here are many different types of meditation, some quite hard to categorise. For simplicity, I have compiled my meditations into two groups. Spot meditations are quite simple and quick to use, whenever and wherever you like to use them. They don't need any special way of sitting or heavy practice in order to work effectively. Sitting meditations (such as Mindfulness of Breathing, Visualisation and the Metta Bhavana) benefit greatly from formal routines and specific sitting methods, so before you sit down and begin a sitting meditation, here are a few things you need to know..
Setting the Mood
Begin by selecting a relatively quiet place to meditate, and give yourself 15 minutes per meditation. This time can be extended to 30mins and then to 1hour once you feel comfortable with the process and your focusing skills. One sitting per week is ok to begin with so long as you make the most of this time. Then, if you need more sessions, try to increase the days slowly up to a maximum of five days per week. One aspect most people fail to realise is brain fatigue. Just like when you exercise any other muscle, the brain will grow tired after a while and will start to ache under the strain. This is only natural - every muscle needs training in order to grow stronger. Just take it easy to begin with, and only increase the number of sessions once you are comfortable with the progress you have made. If you are on retreat or you wish to devote a weekend to meditation, try three sessions a day but cut down if you find your focus is easily lost or you get headaches.
The location you use is up to your own taste. It can be in your home (bedroom, living room), or in the garden, or anywhere where you won't be disturbed. Some people like the place to be darkened, others prefer the light of the sun to shine on them. If you like a darkened area, scented incence may help create a mood, as will lighting candles and using a focus to meditate near, such as an idol or shrine. Don't worry about small noises (such as traffic noise or birds singing) - so long as they don't make you annoyed they will fade away into the background once you begin to focus on your meditation object.
Now find a seated position which allows you to breathe easily, and with a means of keeping the back as straight as possible. You must also consider your hands and shoulders - which should not hang low enough to slouch or high enough to be hunched. Lying flat on the floor or seated in a straight-backed chair are easy options to begin with, although it may be worth mastering a cross legged or the lotus position for deeper levels of practice. Meditating while lying flat in bed is not recommended as falling asleep is a real possibility for beginners.
Some often used sitting positions include:
- Kneeling: Sit in a kneeling position with your heels resting behind your bottom, and knees as close to the ground as possible. Sit upright without leaning or bending. You may find a blanket tied around the middle will keep your back straight as well as giving your hands a comfortable place to rest. Unfortunately, blankets take away the power from the back, so if you want your back to grow strong in the upright position, try avoiding aids such as this.
- Seated with legs astride: Get two or three (or four) cushions and place them on the floor in a stack. Now sit on top with your legs either side of the stack and your bottom sat comfortably in the middle. The height of the stack is very important. If you are too low, your lower back will be bending and you won't be able to feel your shoulders lifting as you breath. If you sit too high, you won't be able to sit with your knees and legs comfortably on the ground. Again, a blanket tied around the middle will help keep the back straight and the hands in a good position, but if you wish to build your own strong back, you will have to go without.
- Crossed Legged: This one requires one or two cushions, placed in a smaller stack. Sit on the edge this time, and cross your legs so the heels are together
and tucked under the buttocks.
- With a meditation seat: These small seats are usually made of wood, with the seat facing forward at an angle. When you sit down, the legs go under the seat and the bottom sits forwards, forcing the body to lean right back just to sit up straight. This has the great benefit of toning the lower back muscles even quicker, giving them strength to keep the back straight even without any aids. This is useful if you wish to meditate outside without any support. You may also need to raise the ankles with something to prevent the legs from 'going asleep'.
- The Lotus position: Only to be attempted by a trained student of high level Yoga. This position involves placing the tops of the feet flat against the upper thighs, so the heels point upwards. If you try this before your legs are flexible enough, you may cut off circulation and cause yourself problems.
Practicing Sitting Meditations
Spend a minute or two getting comfortable in your sitting position, breathing easily to relax yourself and scanning the body using the body-scan method, especially around the eyes, mouth, hands and stomach (which should be as loose as possible). Give the breath room to move and feel how the breath reacts to a straight back. The shoulders should be relaxed too, not hunched or slumped. It is also important to get yourself into the right state of mind to begin with. We will call this 'meditation mode' and you should realise that your whole purpose in this mode is to forget about everything else and just meditate. If you can, maintain a sense of your meditating mind so you can see instantly if you are in fact 'somewhere else'. Breath easily! Don't focus too much on the breath or try to control it, even if this is the object you are meditation on. Let your mind go and soften it so that thoughts and distractions flow straight though. You may find it helpful here to say the affirmations 'let go' or 'softening' a few times on the out-breath to help this happen. Now you are ready to begin your chosen sitting practice.
If you loose your focus (counting, the breath, a body part) on other thoughts, gently silence the mind, or remember to think about things later, and return it slowly back to the focus. If you are easily distracted, examine your focus more closely or with more interest. If you wander off or feel tired you can momentarily open your eyes or sharpen up your posture a little. It's ok to let the body fall asleep as this is a key element of the meditation process. Don't be rigid with yourself, or your mind, but keep a background awareness of the sensations of relaxation - feelings of heaviness/lightness/tingling. Don't fight distractions such as noise, simply flow with them and let the distraction drop without focusing on it or losing the meditation.
As you practice a meditation you may reach the 'body asleep - mind awake' state. As you do so, you reach a point of total stillness, a point where the body is sound asleep and the mind is open, crystal clear without distraction. This feeling is of peace, without any kind of tension in mind or in body. You will know if this happens, and you can drop your meditation object when you get there such as scanning, breathing, affirming, chanting or whatever. It is important to still remain focused (which will become much easier), so remain with one part of the body such as the tip of the nose, the breath or the emptiness inside the head, or watch the whole body in its peaceful stillness. Simply let yourself 'be'. The easiest time to reach these states is when the body is naturally tired in the early morning or late at night.
Sometimes, uncontrolled images (or nimitta) may also be seen within your mind, which means you are entering a deep dreamlike state near sleep. Don't try to focus on these images, by staying with the breath you may be able to breath them into yourself or at least keep them in the background. The moment to focus on these distractions they will disappear and you will have lost your meditating rhythm.
After Meditation...
A gentle alarm or signal may be helpful at the end of each session, simply to tell you the time is up and you can come out of meditation at your ease. As you finish, take the time to become aware of yourself within the room or place. Feel the warmth within your body. Acknowledge your arms and legs by moving them slightly, and also move the fingers and toes. Breath a little deeper and gradually open your eyes until you become aware your your surroundings again. If you have removed eyeware, now is the time to put them back on.
The chances are that you won't feel like moving at all. If your meditation has been deep, you may end with a peaceful, floating feeling in the body. The limbs may be stiff and so the first thing to do is to stretch things out and let the body catch up again. Sit quietly for 5 minutes until you feel your body has harmonized with the job of being active again. Then, when you do rise, consider your head and do so slowly.
The best way to revive yourself is to put the kettle on! (but remember both tea and coffee contain caffein). An alternative is herbal tea, which not only contains natural mood lifters and vitamins, but also stimulates the taste buds with the likes of: Blackberry, Apple and Cinnamon, Mango and Orange or Strawberry and Rose.
Give yourself a nice long tea break before you move back into your day. Don't try to do anything strenuous, such as heavy lifting, for at least 30mins after your meditation - your head will still be a little fragile and running around or lifting will only lead you to a headache.
