Life is full of stress from every direction and sometimes it’s nice to get away from it for a while. A lot of people turn to things like cigarettes (a vice I will admit myself guilty of) but today I’d like to share my experiences of something a bit healthier. I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve been trying to learn about meditation as of late. I must admit my expectations where pretty low. I’m the type of girl who always has a lot of excess noise in her head, so I will admit I wasn’t expecting to be able to shut myself up. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the whole experience was for me…and hey, if I can do it ANYONE can do it. The effects are great! It’s an amazingly calming experience and it’ll put all your worries in perspective. If nothing else it’s a great right before bed activity that will put you in a calm mood to sleep and keep your dreams in check.
Since this has been such a great experience I figured I’d share a few checkpoints here. In my research I’ve come across a lot of different methods and tricks. I’m only going to list what I’ve tried and liked here, but if you like this then there’s a lot of good literature out there with other methods that might be better for you. The best book I found was the Meditation Bible by Madonna Gauding. It’s got a lot of different techniques so there’s something in there for everybody.
This is a very basic meditation checklist:
1. Find a quiet and comfortable place. If you have good posture you can get away with something like sitting on a pillow (though you can buy special cushions for this if your serious about it) but if your like me and slouching is your norm you might want something with back support. I use my couch. Really any place is ok as long as you’re comfy. The same goes for clothes. Anything goes as long as your comfortable, however most people find loose
fitting and soft clothes the be best.2. Sit comfortably with your back as strait as possible. If you can sit cross-legged for long periods of time that’s best (it aligns your body) but if you can’t it’s all right to sit however you feel best sitting. Keep your chin parallel to the floor and rest your hands palm up on you knees. Relax.
3. Breath through your nose. I’ve fond that it’s best to keep my mouth slightly open with my tongue touching the palate at the top of my mouth. That’s not as important as long as you’re breathing through your nose. You can breath deeper for longer spans of time this way without worrying about your mouth drying out. Breathe in deeply and count to ten as you release your breath.
4. Concentrate only on your breath and the counts. Try to keep all other thoughts out of your mind. If you do think about something else recognize it as a thought and forget it. Simply concentrate on your breath.
With all that I’ve just written this may sound more complicated then it is. Basically in summary: be comfortable, sit strait, breathe deep, and don’t think. Some people find the process easier with music. If you want to try that anything that calms you and won’t be distracting will work. As a side note it might be good to set some kind of timer while your meditating. The first time I tried it I decided on about a ten-minute session. When I came out of my mediation and looked at the clock after what I thought felt like about ten minutes I found that forty-five minutes had passed. Just something to keep in mind.
-Alice Rhane
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