I think pretty much everybody is aware of the huge benefits of meditation.
It can leave you feeling so calm, relaxed and focused and has been shown to be as effective as taking a nap but takes just a fraction of the time.
However, it’s also something that although most people have tried most of them have quickly given up on. It’s too hard they say. I just can’t empty my mind and relax.
The problem often is that your expectations are too high. People expect to close their eyes and instantly all their thoughts become silent. When that doesn’t happen they think they’ve failed and give up.
The Chinese say each of us has three wild horses. The wild horse of the body that’s full of tension constantly pulling us off balance. The wild horse of the breath that’s ragged, shallow and at the mercy of our emotions and the wild horse of our mind that lacks focus and is pulled here and there constantly.
These three wild horses need to be tamed first and then they can be trained. Other posts will help you tame the wild horses of your body and your breathing, this is focused on the mind.
Your mind can only do one of two things. Read about the two modes of the conscious mind. Meditation aims to stop it doing the thing it does 90% of the time and persuade it to do the other thing instead.
Your aim is to learn to focus your mind on one thing and keep it there for extended periods of time. Focus on sounds, internal sensations or a visual image. Don’t waste your mental energy on leaping from thought to thought.
Most people find this very hard to begin with but with even a little perseverance you’ll be amazed at the differences it will make to your physical and mental health.
The entry point to all meditation is to focus your mind on just one thing. It largely doesn’t matter what that thing is. It could be a candle flame, a mantra or the sound of a gong. Perhaps the most common is a mantra or to focus on your own breath or heart beat.
Just make yourself comfortable, close your eyes and keep bringing your mind back to that one thing. Truly and deeply experience it for longer and longer periods of time.
If you are really struggling with this then I have created a guided meditation to help you. Just close your eyes and listen to the sound of my voice from the recording below. I call this the White Light Meditation.
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