Prayer is personal and a direct communication with our creator. It reminds us that we are not alone; there is a greater power, a natural force that guides and protects our every move, that governs the cycles of life and the ebb and flow of human existence. Sometimes we need to ‘learn’ to surrender and let these forces guide us. Once we have experienced a moment of spiritual security or a connection with the divine we know it exists. The next step is to encourage that relationship to enable ‘it’ to be a part of our daily life.
Morning Prayer
Light a candle on your altar each morning on rising. Then take a few moments to give thanks and to ask for guidance. You can use traditional prayer or open your heart and let your own words flow freely. Be mindful and open to your prayers being answered – and be careful for what you ask for. Repeat the process before going to bed.
Preparation for Meditation
Your Environment
Practise in a quiet room that is warm and well aired – preferably the room where you have your altar (see page 143). Create a calming atmosphere by lighting candles and burning incense or essential oils. If possible, meditate in the same room each day. This will lift the vibrations in the space, aiding your spiritual and psychic connection considerably. It is important to make this space a sanctuary for your meditations, a place where you can enjoy the process of meditation and easily connect to your sacred observances (see The Sanctuary, page 140).
Timing
Try to practise your meditation at the same time every day. This will attune your personal energy and encourage meditation to become a habit. The amount of time that people spend meditating varies. When you first begin to meditate you may find that just 5 minutes twice a day or 10 minutes once a day is enough. This may not sound a lot but you will be surprised at just how difficult it is to meditate without being interrupted by your thoughts – if you can manage 20 seconds when you first begin you’re doing pretty well! If you try to meditate for too long before you’re ready you’re in danger of turning the process into a chore. Decide on the amount of time you wish to spend meditating and stick to it. You can increase the time as and when you feel happy – but keep it consistent, not 5 minutes one day and 15 the next.
Relaxation Before Meditation
Before meditation practice some people need to first relax their bodies. This can be done in various ways: taking physical exercise, doing a yoga or tai chi class, or focusing on the rise and fall of the breath. Another popular way to wind down is having a candle-lit bath with your favourite essential oils.
Physical Position
Posture is very important in meditation. One should feel relaxed but not sleepy, so an upright sitting position is best. There are several positions to use: sitting cross-legged on the floor, sitting on a dining chair or kneeling, whichever is most comfortable for you. The most important thing is for the spine to be relaxed but erect. Keeping the spine straight assists the channelling of energy from the mind through into the body. Another important aspect is comfort; if you are not comfortable and warm during meditation you will tend to lose concentration and focus more on trying to obtain a comfortable position than on meditating.
Mental Outlook
Prepare your mind to accept the duration of meditation and ask your mind to be silent throughout the meditation practice. I find that if I concentrate on my breath and tell my mind to focus on my breathing after the next thought, that this slows the process of connecting one thought after another (the function of the conscious mind). Meditation allows the connection with the higher conscious mind to filter its peaceful stillness into our conscious state. This slows down the thoughts, creating a space between each one – and this is the beginning of meditation.
Breathing
Before you attempt to meditate, spend a few minutes consciously regulating your breath. Use your nose not your mouth when taking an in-breath, and try to breath out of your nose not your mouth. Take several deep abdominal breaths. The stomach should be pushed out on your in-breath and return towards the spine on the out-breath. Try to keep your shoulders relaxed and neck straight with the chin tucked in slightly towards the chest. Each breath you take should be slow and rhythmic.
The following techniques can be used prior to meditation (or at at any other time) to relax the body and mind.
Breathing Exercises
• Concentrate on taking in a deep breath to fill your lungs and chest fully, count to seven as you breathe in, hold your breath for three counts, then take a long deep out-breath to the count of seven. Repeat this action seven times.
• Begin with the breathing sequence above, then take your concentration from your breath and imagine you are blowing energy into your feet, then up your legs, into your pelvis, through your solar plexus into your heart, throat, shoulders, neck, face, head and down the spine back into your feet. As you gently breathe in imagine you are breathing in light and then breathe out this light into your body. Repeat three times. This technique moves the breath through your physical body, sending the power of breath into each muscle, bone, nerve ending and organ.
Meditation Exercises
After you have calmed your mind with your breath you may begin your chosen meditation. Two basic types of meditation technique are generally taught today. The first is the Zen approach of ‘silent sitting’: in this method you sit facing a blank wall or mirror until the mind becomes blank. In psychic development groups, candlelight or a crystal is often used instead. The idea is to sit until the moment of pure enlightenment happens, even if it takes twenty years. The second approach uses a mantra; a sound or image that rhythmically lulls the mind into quietness. After a thousand repetitions the body begins to vibrate at a higher frequency and the meditator becomes aware of higher energies beyond the physical senses of our daily mind.
There are numerous meditation exercises that I would recommend, for instance:
• Focusing on the light of a candle
• Concentrating on a picture of the chakra symbols
• Concentrating on a picture of a deity (god or goddess)
• Focusing on the point between your eyebrows, the third eye
• Chakra meditation
Staring at a candle flame is often used to prepare a psychic in a development class. The candle is placed reasonably close to the eyes, letting the mind connect with the image to build up an interpretation of psychic imaging. The same technique is also used with symbols and other images, as well as flowers, crystals, colours and even sand.
When we first begin meditating, however, the aim is to still the mind; not to follow the endless chatter that it throws up. In this way we begin to open up space in our mind – we do away with the superficial and create space for the psychic and spiritual.
Counting your Breath
This is a popular meditation technique with beginners, as focusing on the breath is easier than the more ‘passive’ staring techniques.
• Sit in your meditation position, relax and focus on your breathing – do not try to control it, simply observe it.
• Now begin to count your breaths. Count one inhale and exhale as one. The aim is simply to count the breaths without letting other thoughts intervene. Count up to ten. If a train of thought makes you lose count, go back to one again.
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