Meditation, A Wonderful Refreshment
by Josephine Laing
One of my teachers used to refer to meditation as "a refreshment." Too often meditation is looked upon as a chore, as one more thing to do. But really, I think it's the opposite. I think that it is one of the best ways that we can be kind and loving to ourselves. Of course there are many schools of meditation that are quite strict. And I'm sure that for some, those types of meditation may seem very much like a duty or one more thing that you have to do. But for me, meditation is more free. This is probably because I hold a very loose definition regarding what meditation is. I think that we are meditating when we are putting our feet up and gazing out into the trees or when we are walking the dog on our own. And time spent like that is indeed a refreshment. It's as relaxing as sitting down to a cup of fresh herbal tea, which, by-the-way, is I think a most excellent form of meditation.
And we all know that studies have shown how beneficial meditation is for our health. It lowers stress and blood pressure. It normalizes our pulse and heart beats. It calms the mind and relaxes the body. What's not to like about all of that. Plus it opens the window for solutions to our problems to float on in through. So, I like to meditate and try to remember to give myself a little bit of this refreshment every day if I can, especially when everything around us seems to be ramping up.
Here are a few of my favorites. And all of these can be done in as short or as long of a time as you like, with eyes opened or closed, seated or standing or even walking if you're comfortable with that. I've done some of these while waiting in line at the grocery store or while riding on the bus. But of course, one would never want to be meditating while operating machinery, like when driving a car.
Pretend that you are waiting for a slow moving train to pass by. Let each passing train car represent one of your thoughts. It's okay to think, but within a moment or two, let that thought pass by and think a different thought. Notice that there are brief little spaces between the train cars or your passing thoughts, that have no thought, holding nothing. Then go on to think a new different thought. The benefit of this meditation is that it helps one to begin to control their thoughts, so that we are not so much at the mercy of our internal dialogue, but can begin to direct it a bit.
This next meditation is really more like a mantra and it's from Thich Nhat Hanh, the buddhist monk who has been so instrumental in teaching non-violence both during and after the Vietnam War. To do this one, simply silently repeat to yourself these two sentences, "Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile." This is very helpful as it let's us take some conscious control over our breathing and our state of mind.
I like to do this next meditation while I'm in the tub. It's a little bit of a challenge. While totally relaxed, try counting while breathing. With a small breath, inhale for a count of one, then exhale for a count of one. Then with a slightly bigger breath, inhale for two counts, one, two. Then exhale for two counts, two, one. The repeat for three, inhale one, two, three, exhale three, two, one. Let each subsequent breath get a little deeper and take a little longer. Take care to be gentle and not over-extend your lungs. Once you get up to ten, reverse the process and start back down with nine to eight and so on. Now, for the tricky bit. Try doing all of this without thinking a single thought. Focusing on the counting occupies the mind, so just count and breathe. In all of my years of trying this, I've only made it up to seven without a thought. Then something like, "Wow! I'm doing it!" pops into my head. And I have to start all over again at one. Sometimes I never get beyond three, or just do one over and over again. But, no need to play by the rules here. If you just want to count and breathe and think away, all at the same time, be my guest, and enjoy the ride. It's a lovely nice long soak all the same and very relaxing.
One of the very best meditations that I know is listening for bird song. Simply going out into nature and listening for birds is one of the easiest ways for us to rest our thinking minds and open up the gap between our thoughts. And why do we want to open up the gap? Because this is the way that we can let our busy conscious minds move aside when we need to and let a deeper wise part of ourselves be heard. This is how we can let our god-connected, loving, joy-filled, deep-knowing, inspired part of ourselves have a say. And that's a great thing to practice and to work on gaining access to because it extends our capacity of mind and thus puts us in touch with our psychic perceptions.
I'll leave you with this last one. I call it, "Seeing God In Everything." This meditation can take two minutes, or two hours if you like. It's very easy. Simply close your eyes and ask God to present her/him/itself to you in one of it's/his/her many disguises. God may appear as a pink rose, blushed by the sun with a single drop of dew on a newly opened petal, or as a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. God may appear in the form of a slowly swirling Spiral Nebula out amongst the heavens or as a tiny microbe amidst a sea of life in a drop of water. God may even appear to you in the form of your own eyes, looking at you lovingly. Whatever comes to you is yours for the day. I've seen a sailing ship dash into the rocks or a star burning bright in the sky, all in my minds eye, all are expressions of the divine. Let them come as they will and know that they are all a part of God.
May everyone have a relaxed and beautiful day.
