Garden Meditation Journey – 6 July 2016One of the key questions I get asked by clients before I teach them to meditate is:
‘Does meditation mean having a blank mind because if it does, I won’t be able to do it because my mind never stops!’
Well the good news is that the answer is ‘No, you don’t need to have a blank, thoughtless mind to meditate successfully’. The journey of a meditation varies enormously depending on all sorts of different factors: how you’re feeling, your state of mind, whether you are in a hurry, whether you are worried about something, how noisy it is outside etc. There are many more scenarios but those are just a few. What is important is that despite all these, you still set aside the time to meditate.
Baba Muktananda once said ‘Meditation happens when you sit with the intention to meditate’ and the key here is the intention. What happens after that is the journey. At one end of the scale this could be one of stillness and serenity and at the other, a total TO DO list where you don’t seem to have one second of peace. This could leave you feeling frustrated and wondering why you bothered when you already have so much to do already!
BUT you would be amazed at what has actually been happening at the deeper levels even with all the busyness going on at the surface. Once you make the commitment to include meditation as part of your regular daily routine, stuff starts going behind the internal scenes until one day, even though your mind seems to have been really busy throughout, your day goes better. You feel calmer, clearer, more focused, more grounded, more creative, able to make better decisions, and maybe even a bit happier. Bit by bit the process builds up internally to positively strengthen your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health.
Of course ideally, the more you can quieten the mind, the better it is but please don’t let the fear of not being able to do it, stop you from even trying.
Despite meditating now for thirty-four years, my meditations are still very variable, and to show you what I mean, this is what I wrote both during and after my meditation! Garden Meditation Journey – 6 July 2016. I tried to make it stop but once I realised it wasn’t going away, I just surrendered and went with the flow.
TIP: Always keep a notepad and pen, or voice recorder somewhere near!
So if you have any questions or comments about your own experience of meditating, I’d love to hear them. Just pop them into the comment box below. Bye for now and Happy Meditating!
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