World Meditation Day
May 21 is World Meditation Day.
Do you have a meditation practice? Is meditation new to you? What is meditation, really?
Meditation (in the yoga tradition it is called Dhyana) is described as “de-concentration”, a state of being where you can drop all effort and let go with effortless attention.
Easier said than done! When many of us sit for meditation, we are actually practicing concentration techniques (or Dharana). And this isn’t a bad thing.
Concentration is how we train our attention and awareness. For example, when we begin to sit for meditation, we generally focus on our breath. We may count the breath (inhale for a count of 6, exhale for a count of 6). Or we listen to a teacher or guide who helps us focus on the body and the clearing of the mind. While we are using effort to stay focused on our breath or on the voice of our teacher, we are concentrating.
And then, sometimes, something else begins to happen. We are no longer counting and we are no longer working hard to listen to the teacher and focus the mind. We are effortlessly sitting in a place of relative silence. The pull of the monkey-mind has softened. And we are completely present without the attachment of our senses. This is the state of Dhyana, meditation. Inevitably, the dog barks or your toddler walks into the room, and you are distracted enough to pull you out of that meditative state. Or sometimes the thinking mind simply wiggles its way back in and we are drifting around aimlessly in our thoughts, once again disconnected from the absorption in the present moment.
Don’t let this frustrate or discourage you. This is part of the practice. The key is to recognize when you’ve drifted away and to come back. Come back to your breath. Concentrate once more, and allow concentration to lead you back into your more effortless, meditative state. The practice is to come back over and over again. The more we practice this, the easier it becomes. We rewire the brain to exist more often in this state of calm.
Meditation has been proven to synchronize, or balance, the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Meditation also:
Reduces stress and anxiety
Promotes emotional health and a positive outlook on life and self-image
Increases self-awareness and awareness of those around you
Lengthens attention span
Can help reduce memory loss and improve attention and clarity of thinking
Generates kindness and gratitude
May help fight addiction and other mental health disorders
Improves quality of sleep
Helps control pain
Decreases blood pressure
Increases the time between a “trigger” and the response in the brain.
If you already have a meditation practice, lovely. Keep it up. If you fluctuate in and out of consistent practice, here is your reminder to start again. And if you are new to meditation, here are a few helpful places to start.
Read Real Happiness by Sharon Salzberg. It is a 28-day guide to realizing the power of meditation and she is a wonderful, highly respected teacher.
Try a few different methods and see what sticks for you. Many people I know have used the Headspace app with great success. You can choose from different styles and teachers. Many students also use YouTube to find guided meditations.
Here’s a link to a Yoga Nidra I recorded a few years ago. Yoga Nidra is essentially a guided meditation that brings you into a deep state of consciousness and relaxation. I find it best to practice before bed. It’s about 40-minutes long, so make time to get comfortable. I hope you enjoy!
There are a multitude of forms of concentration and meditation techniques, from simple, at home YouTube led practices, to 10-day long silent meditation retreats. If you’re interested in learning more and would like additional resources, you can always send me an email. I read every message and truly love hearing from you.
Happy meditating!