Yes you CAN meditate…
Hello beautiful friends,
Would you like more peace of mind and JOY in your heart… less stress and anxiety?
Want to learn to meditate once and for all?
In this blog I put some widely held myths about meditation to rest and reveal the essence of meditation and if you’re ready to enhance your life with greater calmness and contentment then join me for the next JoyQ Retreat. All details including dates at the website.
The Myth of Meditation
I’d like a dollar for every time I’ve heard the line… “I’ve tried to meditate but I just couldn’t stop myself from thinking.”
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Hamlet. (II.ii)
Even Shakespeare had an inkling of the power of our thoughts. And that my friends is all that stands between many people, perhaps YOU and a good meditation. You see it’s not that you’re thinking too much whilst you’re meditating, but that when you do so, you think that’s it’s wrong and that you’re ‘not meditating’. This is the problem.
Having thoughts whilst meditating is not bad or wrong, It’s totally normal. I do it all the time.
Thoughts are an integral part of meditation because they’re an integral part of being a human being. That’s what we do. We think. Full stop.
Even the most experienced spiritual leader, steeped in the practice, and I’ve heard this straight from the horses’ mouth twice (two different horses, one Buddhist, one Hindu), will say that after 40 years, they’re still “practising” and “learning” to meditate and that thoughts arise all the time.
The Real Purpose of Meditation
So let me use this analogy to explain.
Imagine that you're an ocean. Your thoughts are the waves, sometimes wild and rough, sometimes smooth and calm, but all the time constantly rising and falling. Now drop down a little from the surface of the ocean and you’ll notice that the movement of the waves diminishes. Then drop down even further, as far as you can go, maybe to the bottom of the ocean and what do you find? At the bottom, in the depths of the water, the waves are insignificant or maybe not perceptible at all. Waves are still happening, but you’re not aware of them at all. It’s just quiet and still.
And this is what happens with regular meditation practice…
Meditation rather than than being about trying to stop your thinking, is about opening yourself up to experiencing more of who you are, more of the ‘ocean’, the life within you, and thus finding a new perspective of yourself and of life.
And then, TaDa, the paradox is born!
Through the process of expanding your awareness of yourself and your mind and embracing more of your feelings and your sensory experience of life, you deepen your connection between your mind and body.
As this pathway grows, it helps to release energy and tensions in both mind and body, enables the natural integration and transformation of your emotions and spontaneously brings about greater balance and harmony within, resulting in less thinking and particularly less of the troublesome worrying or negative thoughts.
There is an easy way to the calm, JOYful life you desire, not through striving, struggle and effort but instead by following natures’ way, through self-awareness and simply being with and embracing all of yourself, with love and acceptance.
“The you that goes in one side of the meditation experience is not the same you that comes out the other side.” Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
The key to enjoying a satisfying meditation practice is to let go of the expectation of experiencing deep stillness and to allow it to arise naturally. It WILL come and go, but with time the benefits are accumulative and you’ll start to experience greater peace and joy, not necessarily in every meditation, but in your life, every day.
Once a long time ago, I was meditating intensively and living a very quiet life, and for a whole weekend I had a completely empty mind. I kept wondering what was ‘wrong,’ as I felt a bit strange, then finally, I realised that nothing was ‘wrong’, it was just different – there just wasn’t a thought in my head! It was awesome, but eventually and somewhat reluctantly, I had to get back into life and hence my thoughts returned. But I look back with joy at those times of deep rest, meditation and contemplation. What a treat (and what a healing time it was).
You don’t need to become a Monk to Benefit from Meditation
Meanwhile the good news is that you don’t have to put your life on hold and meditate for long hours, nor experience pure stillness and peace ever, to reap the benefits.
Every meditation, even the busy ones with lots of thoughts, is helping to bring about connection, integration and healing in your mind and body. And through the …
JoyQ Retreat Meditation training you’ll learn specifically how to:-
* Expand your self awareness * Understand your thoughts and change them at the source * Transform difficult emotions * Enhance your intuition and personal power * Increase your energy and vitality for life and * Experience more peace and JOY every day.
So if you’ve been on the fence about meditation … or maybe you know you should for health reasons but you’ve just thought you can’t … or maybe you’d love to make meditation a part of your daily life … well this is your chance.
Go on. Jump in! I’d love you to join me. And if a whole day’s retreat isn’t for you at this time, you can see me privately for JoyQ Mentoring where the program can be tailored to your individual needs and delivered at a pace that suits you.
For any queries email me or call on:- 0439377764.
Love and JOY behind closed eyes,
