You’ve probably heard of meditation.
It’s all over the place now, but, back in the day, it really hadn’t gained such a wide level of popularity. It was mysterious; something those men with robes did up in a cave in far away lands. The first time I had the opportunity to try it, I was invited by my sister, Abby. She’d been going to a meditation group for a while and invited me to go with her.
“Should I go?” I thought. While I was intrigued, I was also suspicious. How did it work? What would it do to me? Would it hurt?! Would I be brainwashed, become part of a cult and have to shave my head?!! I had no idea. I’d seen the cross-legged position some people use and thought, “There is no way my legs are bending like that!” Regardless of my reservations, though, I gathered my courage and decided to accept her invitation, bald head be damned!
The night of the meditation group came and I was kind of nervous/excited; my stomach full of butterfly’s. Fortunately, it turned out to be a small gathering in someone’s living room. It was a cozy and inviting space and I felt at ease right away. The woman leading the group looked just like any other woman in South Florida. She wasn’t scary at all.
Since this was my first experience, I had no real preconceived notions about what I was about to do, besides the crossed legs, of course. In this case, though, we didn’t have to do that and could sit where and how we wanted to. Our leader did what I later found out was a rather unique form of meditation. She had us keep our eyes open and focus on her face. That’s all we needed to do. She didn’t tell us to try to clear our minds or to chant or anything else.
It was an incredible experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nothing scary happened. I didn’t levitate off the ground, my head didn’t spin around and there was no pea soup to be seen anywhere. I did, however, experience a level of calm that I hadn’t had before. My shoulders relaxed after a time and then the rest of my body. A little while later I noticed that my breathing had evened out and become steady, beating a rhythm all its own. I knew I had found something important, something that could make a big difference in my life, and I was right.
I’ll always be grateful to our leader that night and to my sister for the invitation and for giving me a little push to go. I’ve been meditating, in one way or another, ever since and have explored many different types of meditation since then, all of them helpful in one way or another. Meditation has helped me keep a level head and find a calm place inside me when the world outside wasn’t as nice. I’ve found it to be a great tool in maintaining, not only calm and relaxation, but also general health and an awareness of my body and how it works or when it’s too stressed.
So, what is meditation, anyway. According to Wikipedia, “Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit[1] or as an end in itself.[2]” There are probably as many ways to “induce a mode of consciousness” through meditation as there are individuals as everyone must adapt to their particular needs. The ones I like and know best are Mindfulness, Transendental, Zen, Mantra,Qigong, and Visualization. I’ve probably used all of these at one point or another but, for the most part, I use Mindfulness and Visualization. I find them the easiest to use, the most satisfying and they give me the biggest and best results.
Because there are so many types of meditation, it’s easy to find something that will work for you. An article in the Huffington Post talks about a study that asserts there is no one-size-fits-all type of meditation. Preferences range depending on several factors, one being the type of meditation, another being age and more. The two most popular form of meditation are Mantra and Mindfulness, followed by Zen and Qigong Visualization, again according to the Huffington Post article.
What’s your favorite? Or, if you haven’t tried it yet, check out the different types above, practice each one for a bit and see what works best for you. If you’ve tried one type and it just didn’t feel right, try another. Let me know what kind of meditation works best for you, what you like, what you didn’t like and if you need some help finding something that works. I’ll help guide you to find what works best for you. Leave a comment below about your meditation experience or ask a question.
