Chances are good that if you are living in a developed part of the world the concept of success is spread throughout your entire life. Whatever you endeavor to do, you want to be the best. You are told to be the best. It's not just a personality trait, it's engrained in you, mainly through media and advertising. It's even possible that if you have just started meditating, this need to be the successful has made its way into your practice. It could actually be the reason you are frustrated with learning. If you are having trouble meditating, or you're thinking of giving up, you might want to think about a new approach. Consider this.
"I gotta level with you Thom, meditation is way out there! I see mandalas and chakras and people twisted up like pretzels. I could never do that"
Meditation is overwhelming for so many people; and do you know what one of the most intimidating aspect of meditation is? Sitting. Not sitting in silence. Not sitting without your mind wandering. I am talking about the simple act of sitting with correct posture.
By the time you get done reading this, you are going to be a pro at sitting for meditation. How do I know that? Because you are already doing it.
Developing a meditation habit can be difficult. Even when you are focused on starting a session, the usual mental blocks begin to make their way into your head. You wonder if the session will go well. You get anxious wanting to make sure it’s perfect.
Well, as overwhelming as those thoughts may be, there is one thing that stops people before they even start. Noise.
I grew up believing that thoughts are things. It is a principle that my Mom instilled in me from a very early age, and it is probably why I am able to teach meditation. This simple phrase is at the very heart of meditation. Certainly there are other aspects, like breathing and posture, but this premise is why meditation is so effective for a variety of benefits.
Let’s face it, everywhere you go lately, you hear the words mindfulness or meditation. But I say that in the most exciting way. When I was learning how to meditate back in the 80’s, people thought that meditation was just weird. Outside of my progressive thinking family, others thought I was either in a cult or getting ready to join one. Nothing was further from the truth. There were even some people that thought meditation was witchcraft.
How can just sitting around be beneficial?
We like to think that our thoughts are our own. Hopefully, for the most part, they are. However, for most people, their thoughts may seem like their own, but actually they are the thoughts and beliefs of others that they have claimed as their own.
For instance, depending on culture, you may take a shower every day. Why? Sure, it’s a habit, but where did that habit start? It came from another source, possibly way back in childhood. It was someone else’s thought first. Your Mom, Dad or caregiver told you that it is hygienic and customary to take a shower every day, to be clean.
The most serving way to enter in to any meditation is without expectation. Simply place the intention in your mind and in your surroundings, that you are going to spend time quietly, slowing yourself down. I say this because the greatest deterrent for people starting meditation is the expectation that they will meditate “perfectly"; that they will not have rampant thoughts running through their minds. It's all or nothing. They will either have a successful session that leaves them calm and relaxed, or the session will be a waste of time because they can't corral their thoughts.
Forget about the Lotus Position. Forget about quiet, robed monks in the Himalayas. Forget about the trippy psychedelic images full of bright colors you see on web sites talking about energy, mantras and chakras.
You want to learn how to meditate so you can slow down your mind, live calmer and maybe even get some insight into how you can feel more self-confident.
I have you covered.
In western culture, inactivity is seen as unproductive and lazy. Anyone who is idle for too long, without producing something, is seen as ineffective. Activity is prized over everything, regardless of whether that activity promotes growth, either personal or global. It’s important to note that even inactivity from an entertainment perspective is valued more than actual sitting in silence. For example, in the United States it is deemed more favorable to watch a 30 minute situation comedy than to watch a sunset.
If you want to find the fastest way to knock out stress, then you are going to want to read this. I am going to teach you a five minute exercise that will help you recapture a sense of calm when you are overwhelmed by stress.
Let’s face it, there were times today when you were either stressed beyond belief or just overwhelmed with too many things to do.
I am going to show you how to meditate in as little as five minutes. By the end of this post, if you follow the instructions, you will have decreased your stress, feel more capable, and increased your level of focus. You can achieve this level of calm anywhere, at any time, once you know it. Not bad for five minutes.