And one more student shared that there is nothing scary about meditation, in fact it is the opposite of fear, it releases it. Meditation relaxes the practitioner and brings happiness and love. She shared that her experience with meditation is absolutely amazing because it allows her to connect with a source of energy that flows internally through her. She said she felt electrified after meditation.
Although the myths of meditation come in many images, from many traditions and cultures, and come from many misconceptions, the most common myths about meditation are the chanting, the twisted sitting position, the strange hand gestures, and the quiet mind. These misconceptions have people believe that meditation is too difficult, only for others of different or Eastern cultures and requires too much money, time and energy to practice.
I am here to tell you that anyone can meditate.
Meditation is for anyone who wants to reduce their stress and bring more peace and harmony into their life. One great teacher said that if you are not able to meditate then you have not learned how to harness the mind. To add to this I say that when you achieve intentional meditation then you are beginning the process of managing the machine (the body, the mind, the emotions) rather than the norm of the machine managing you.
As an ex-corporate junkie in the pharmaceutical business turned meditation practitioner and teacher of energy and spiritual practices, I can honestly say that meditation is beneficial to everyone. I can also say the when I meditate daily it keeps me from being that type A person and makes me sane. I have much more clarity every day because of my meditation practice. There’s a lot of gratitude within me because of my meditation practices and much more joy than I ever imagined possible.
While still working in corporate before I founded the Tree of Life Wellness Center in Huntington Beach, California, the presidents of these large pharmaceutical companies that I worked with asked me to teach them meditation. I found myself having sales meetings and they would start with a discussion about meditation and some basic techniques. The sales pitch became secondary. Meditation is for people in all types of business and business positions, not just those in pharmaceuticals and those that are presidents. It is also for urban housewives, the young, the old, the religious, the logical, the elderly and artists. The four w’s (who, what, where, when and why) and the how of meditation in the following chapter are tools for bringing prolonged awareness into your life more consciously and consistently, which is the foundation of meditation.
You will discover that the tools we share here will be beneficial in other parts of your life. For example, in the following chapters you will find that there’s a tool to help you keep your cool when you are in traffic and it will help you get to your destination much more quickly. The tools are also useful to help you remain open to ongoing meditation and reveal the many treasures of meditation today and tomorrow.
Meditation: Three W’s and a How?
“Anyone who can think can meditate.”
-Flower Newhouse
Where should I meditate? When is the best time to meditate? Do you need a teacher to meditate? What is the best position to successfully meditate? How you can start today?
How many people in today’s world have told you they have a quiet mind? Most people chatter on and on in their minds and never get any quiet time. The constant chatter consists of repetitive thoughts that are often circular and unproductive. Many meditation instructors, books and CDs prescribe meditation that occurs in complete stillness and quietness; however, these prescriptions are for people not running around with families, careers and a multitude of other responsibilities. I am here to remind you, there is no such thing as a quiet mind and total stillness. There is no such accomplishment in today’s busy world as an empty mind and motionlessness. WOW! Isn’t it a relief to know that there is no such thing as a quiet mind? Now, that you’ve made it this far we will assume you are willing to take the next steps away from the myths of meditation, you can allow meditation into your life by following these simple steps.
In order to have a good foundation for a lifelong meditation practice let’s begin with the positions that are not effective or necessary for meditation. While lying on the floor or on a bed seems to be a comfortable meditation position, lying in this way is only going to get you relaxed enough to fall asleep, which is not meditating. Also, by lying on the floor or on a bed on your back, the energy that needs to flow throughout your body during meditation becomes stuck in your spine. Allowing energy to become stuck in your spine rather than letting flow throughout your body is just another way to stress the body. The spine will get stiff and the muscles actually become energetically congested and tense. Moreover, meditating on your back for a prolonged period of time causes chronic back pain, which results in even greater stress and imbalance in the overall system, which defeats the purpose of meditation altogether.
Many books and CDs suggest that it is necessary to meditate sitting in the lotus posture, which is a cross-legged position sometimes used in yoga and advanced meditation. The fact is there is no need to sit lotus style. It is not a requirement to sit in positions that are so uncomfortable. Perhaps you already have experience with practicing yoga and meditation and the lotus position is comfortable for you—go ahead a sit in the lotus position. Most students cannot get into the proper lotus position in which the legs are crossed in such a way that each foot rests on top of the other leg’s thigh and it looks like a pretzel. In addition, unless a student has been practicing yoga and sitting in the lotus position for extended periods of time, the lotus position is very uncomfortable. Rather than twisting your legs in an uncomfortable position, I encourage you to meditate in the seated position. Not only in a seated position, but use a chair for maximum comfort. Ideally a straight backed chair.
Let me take you through some very easy seated position steps that will allow you to meditate anywhere—well, almost anywhere, the airport is just too noisy and energetically congested to meditate effectively.
First, it’s important to find a comfortable chair or sitting place to meditate in a seated position. Make sure you have enough space and are not too cramped. Some students complain that it is too difficult to meditate while in the seated position because their back hurts. The reason for this is that the back is not accustomed to much more than slouching. It took the muscles a while to get used to slouching and it may take a bit for the muscles to feel comfortable sitting with the spine as straight as possible. Although I have heard numerous times from students that their back hurts when they try to meditate in a proper seated position (without leaning on the back of a chair), it is important to sit with a space between your back and the back of the chair. Our slouching, curved back habits result in most students wanting to sit and lean against the chair back, but leaning against the chair back impedes the flow of energy. Ultimately the leaning on the chair back causes more stress and imbalance to the physical body as well as the energy body, which is the very thing meditation is meant to relieve.
Although in the beginning, many students feel discomfort in their spinal region when sitting with a straight back in the proper-seated position, the back and body begins to self adjust. Most of us spend our entire day, every day slouching, and thus the back complains by sending messages of ache and pain. This discomfort is only temporary when using the spine straight and seated meditation posture because the back becomes increasingly more comfortable and relaxed. See diagram on page 17.
Take a moment and let’s try the seated position posture. Sit in the chosen chair, straighten your spine, shoulders back, chin sightly lowered allowing the head to align on the shoulders so there’s no tension or pressure. Feeling fantastic? It is likely that you will feel fantastic because the energy is flowing and the body is truly in alignment. Is your body telling you to slump because it is too uncomfortable to sit this way? Don’t worry. The body rebels against the seated position because it has lost strength in the mid section, which has weakened the back muscles along the spine. It