How to Meditate

by Baxter

Dock at Hadley Cove by Brad Gibson

Happy 2012 to all of our readers out there! It has been an exciting first few months for Brad, Nina and me, giving birth to Yoga for Healthy Aging. And I’m so pleased to hear from you, our readers, with your questions and contributions to our discussions and topics. Thanks, and I look forward to your feedback this coming year.

My last post of 2011 (see here) dealt with understanding classical yoga’s recommendations regarding meditation. It can be helpful to get the context on where things come from, but it's even more powerful to have some practical guidelines to put meditation onto practice. I often hear from my students that doing asana is so much easier for them than sitting quietly and practicing some form of meditation. It seems “doing” is so much easier than the simple “being” of meditation. Yet, if you need any reasons for meditation, you might check out Pico Iyer’s article "The Joy of Quiet" from this weekend’s New York Times (see here). The sheer pace of modern life cries out for us to stop and find stillness from time to time. With the information we discussed last time, I’d like to shift to some practical ways to begin you home meditation practice. So here we go!

First, don’t get caught up in how long to do a practice. Keep it simple and doable, with just 5 or 10 minutes at first and for a while. Set a timer of some sort so you don’t have to have thoughts about worrying how long you’ve been meditating. Second, don’t get too hung up on how to sit to meditate. In fact, you can meditate in Savasana (Corpse pose), as long as you can remain gently awake. But if you do decide to sit, you can sit in any way that feels comfortable to you (read not necessarily Lotus!). Use a chair or any props to get as comfortable as you can.
 Third, pick a simple focus for your mind to fix its attention on. This can be as simple as your inhale and exhale. It could be an object that you look at or imagine in your mind. Or it could be a repeated word or phrase that has positive meaning for you, called a "mantra" in Sanskrit. Mantras I’ve explored during meditation include the word “Om,” the phrase “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna,” and my grandmother’s name, Genevieve. If you decide to focus on a mantra, try repeating it on the inhalation and the exhalation in your mind. Don’t be surprised if your mind manages to squeeze a few distracting thoughts in while you are focused on the mantra.

Speaking of thoughts… Fourth, you are not trying to stop thoughts from happening. This is a bit confusing, because if you’ve explored the Yoga Sutras, you know the famous statement about one of yoga’s goals:

1.2: Yoga Citta Vritti Nirodhah

The translation of this phrase is “Yoga is the quieting or cessation of the fluctuations of the heart/mind.” But despite this lofty and difficult goal, at the beginning, allow yourself the opportunity to simply become familiar with the behavior of your thoughts. Consider watching them like you might watch a three year old play at the park, and don’t be surprised if your mind and the three year old seem strikingly similar! And each time you get distracted or absorbed in the thoughts, notice this happening and gently guide yourself back to your chosen focus. 

The rewards of consistent meditation practice are varied, but can include a sense of inner peacefulness, even when life is very busy, improved mental focus and concentration, and improved memory, as well as others you will discover on your own. So get started this new year, using the above guidelines, and let us know how it goes for you!

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