With so many people in western society coming to the realisation that meditation is really very good for you, there is growing concern amongst beginners that they are doing it wrong. (Ha ha –‘doing it’.) This is probably not helped by all of the articles on social media telling people what’s right and what’s wrong in a meditation session. Not to mention all of the spiritual elites (the ones who don’t consider themselves to be egocentric, yet feel the need to demonstrate how they are so much more spiritually evolved than everyone else) telling anyone who will listen how good their spiritual practice is.
Here’s the thing - I think it’s impossible to get meditation wrong.
If you set the intention to meditate, and you take the time to sit down and do it, you are meditating. So many people when they first start out (myself included) believe that they should be seeing something, feeling something, or having a still mind. All those things will come, but not until you allow yourself to just be comfortable sitting in the moment.
The worst thing you can do is think that you are doing it wrong.
It gets easier the more you do it. Before you know it, when you sit down to meditate, your brain will realise what you are trying to do and switch into meditation mode. It will quieten and still much quicker than it did when you first started out. Having a straight spine and taking deep breaths will help this process along.
I’ve spent hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours meditating and I’ve experienced some amazing things. I often feel like I don’t have a body at all, or I will get a buzzing sensation all over. And I regularly have direct two way communication with spirit. But not every day. Some days I can’t stop myself from thinking about work, or family, or food. I’m completely okay with that though. I still feel great after each session and know that it was worthwhile.
So everybody, let’s all calm the fuck down, stop being so hard on ourselves, and start meditating!
Do you meditate regularly? Have you had any amazing experiences?