There are many different ways to meditate
Some are related to the breathe, others to the repetition of chant, sound and mantra, others to guided meditations to calm, uplift and manifest.
Every form of Meditation will have the same basic requirements that enhance the flow of balancing energy throughout your body, thus benefitting your Meditation practice
Meditation basics to check before you begin your meditation
Your posture
Whether sitting on a chair or cross-legged, your back needs to be comfortable, supported, straight, upright, relaxed.
If on a chair, your feet are flat on the floor or supported on a cushion or folded rug
Once comfortable, check your face is relaxed, your shoulders are relaxed, your arms and elbows resting comfortably on your thighs, your eyes gently closed
While there are other postures for meditating, the above are the most used (and practical) in our culture
Your Finger Mudras
Finger Mudras direct subtle energy to your chakras and throughout your body
Different Mudras send energy to different parts of the body for emotional, physical and mental well-being, balance and harmony
The everyday finger mudra for most meditators is Pranaykriya 1 mudra - where the tip of your index finger touches the tip of your thumb. This mudra sends subtle energy to your lower 2-3 chakras.
Your Breath
Did you know your breath, heart-rate and thoughts are directly linked?
Breath Awareness and Breathing-based Meditations are powerful relaxors, calming the entire nervous system as well as slowing the thoughts and bringing the mind back to the present.
Breath meditations also energise, uplift and shift the emotions very quickly from stress, anxiety (long and short term) and fatigue back to balance, harmony, peace and vitality - within minutes.
In our 'Meditations Made Simple' Workshop we learn and practice at least 4 powerful and simple Breathing techniques for shifting your consciousness - Here is one which is powerful, simple and brings you great benefits
Breathing Room.com is an expert App for simple, varied and effective guided Meditations.
Your Eyes
While there are meditations where the eyes are fully or partially open, most of us gently and naturally close our eyes
For everyday meditators, closing our eyes helps us to -
- engage with greater awareness on our meditation
- deepens our presence to whatever we are practicing in our meditation
- increases the benefits of each step of our meditation for us
The environment around you
Having silence to meditate is not necessary - some meditations invite you to expand into the sounds around you
- If your awareness is drawn repeatedly to noises outside, then gently and persistently return your awareness to the object you are focusing on - your breath, vizualising, chanting, whatever
- Gradually your thinking will slow down with your breathing, you'll experience more deeply what you are focusing on (you can't force this) and something else that's beautiful will start to happen naturally
- Meditation is not perfection, its practice AND a practice - the benefits are accumulative and related to your enjoyment, awareness and consistency
‘Thank you so much for the Meditation Workshop – it was a wonderful day, we loved it and learned a lot.
I never thought something so easy could give such a profound sense of peace and calm
It was truly amazing realising our own power of thought, mind and breath’
Maree & Brett, Te Mata