© 2011 Josephine Laing
One of my teachers used to refer to meditation as "a refreshment." Too often meditation is looked upon as a chore, as one more thing to do. But really, I think it's the opposite. I think that it is one of the best ways that we can be kind and loving to ourselves. Of course there are many schools of meditation that are quite strict. And I'm sure that for some, those types of meditation may seem very much like a duty or one more thing that you have to do. But for me, meditation is more free. This is probably because I hold a very loose definition regarding what meditation is. I think that we are meditating when we are putting our feet up and gazing out into the trees or when we are walking the dog on our own. And time spent like that is indeed a refreshment. It's as relaxing as sitting down to a cup of fresh herbal tea, which, by-the-way, is I think a most excellent form of meditation.
And we all know that studies have shown how beneficial meditation is for our health. It lowers stress and blood pressure. It normalizes our pulse and heart beats. It calms the mind and relaxes the body. What's not to like about all of that. Plus it opens the window for solutions to our problems to float on in through. So, I like to meditate and try to remember to give myself a little bit of this refreshment every day if I can, especially when everything around us seems to be ramping up.
Here are a few of my favorites. And all of these can be done in as short or as long of a time as you like, with eyes opened or closed, seated or standing or even walking if you're comfortable with that. I've done some of these while waiting in line at the grocery store or while riding on the bus. But of course, one would never want to be meditating while operating machinery, like when driving a car.
Pretend that you are waiting for a slow moving train to pass by. Let each passing train car represent one of your thoughts. It's okay to think, but within a moment or two, let that thought pass by and think a different thought. Notice that there are brief little spaces between the train cars or your passing thoughts, that have no thought, holding nothing. Then go on to think a new different thought. The benefit of this meditation is that it helps one to begin to control their thoughts, so that we are not so much at the mercy of our internal dialogue, but can begin to direct it a bit.
This next meditation is really more like a mantra and it's from Thich Nhat Hanh, the buddhist monk who has been so instrumental in teaching non-violence both during and after the Vietnam War. To do this one, simply silently repeat to yourself these two sentences, "Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile." This is very helpful as it let's us take some conscious control over our breathing and our state of mind.
I like to do this next meditation while I'm in the tub. It's a little bit of a challenge. While totally relaxed, try counting while breathing. With a small breath, inhale for a count of one, then exhale for a count of one. Then with a slightly bigger breath, inhale for two counts, one, two. Then exhale for two counts, two, one. The repeat for three, inhale one, two, three, exhale three, two, one. Let each subsequent breath get a little deeper and take a little longer. Take care to be gentle and not over-extend your lungs. Once you get up to ten, reverse the process and start back down with nine to eight and so on. Now, for the tricky bit. Try doing all of this without thinking a single thought. Focusing on the counting occupies the mind, so just count and breathe. In all of my years of trying this, I've only made it up to seven without a thought. Then something like, "Wow! I'm doing it!" pops into my head. And I have to start all over again at one. Sometimes I never get beyond three, or just do one over and over again. But, no need to play by the rules here. If you just want to count and breathe and think away, all at the same time, be my guest, and enjoy the ride. It's a lovely nice long soak all the same and very relaxing.
One of the very best meditations that I know is listening for bird song. Simply going out into nature and listening for birds is one of the easiest ways for us to rest our thinking minds and open up the gap between our thoughts. And why do we want to open up the gap? Because this is the way that we can let our busy conscious minds move aside when we need to and let a deeper wise part of ourselves be heard. This is how we can let our god-connected, loving, joy-filled, deep-knowing, inspired part of ourselves have a say. And that's a great thing to practice and to work on gaining access to because it extends our capacity of mind and thus puts us in touch with our psychic perceptions.
I'll leave you with this last one. I call it, "Seeing God In Everything." This meditation can take two minutes, or two hours if you like. It's very easy. Simply close your eyes and ask God to present her/him/itself to you in one of it's/his/her many disguises. God may appear as a pink rose, blushed by the sun with a single drop of dew on a newly opened petal, or as a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. God may appear in the form of a slowly swirling Spiral Nebula out amongst the heavens or as a tiny microbe amidst a sea of life in a drop of water. God may even appear to you in the form of your own eyes, looking at you lovingly. Whatever comes to you is yours for the day. I've seen a sailing ship dash into the rocks or a star burning bright in the sky, all in my minds eye, all are expressions of the divine. Let them come as they will and know that they are all a part of God.
May everyone have a relaxed and beautiful day.
© 2011 Josephine Laing