HOW TO MEDITATE
You'll have so much success in meditation if you get out of your comfort zone. You should approach meditation with an inquisitive mind and find out how it can impact your life by putting all these concepts to practise.
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT IT
Find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed for a while. If you're new to meditation it's advisable to lie down or sit in a high backed chair which will make it easier if you fall asleep. It's quite common to end up falling asleep during meditation so don't worry, it's not a bad thing at all. Sleep is also beneficial to the body just as much as meditation, it will give your body time to rejuvenate and repair itself. Another important thing is to make sure that you're as comfortable as possible during meditation, you can even use extra pillows to support your body. It's almost impossible to relax the body when you're not comfortable, so keep that in mind.
The next step is to find a way to quieten your mind. There's a lot of advice out there and some of them will tell you not to think of anything or tell you to allow any thoughts that come up in your mind to simply drift away without giving any attention to them.
However, this is easier said than done because it's not easy to tame wild thoughts and it's even harder trying not to think about anything. Trying to control your thoughts this way will lead you on a wild goose chase - it will simply not work because trying not to think about something is still thinking.
There is a much easier way of managing your thoughts and quieting your mind, and that is (giving your mind something else to keep it busy).
QUIETEN THE MIND - IT'S ALL ABOUT PATTERNS
The human brain is deeply wired to recognize patterns. It's quite pleasurable and fulfilling for the brain to discern patterns and try to make sense out of chaos. That's why people see all sorts of shapes and faces and animals when they look at clouds.
So, find something that has a pattern, like repeating a particular phrase over and over, or count from ten backwards, or focus your attention on a regular pattern your body makes for example breathing.
If you're new to meditation and want quick results, it's highly advisable to use soft, soothing music. Music is very powerful because it already has a lot of patterns that will keep your mind busy, plus it's quite pleasurable and enjoyable as well. Try soft piano music or music that is made for meditation, for example, music that is occupied with binaural tones.
At this point, it's advisable to relax your body since your mind is already focusing on something else. You can physically tense and relax the muscles in your body starting from your feet going up to your head.
Each time you relax the muscles you will feel a little bit of relaxation in that part of the body. When you finish this exercise your body should feel so relaxed and light; It's a nice sensation. Then, your mind will slowly drift from the patterns to focusing on the feeling of relaxation. At this point, if you were counting or repeating a phrase in your head, it's a good idea to stop because the mind will now be occupied with the pleasurable feeling of relaxation.
The feeling of relaxation will continue getting deeper and deeper until you either fall asleep or end up in this eerie dream-like state. This is the state that Neville Goddard was referring to as "the state akin to sleep" where you're somehow conscious but your body is nicely relaxed and paralyzed. This is the state of mind where if you visualize anything you will get almost no resistance from your rational mind and you'll have a very high chance of manifesting it.
WHAT IF THOUGHTS STILL MAKE IT INTO YOUR MIND?
It's still very common for thoughts to make their way into your mind during every stage of the meditative process. You have to understand that the human brain is designed to think and it does that job really well.
Even when the attention of the mind is elsewhere, thoughts might occasionally come and when they do, just observe them. Observe objectively without judgement or investing your energy in them. You will also notice that some of these thoughts will sound like nonsense - they won't make any sense at all.
Keep in mind that some of these thoughts come from the subconscious mind and they are the deep programming of your entire life. Many of them are not beneficial to you and it's time to change them and the only way you can do that is by being aware that they're there in the first place. Meditation is the only tool that will get rid of normal mind chatter and help you get to these hidden almost subliminal thoughts that control your life.
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING MEDITATION
If meditation goes well you'll experience a very strange relaxation in your physical body. It will be extremely soothing, calming and rejuvenating. This alone has a lot of benefits to the body by resetting all the effects of the hormones of stress in your body. This is because during meditation hormones of happiness like serotonin and dopamine are released into the body.
Apart from experiencing deep relaxation, you might also start to experience very strong emotions of joy, happiness or love. This is because as you relax and "let go" energy will start flowing into your physical body. As you turn your attention inwards towards yourself and feel peace with who you are and all the decisions you've made you'll feel such a great relief and gratitude.
THE BODY HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN
The purpose of meditation is to assert the power of the mind over the body and this takes a lot of discipline and focus. Create a regular meditation schedule that you follow with military precision. Have a clear plan for how long you wish to meditate and when. This is an example of a meditation schedule.
10 DAYS MEDITATION PRACTISE
Date: Starting 21st Oct 2021 - 30th Oct 2021
Morning: Wake up at 4am and meditate for 20min
Evening: Meditate at 11pm for 20min
The reason why you have to do this is because a lot of our habits are stored in the body. Things we do on a daily basis like walking, driving, talking and how we do our job are all done automatically without thinking.
Take for instance how daunting and challenging it can be to learn a new skill like driving a car or riding a bicycle. However, once you know how to do it, you don't even have to think about it; you can drive a car for 500 kilometres half asleep! In fact, most people don't even remember most of the journey when they get to their destination after driving.
This is especially problematic when you want to get rid of bad habits that you don't even know are there. Let's say for instance you're a master procrastinator and every time you're about to do something important you bail.
With time you won't even know this habit exists because bailing will be so natural to you. However, with regular meditation, you will be able to objectively observe your thoughts and behaviour and the next time you're about to procrastinate doing something you will say no. Not this time.
When that happens know for a fact that you have triumphed in controlling your body and you have exerted the will of the mind over it. If you do this enough times you will eliminate the habit of procrastinating and it will feel so natural doing things right away.
START SMALL
If you want meditation to work for you, make sure that you don't take huge steps. Start with meditating for 10min at a time and if you're comfortable that you're making progress, slowly increase the duration. You have to see the benefits of meditation first and I'm sure you will. It's actually quite addictive and all for good reasons too.
Meditation may not seem all that fun at first when you're just starting out because it will take you out of your comfort zone and teach you to focus on things that really matter. However, if you keep at it things will get better because you will start to see real changes in your life and it will be fun, it won't be scary anymore to get out of your comfort zone and it will be something you will look forward to.
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