MEDITATION
Meditation is an excellent method of refining your awareness and your ability to sense and control energy. It’s a method of managing stress, which can interfere with your ability to channel energy. It smoothes the rough energy flowing through our lives into calmer, positive energy.
Most people think of meditation as sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed, trying to think of nothing. While this is certainly a valid interpretation, there are actually many different kinds of meditation. Most practices may be classified as one of two kinds of meditation:
Active Meditation: This is when you allow an object to evoke associations in your mind as you focus on it. Associations can include such things as sounds, dialogue, memories, and even interaction with images.
Passive Meditation: This is when you don’t allow your mind to wander, focusing your visualization upon only the object of your meditation.
There are several reasons to meditate. The opportunity to quiet our minds allows self-discovery, healing, insight, the re-establishment of emotional balance, and it encourages positive change. Meditation provides the opportunity to listen to our souls and bodies without the distraction of mental chatter, or stream of consciousness. It can be a very spiritual practice. Edgar Cayce once said, “Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is listening to God.”
The benefits of meditation are legion. It creates increased awareness of the self and the environment; it provides a time of inner silence, which is important for physical, mental, and emotional health; it creates a better energy flow for easier and more efficient living; it enhances personal energy for use in spiritual practice; and it conditions the mind through mental exercise.
Why exercise your mind through meditation? Everything begins with mind power. Even physical action originates with a thought. You’ve already discovered the importance of visualization and a clearly defined goal in spellcasting. Meditation helps hone these skills.
There are four basic requirements for meditation: a quiet environment to eliminate distractions; a comfortable position allowing complete relaxation of the physical body; a few moments spent relaxing to start; and a “mental device” to help block stream of consciousness generated by the waking mind, often called a mantra. That mental chatter, known as the stream of consciousness, is always present; you just notice it more when you try to meditate.
When is the best time for you to meditate? Take a moment to think about what the quietest time of your day is, or when you’re least likely to be disturbed. That’s an ideal time. Make sure the phone is off the hook, and that the TV and radio are turned off. Make sure you leave yourself enough time for preparation, for meditating, and for slowly coming out of the relaxed state. Create your ideal relaxed environment by selecting gentle music, soft lighting, and scents that calm you.
How often should you meditate? Remember that meditation is exercise, just like going to a gym, except this is a mental workout. Don’t overdo it. And have patience: we frequently become frustrated with a practice such as meditation, because we expect instant change in the twenty-first century. Meditation is a slow process by which the mind is trained. It’s better to meditate for ten minutes per day than for one hour per week. Like physical exercise, regular workouts are more effective than longer, fewer sessions.
Posture is important in any exercise, and being aware of your body is part of the work of meditation. Your physical state reflects your emotional state, so logically, your emotional state is also capable of influencing your physical state. While you may be tempted to lie down to meditate, be aware that your mind associates this position with sleep.
When sitting, keep your spine erect by imagining a string running all the way up your spine and out of the crown of your head, pulling you taut. This allows your energy to flow unimpeded throughout your body.
Relax your jaw; allow your head to float over your neck. Don’t strain your head forward or force it backwards.
Allow your arms to rest gently at your side or on your lap. Do not cross your arms or fold your hands.
Let your feet contact the ground, preferably flat.
If something happens during your meditation, accept it; look at your response objectively, and don’t leap to judge yourself. You have the ability to choose how to respond to things like annoying little itches, thoughts of inadequacy, and physical discomfort.
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