"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."
-Buddha
We all possess three states of thinking - conscious thinking during the waking state, subconscious during sleep and super-conscious during self awareness. Meditation is not a passive state of daydreaming or drifting in a subconsciousness state, rather, it brings us in touch with the super-conscious state of intense awareness. When we are able to internalize the energy of our senses during meditation, it awakens a tremendous flow of energy in our whole being. We are able to deeply relax our body and mind, and expand our sense of identity until we realize our unity with all creation.
Meditation has great health benefits and gives us a respite from excessive stress of daily life. As we relax, our blood pressure lowers and our response mechanism slows down. We become more centered and don't react as strongly or negatively to adverse situations. Meditation has been found to strengthen the immune system and enhance the activity of "telomerase" enzyme that protects genetic material during cell division and enhances cellular viability. Consistent meditation practice fosters improvement in emotional well-being and helps release of negative mental states such as fear, anger and worry. We inculcate more positive attitudes and show love and compassion towards every creation of God. We are able to experience the love and joy present within our self, and share it with the world around us, bringing peace and harmony.
Meditation Techniques
Meditation can be performed any time and anywhere we can be quiet and free of distractions. If possible, it's good to meditate at some predefined place everyday, as over time the special place gets filled with the positive vibrations generated during meditation. Next important thing is the correct posture during meditation. It is essential to keep the spine straight and our body must be able to relax completely without any aches/pain. We can either sit in a straight-backed chair or on the floor in cross-legged position or lotus pose. We can use a soft cushion underneath for support and while sitting in the chair, we have to sit away from the back of the chair, placing our hands palms facing upright at the junction of the thighs and abdomen and our shoulder pulled back slightly with chest up. Our feet should be touching the ground completely and the whole body should feel relaxed and comfortable. It's beneficial to face east during meditation as it helps to align our body's magnetism with that of earth.
Meditation is an active process and requires energy and self-discipline. It's a process where the practitioner goes through stages of relaxation, interiorization and expansion. During the "Divine Energy Yoga" classes, we perform very gentle exercises to relax, energize, and internalize flow of energy, followed by a guided meditation to experience healing and expansion of awareness. It does not require any physical or mental effort, but we have to focus on relaxing our muscles and let go of all the chatter in our brain. Before beginning to sit for meditation, we can do some Yoga postures or stretching exercises to relax all the muscles of the body. Next important thing needed is to free our self of all thoughts and emotions. Many people try to focus on some outside object of concentration, so that they do not focus on their own thoughts. They make an effort to suppress their internal thoughts and try to focus single-pointedly on the chosen object of concentration. This may help to quieten the mind, but involves a constant effort trying to meditate, and may dis-hearten the new practitioner who is trying hard to sit quietly to be able to meditate.
Research has shown that about 70% of our daily thoughts are carried over from the previous day. The very same thoughts and emotions keep coming back again and again because they are circulating in our mental-emotional body as partially-processed or undigested thoughts and emotions. For example, if we were subjected to deep insult sometime and we could not take any action to correct it, the emotions of anger, rage, despair and thoughts like "what we should have said" or "what else we could have done", keep coming back to us whenever we face a similar situation. Now, stopping to think them by focusing on something else will not remove those thoughts and feelings from us. As our physical body digests the food everyday, our mental-emotional body also needs to digest everyday thoughts and emotions. Every thought has a life-cycle of birth, survival and death. Whenever, we let go of any thought/emotion, it brings it to its end. Initially, we have to train our self to be able to do so, but eventually, through consistent practice it becomes a natural part of our being.
Technique to Cleanse Mental-Emotional Body
Sit comfortably in any meditation posture as described earlier.
Close your eyes and internally look at the point between the eyebrows and imagine a big screen in front of you. Now, keep watching this screen and let your thoughts be projected on this screen slowly one by one. Try not to judge any of them and completely and honestly feel all the sensations they bring in your body. If you feel shortness of breath, pain in the chest, tears in your eyes, pain in neck/shoulder or any other unpleasant sensations, just don't be afraid to experience them completely. Embrace them as a small part of you and, without denial feel them completely. Never try to judge any of the thoughts/feelings, as this will interrupt the process by activating your conscious mind. You are just being with your self and trying to discover your true self. As soon as you focus on any thought completely and feel all the sensations associated with it, that brings it to it's end. Keep repeating this process for every thought or sequence of events being projected on your virtual screen.
You can do this exercise everyday for 10-15 mins or more, and it will help you explore many new things about yourself as well as cleanse your mental-emotional body for complete wellness.
"Oh God! help us see Your light in us"
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