This is part of a semester-long series written by Inhale Yoga Studio instructor Michelle Stobart. Come back every other week for more of her inspiring work!
Most often when one thinks of meditation there is an immediate sense of dread that begins to take hold. The mind begins to create negative self talk about how bad you are at meditation, how you wish you were doing anything else, etc. It even begins to question the worthiness of meditation itself.
I am completely aware of all of the ways the mind tries to talk one out of mediation, as I experience it each time I sit down for a little quiet reflection. I remember when I first started meditating, I thought that some miraculous, head-exploding, heavens-opening, angels-singing experience would happen if I could only do it right. If felt like it had been built up as such a great thing in everything I read that it must have some profound revelation when I got it right. Since that angle-singing experience never occurred, I was sure that I must be doing it wrong.
Over the years, I’ve learned that the real miracle is being able to settle into a quiet still space where nothing and everything are happening simultaneously, and in complete harmony.
Photo: ZME Science/Google
Meditation is less about turning off the mind and more about becoming an observer of the tendencies of the mind as life is unfolding. In this way, you are not becoming a combatant with a very active mind, but rather a partner in the experience of the mind. If you think about it, in the same way that the heart was made to move blood through the body, the mind was made for thinking. That IS its natural state of functioning. Also, in the same way the heart needs to pump very fast at times, it also needs to slow and become restored. The same can be said for the mind. While it is busy keeping schedules, information from classes or work, input and information about the world around, it is operating at a very high functioning, fast-paced level. But, the mind needs time for restoration as well.
So, how do you find that quiet still space in a loud, busy active world that keeps your mind loud, busy and active? For me, as I sit down for meditation or just take a breather in the day, it all starts by welcoming what is arising to be more open to the experience itself. In this place of welcoming, you begin to understand the mind’s nature toward preference and pleasure, as well as its aversion to what is not wanted or less pleasurable. This is a great place to start the experience (even though it is frustrating until the mind learns how to quiet). From here, when you begin to understand how the mind is constantly fluctuating between attachments and aversions, you can begin to find a more balanced and less reactionary space inside your life. You can begin to notice more of that still space that surrounds each situation and allow yourself the gift of the experience (whether preferred or not). Ultimately, through the practice of welcoming, you find that throughout life, you are able to be with what is unfolding in a greater sense of restoration and balance.
Let’s be clear here, meditation isn’t going to make all your problems go away. In fact, it will reveal more about your problems than you were originally seeing. The difficult times are still difficult, but you can rest in the difficult experience noting the way the mind reacts, judges and tries to change things without being so drawn out of balance inside. The beautiful thing that meditation will do is help you see the quiet stillness between the thoughts in the mind and difficulties of life when things are hard to bear. It is my meditation practice that makes the difficult times bearable, and shines a little light into the darkness to give me hope of what is yet to come.
When you can give yourself permission to welcome what is, right now, mediation becomes a much more freeing experience. It is all the judgment and criticism that makes meditation become such a difficult thing to even begin. Through regular mediation practices, you can begin to train the mind to be responsive and move toward a more quiet restorative state. It really doesn’t take much effort, and is better if you release any expectations.
So, let’s get started.
To connect to that quiet still space inside, here is a simple technique you can do anywhere at any time. You can give it 5 minutes or 30 minutes. There is no need to set boundaries on yourself. Start slow and see where it takes you. Through this practice, you are looking to settle more into the quiet still space between the breath. In that space, you are an observer of all of life unfolding, including your thoughts. So, there is nothing to change. You are welcoming what is while you sit inside that quiet still space between the breath and deep within. It’s like feeling really heavy and sinking to the bottom of the pool where it is still and quiet once you start to arrive there.
1. To begin, sit up straight in a chair, on the floor or with you back supported at a wall, or lay down so your spine is supported and you are comfortable. (YES. In my world, you can lay down to meditate.)
2. Close your eyes and begin to slow your breath down so that your inhalations and exhalations stretch out longer than your normal every day breath. Find a nice pace that is suitable to you so you don’t feel effort, anxiety or tension just by breathing deeper. Never force your breath into the mind’s expectations.
3. Begin to focus your mind’s attention on the breath: the way it feels in your body, the way it feels across your lips, and inside your nose, where it travels and touches into the ribs, back, chest and arm pits. Notice when your mind starts thinking and turns from the sense experience of the breath. Note what it thinks about, and gently guide it back to the felt sense experience of your breath.
4. Once you have established a pattern for your breath, let your mind begin to settle into the quiet pause at the top of the inhalation, and at the bottom of the exhalation. There is no need to hold your breath in or out. Just notice where the natural pause occurs between the breath. Again, notice if your mind moves away from the breath and what it moves toward. Don’t be discouraged. Just notice and come back to the felt sense of the breath in the body and the space between the breath. You may have to do this on every single breath at first. It’s ok. Remember, you are welcoming the experience of the mind to become more familiar with your tendencies.
5. Once the mind begins to calm, the breath will naturally become much slower and the space between the inhalations and exhalations much more noticeable. At this point, you won’t actually be stretching your breath out, but rather falling into the deeper, natural rhythm created by your body and settling into the felt experience of that deep quiet stillness. You may occasionally have to control the breath again if the mind begins to get too overly active. Don’t be discouraged. It is a technique to practice until it feels easier.
Photo: Christine Lentz and Baily Joy
To learn more about restoration, renewal and rejuvenation through yoga, pranayama and meditation, check out my weekly articles, audio and video posts with Her Campus Ohio U, or join me for class at Inhale Yoga Studio, 63 South Court Street, on the second floor above Follett’s. For daily inspirations and keeping it real, follow me on Facebook.