CREATING A SPACE FOR MEDITATION

Creating a Meditation or Quiet space for yourself and some of the reasons why people resist meditating stop themselves from getting into their inner world

Creating a space for your daily meditation practice conditions your mind to relax and begin the process of meditation. In time, just sitting in your meditating space will immediately relax you.

Your meditation space can be a separate room or small area in your house where you can sit with your eyes closed.

Choose a clean, quiet place away from all distractions where you can sit on a chair or on the floor. If you use a chair, choose one that allows you to keep your back as straight as possible. If you sit on the floor, you may want to lean your back against something so that you can keep your back straight. If you are too sick or weak to sit up , you can lie on your bed, but sit as soon as you are able.

You will need a shelf, table or surface of some kind. Place any, or all, of the following items on the surface that you choose.

·      A plant or flowers

·      A candle

·      A picture of someone who inspires you

·      A picture of yourself

·      A rock or some other object from a place in nature that you enjoy

·      Anything you want that makes you feel good or that you feel the urge to use

Let your intuition guide you. Be patient and wait until you get a strong urge to add something. When you get the urge follow it.

When it comes to meditating, one of the biggest mistakes people make is to give up before reaping the benefits. “Meditation doesn’t bring immediate gratification” like most people think it will. Like going to a gym, you need to build muscle by practicing.” I have these three tips to anyone beginning meditation:

1. Remember that the point of meditation is not to stop the mind. The point of meditation is to be present, to cultivate awareness.

2. Stop looking for results. Let go of the judging mind and just do it.

3. Stick with it. Keep going, even if it’s not fun or seems boring. If you miss a day, don’t be discouraged.

What are some of the reasons people resist meditation practices?

At first, it may seem as if you can’t fit all of this new activity into your life. Even though we are only talking about 20 mins twice a day, establishing a new habit pattern can take time 921 days on the average), and you may find yourself resisting. It would be perfectly natural for you to avoid meditation and then feel guilty.

You can eliminate the guilt by telling yourself that there is no hurry and it does not matter if you miss a few days. Even if you meditate once a week, you have made progress. You are more apt to continue if you take away the criticism. No one is judging your performance—there is no right or wrong way to meditate – and no one cares if you meditate.

You may find yourself saying “ I haven’t got the time to spend with all of this. If you haven’t got the time to sit quietly with yourself for 20 mins twice a day, you are probably too busy or you aren’t using your time well. If you are always in a hurry to do the next activity, you are in the future and missing the now, which is where your life is happening.

It is a matter of priorities. If making money and getting it all while you can are the focus of your life, then you probably don’t have the time to spend with yourself. But if you would honestly like to find more meaning in life and you hope to feel prosperous, then you will have to slow down and get into the flow of life. The idea is to stop trying to make everything happen and allow your life to happen. The purpose of meditation is to help you build a better life for yourself. If you want that, then somehow you will find the time to do it.

If you have a strong desire to meditate but find that you are really resistant, examine the following reasons that keep people from traveling into their inner world. These happen on a subconscious level, but if they apply to you, you will know.

·      People are afraid that if they go within and learn about who they are, they won’t like what they find. If you never look within, then you will never know who you are, and in a strange way, that may seem safer. It takes a lot of effort to avoid yourself. Many people resort to overeating, eating junk foods, drinking alcohol, smoking, taking drugs, compulsive shopping, overworking and anything else that numbs feelings.

·      People are afraid of meditating because they instinctively know that, if they connect to their Higher Consciousness, they will have to take responsibility for creating their lives. It is a lot easier to blame God, luck, other people, circumstances and lots of other things outside of ourselves for the problems in our lives. Accepting our own power as co-creators with the Universal Force can be frightening.

·      If you have a need to be taken care of, the idea of connecting to your Higher Consciousness or Inner Life Force Energy may frighten you. You may reason that if you use your Inner Power, you won’t need anyone else and you will be alone. People learn at an early age that if they are weak and /or sick, others will pick them up and help them. The thought of health and independence, which many people say that they want, can be frightening because those thoughts often create a fear of being alone. The reasoning is, if I am sick, other people will be there for me. If I am healthy, no one will notice me.

In reality that’s not what happens. Healthy people are like magnets and they draw in others. When you are healthy, you get to pick and choose the people with whom you want to spend time. If you are resisting the meditation experience or finding lots of reasons why you can’t meditate (time, inability, no quiet space etc.), then you might want to look at your hidden fears and what connecting to yourself really means to you.

Getting Started

Light a candle, if you wish. This will signal your brain to quieten down and that it’s time for meditation.

Do the belly breathing slowly and deeply and just notice how the thoughts in your mind slow down with your breathing.

I highly recommend that you begin each inner session with the following Light meditation.

·      Sit in a chair with your back straight or in a comfortable position on the floor with your back supported. Place your hands with your palms open and facing upwards on your lap.

·      Light a candle and look steadily at the flame in front of you.

·      Close your eyes and try to feel the flame between your eyebrows.

·      Take a few diaphragmatic breaths. Then let your breathing find its own level.

·      Give over the guidance of your session to your Higher Consciousness, or Divine Life Force Energy. This is the only reliable source of any information in our life.

·      Imagine the Light descend down into the lotus of your heart, illuminating the path.

·      When the Light enters the heart, in the center of your chest, imagine the petals of the lotus bud open out, one by one, bathing every thought and feeling and emotion and impulse in the Light and removing darkness.

·      There is no space for darkness to take refuge. It has to flee before the Flame.

·      Imagine the Light becomes wider, bigger, brighter. It pervades the limbs, they can no more busy themselves in dark, wicked, suspicious activities; they have become instruments of Light, that is to say Love, and you are conscious of it.

·      The Light reaches your tongue. Falsehood, slander, bragging, spite vanishes from it.

·      The Light reaches your eyes and ears. All dark desires that infest and infect them are destroyed by the brilliant Light of Wisdom and Virtue.

·      Let your head be charged with Light. All wicked and vicious thoughts disappear.

·      Imagine that Light in you, more and more intensely—- and it will be so.

·      Let it shine all around you, enveloping you in the brilliance of Love.

·      Let the Light spread in ever widening circles, taking into its fold your family, friends and loved ones, and strangers, foes, rivals, enemies, all men, women, children, all the people in all the world, all living beings, all of creation.

Do this every day, without a break, for as long as you enjoy it.

By doing this Light Meditation practice sincerely and systematically, a time will come when you will enjoy Divine Peace that surpasses all understanding.