The way I think of meditation

Hi! In the weird and uncertain times of COVID-19, something that might offer some comfort is a daily meditation practice. I have meditated daily for the past year and a half, and I have found it grounding and centering. I was taught this meditation style by a former family physician and Unitarian minister who, in his later life, has become a meditation teacher. The method is based in a Vedic, or Indian, traditions and is therefore related to the yoga and ayurvedic wellness system. I will first outline some core concepts and theory behind this type of meditation and then give instructions for meditation at the end.

Meditation can be simple, easy and fun
Hopefully, meditation can be simple, easy and fun. If meditation feels hard it is hard to keep going! Don’t worry too much about doing it right, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just try out this method and see how it goes. Also, I’m happy to keep chatting and answer any questions you might have or introduce you to my meditation teacher for further learning.

Embodied Meditation
This meditation is not mind-based, it is either centered around bodily feelings or a mantra or sound. Sometimes, these two methods can be used together. For example, if I simply can’t pay attention to my mantra, I might check in with my body to ask it, ‘how are you feeling?’. Sometimes noticing bodily feelings is a necessary first step to deeper relaxation and being able to engage and pay attention to a mantra or sound.

Overall, this meditation style works by having something to return to, be it a mantra or bodily sensations. Without something to come back to, the mind takes over the meditation. I think the goal of meditation is to just be, in a way that acknowledges the whole body and fosters stillness and sinking into deeper states of consciousness.

Blueprint of Meditation

In this meditation style, you can think of there being two phases. One is a deepening into pure consciousness and the second is the release of stress. As these patterns repeat, you gradually go deeper into meditation.

The illustration above is a visual representation of what meditation feels like to me (in a very simplified way — meditation is probably more nuanced than this in reality, but this is just a blueprint).

1. As you start to meditate, draw attention towards your mantra, sound, or bodily feeling and be pulled into a deeper state of pure consciousness.
2. However, on your way, you will inevitably bump into some thoughts, feelings, emotions, or even a sound outside. When you experience these things, they might absorb your whole attention. To me, this feels like drifting. These thoughts or experiences might be tied to stress or anxiety. Experiencing these thoughts is normal. These thoughts are like dust rising when you sweep a room. They don’t need to be analyzed, they can just be noticed.
3. All of a sudden, you might become aware you are having a thought. This is an “a-hah!” moment where you remember you are meditating. At this moment you can choose to let go of the thought and shift your attention back to your mantra, sound, or bodily feelings. Experiencing these thoughts and choosing to return to the meditation releases stress. Sometimes, I don’t even know what I have been thinking about, I just notice I have been drifting, and try to recenter. If you choose to continue to think about other thoughts, you have shifted from meditation to contemplation (thinking about things). This isn’t bad, but you might as well use your meditation time to meditate. You can remind yourself you can return to these thoughts again after your meditation if you’d like.
4. You return to deepened pure consciousness, having released some stress, by returning to the mantra, sound, or bodily feeling.

Over the course of the meditation, this pattern cycles and you enter deeper and deeper states of pure consciousness. The journey looks a bit like this:

This shows the relationship between releasing stress and deepening consciousness. Over time, every thought you experience, notice and then return to the mantra allows your meditation to deepen, and for you to come into greater silence and stillness.

How to practice

Take a seat and time yourself

To practice meditation, you will just need a nice place to sit and a timer. The place you sit should allow you to be comfortable without moving and to meditate without interruption. Often, the easiest and most comfortable place to sit is in a comfortable chair that does not recline where you feet can rest on the floor. Sitting upright keeps you alert, but being in a comfortable chair and position helps keep attention drawn inwards (not outwards to an aching knee or back). Feel free to play with other positions, however, just notice how easy it feels to meditate in them and make decisions based on your comfort and ease of practice. The timer could be anything as well, but I use a cellphone app called Insight Timer because it has pretty bells to stop the meditation. I think there are also youtube video timers with bells at the end.

Play with mantra, sound and bodily feeling

There are a few different ways you can play with sound or feeling.

(1) Mantra or Sound Meditation
A mantra is something you can hold in your mind while you meditate. It is more of a sound than a phrase so that the mind doesn’t have to find meaning so much as the whole body finds meaningful centering.

Your first time using a mantra, start by saying the mantra out loud. Then say it softer and softer until you are repeating it internally without moving your lips or tongue. Imagine you are actually just listening to the mantra. You can return to this ‘listening’ to the mantra whenever you need to recenter in your meditation.

Subsequent times, you may be able to just return to the mantra which you listen to inside of yourself.

Try one of these three mantras or sounds to start

1. So Hum — this is a Vedic mantra. It essentially means, “I am”
2. Om — you might also try Om, which is a nice centering sound from the Vedic tradition often used to begin and end yoga classes.
3. Ringing bell — try ringing a bell at the beginning of your meditation. The sound of the bell will fade, but the memory of its tone can be a centering sound in your meditation.

Meditating with mantra or sound:

1. Prepare: get seated, take off your glasses if you wear them, start your timer.
2. Close your eyes wherever you are sitting and settle into yourself.
3. Start to repeat the mantra to yourself. Over time, the mantra will be less like you repeating it and more like a sound you listen to inside of yourself.
4. When thoughts arise, notice them and choose to return to the mantra.
5. The timer will sound!
6. Take a few minutes to gently wiggle your toes and fingers. Feel yourself returning from a deeper state of consciousness and then slowly start to open your eyes. Take your time coming out of the meditation.

(2) Bodily Feeling Meditation
Sometimes this type of meditation helps me a lot. It can be used alongside mantra meditation or on its own. The steps are similar!

1. Prepare: get seated, take off your glasses, start your timer. Or, this kind of meditation can be done anywhere, on the bus, on your couch. Etc.
2. Close your eyes wherever you are sitting and settle into yourself.
3. Start to notice feelings in the body. Bodily feelings, in this view of meditation, can be defined as a physical sensation that relates to a psycho-emotional experience. Stressors build up in the body, in ways beyond the reach of the analytical mind. For this reason, it is not necessary to analyze or name these feelings, the analysis might add to a narrative that reinforces stress. Instead, just sit with these feelings — take care of them and be with them almost as you would be with a young child who is in distress. The feelings might change or shift. Stay with them. Over time, the feelings will release. Take a moment to notice the release. Shift back to the body and continue to notice feelings.
4. The timer will sound!
5. Take a few minutes to gently wiggle your toes and fingers. Feel yourself returning from a deeper state of consciousness and then slowly start to open your eyes. Take your time coming out of the meditation.

Meditation Frequency and Impacts

My mentor recommended that I meditate for up to 30 minutes twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. However, because I’m honestly still somehow resistant to meditating that much and often quite busy, I usually try to meditate for about 15 minutes twice a day.

I would recommend that you meditate for an amount of time that feels sustainable for you. Also, it is better to do it on a regular basis to see impacts. If you can meditate once or twice a day for a short time, that’s better than doing it once for a super long time and then quitting. So find what works for you! It is interesting to notice the difference before and after meditation. I once described it as, “brushing my hair” . . . and by that, I meant that it aligns and organizes some sort of psychic/psychological fibers and I just feel more at ease in the world.

The impacts of meditation are profound rest for the nervous system, the release of stress that has accumulated in the body (beyond what is even directly knowable by the mind), and I personally have found myself becoming more myself over time — an advocate for and caretaker of myself.

I also have a meditation teacher and a more personalized mantra. If you would like to further explore meditation and take your practice deeper or be put into contact with my meditation teacher, let me know! Or I am happy to answer any/all questions and discuss meditation further.

I love you! We are in this together!

Happy meditating,
Heidi