation.
If you have the time, you can pause at places where there are other colours, such as in front of violet or red coloured flowers, and feel the effect of surrounding yourself in the tones of these colours.
This meditation form is very simple (a lot of the best ones are) and can really help us to open up to an appreciation of just how effective working with colour can be in terms of your own sense of emotional well being. You will find quite quickly which colours you feel best surrounded by, and be able to use them effectively with just a little practice. Partaking of colour is such a fundamental part of accessing the joy of being alive, but for many of us it has been intellectualized out to the point that we can no longer really 'feel' it and respond to it from the depths of our being. We may have lost it, but we can find it again too!
Anyway, here's the meditation:
As you are walking along in an outdoor environment, be aware of the principle colours of your environment. Generally the main colours will be the green of the trees and other flora and fauna, the blue of the sky (various shades depending on the time of day), yellow golds from the sun, silver from the moon and white from starlight and clouds. If you are near water, then there are options there as well.
Select the colour from your surroundings that you intuitively feel is the one that you are most going to benefit from at that particular time (for example today I mainly worked with the yellow gold of the sunlight). As you are walking along, simply imagine yourself surrounded by that colour and its vibration. Feel its beneficial effects in your energy field and within the cellular structure of your body. Feel its effect upon your emotions and sense of well being. Breathe it in and out of your body with each inhalation and exhalation.
If you have the time, you can pause at places where there are other colours, such as in front of violet or red coloured flowers, and feel the effect of surrounding yourself in the tones of these colours.
This meditation form is very simple (a lot of the best ones are) and can really help us to open up to an appreciation of just how effective working with colour can be in terms of your own sense of emotional well being. You will find quite quickly which colours you feel best surrounded by, and be able to use them effectively with just a little practice. Partaking of colour is such a fundamental part of accessing the joy of being alive, but for many of us it has been intellectualized out to the point that we can no longer really 'feel' it and respond to it from the depths of our being. We may have lost it, but we can find it again too!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The 'Ok, thats enough' meditation.
We live in an age of information, and it seems like these is a never ending list of things to do and new information that we could be digesting. So, having all sorts of information at one's disposal is a gift and a blessing, but it can become a curse in the sense that I think many of us have become addicted just to processing information, and made the mistake of thinking that we can solve all our problems simply by consuming more information and doing more things.
The 'Ok, that's enough!'meditation is simply setting aside 5-10 minutes in your routine and saying 'Ok, that's enough information and doing, for the next 10 minutes I'm simply going to focus on being in the here and now, and I give myself full permission to take a break. No matter how many really 'important' things I have hanging over my head, the next few minutes I am going to totally take the pressure off, and catch up with my inner being'.
Having said this to yourself, just spend the remaining minutes being mindful of this decision, and really relaxing, and adopting an inner attitude of kind self-awareness. Check all of your mental impulses to get back onto the check list of things that need to be done, notice what is immediately around you. Appreciate whatever there is to appreciate within that moment.
You'll find that this creates a sense of awareness within you where all sorts of pleasant and positive feelings, experiences and thoughts can move up to the surface of your consciousness, and after a short period of time you'll be feeling relaxed, refreshed and have a new perspective on whatever is you are doing in your life, and whatever challenges it is giving rise to.
Try it, as always, most of the best things in life are simple and free!!
The 'Ok, that's enough!'meditation is simply setting aside 5-10 minutes in your routine and saying 'Ok, that's enough information and doing, for the next 10 minutes I'm simply going to focus on being in the here and now, and I give myself full permission to take a break. No matter how many really 'important' things I have hanging over my head, the next few minutes I am going to totally take the pressure off, and catch up with my inner being'.
Having said this to yourself, just spend the remaining minutes being mindful of this decision, and really relaxing, and adopting an inner attitude of kind self-awareness. Check all of your mental impulses to get back onto the check list of things that need to be done, notice what is immediately around you. Appreciate whatever there is to appreciate within that moment.
You'll find that this creates a sense of awareness within you where all sorts of pleasant and positive feelings, experiences and thoughts can move up to the surface of your consciousness, and after a short period of time you'll be feeling relaxed, refreshed and have a new perspective on whatever is you are doing in your life, and whatever challenges it is giving rise to.
Try it, as always, most of the best things in life are simple and free!!
Practical Applications of the Inner Smile Meditation
Having posted a basic outline of the inner smile meditation a couple of weeks ago (read it here), I thought I would just write down a few ways in which I have been using it recently, and finding it very successful:
1) Tired feet
After a long day riding home on the bus with standing room only I found that my feet were very painful. Closing my eyes, focusing on my inner smile and then directing the energy down into my feet substantially alleviated the pain and allowed me to move into a surprisingly deep and comfortable meditative state for the majority of the way home. Being able to meditate like this on busy days really makes a difference, as our time for formal sitting meditation is often reduced.
2) Smiling at irritation or impatience when waiting for internet pages that are taking a long time to download, or standing in ques.
3) Smiling in response to other peoples miserable faces. Passing people in the street and on the MRT, the majority seem to be fixed in a state of relative miserability/stress, or at least cold indifference. This can have a negative effect on our own mood, sometimes even though we may not be aware of it. So, observing my own tendency sometimes to be affected by the faces of others, I have found inwardly smiling to myself and staying with the image and energy of this smile rather than the images of someone elees miserable face has been really useful!
As with many of the other meditation techniques I discuss on the blog, it is really about how you learn to apply it practically and 'make it your own' that makes the difference in temrs of how successful it can be for you.
1) Tired feet
After a long day riding home on the bus with standing room only I found that my feet were very painful. Closing my eyes, focusing on my inner smile and then directing the energy down into my feet substantially alleviated the pain and allowed me to move into a surprisingly deep and comfortable meditative state for the majority of the way home. Being able to meditate like this on busy days really makes a difference, as our time for formal sitting meditation is often reduced.
2) Smiling at irritation or impatience when waiting for internet pages that are taking a long time to download, or standing in ques.
3) Smiling in response to other peoples miserable faces. Passing people in the street and on the MRT, the majority seem to be fixed in a state of relative miserability/stress, or at least cold indifference. This can have a negative effect on our own mood, sometimes even though we may not be aware of it. So, observing my own tendency sometimes to be affected by the faces of others, I have found inwardly smiling to myself and staying with the image and energy of this smile rather than the images of someone elees miserable face has been really useful!
As with many of the other meditation techniques I discuss on the blog, it is really about how you learn to apply it practically and 'make it your own' that makes the difference in temrs of how successful it can be for you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
