Meditation Myths
Hey everyone. Today, I will be continuing the Meditation series of posts. Click here to read my prior posts Meditation: How to Get Started Part 1, Meditation: How to Get Started Part 2 and Meditation Health Benefits. For today's post I included a link below to a podcast that I highly recommend called, "The Model Health Show," by Shawn Stevenson. I will be referencing episode 267 titled, "The 5 Biggest Myths About Meditation" - With Light Watkins. Lets get to it...
Myth 1: "All Meditation is the same"
Light Watkins replies to this by stating, "If you ask 100 people who identify themselves as mediation teachers, 'How do you mediate?' you are going to get 100 different answers, and some of them will be drastically different." You may find it more comfortable to meditate lying down on your back, while others like to sit in a "lotus" pose. You will also find that some people prefer to meditate indoors, while others consider walking in nature to be their meditation. You will also hear that some people need to listen to music while meditating, others in silence, and then there are those who prefer mantras. The beautiful thing about meditation is that these are all acceptable forms of meditation. Meditation is such a varied type of experience that there is no "one way" to do it. You just have to do that which works best for you...however, to get the best results, you should meditate for at least 15 minutes and make it part of your daily routine. And if you really want to maximize your meditation results, try meditating two times a day. Once in the morning and a second time in the early afternoon.
Myth 2: "My mind is too busy in meditation"
When new comers to meditation first start their practice of meditating, two things are happening: their mind and body are reconditioning towards meditation, and they are breaking the old habit of not meditating for years and possibly even decades. Much like a person who hasn't lifted weights in a long time and decides to life heavy their first day back in the gym, the next day they are going to wake up very sore in their muscles. Similar things happen with the brain in meditation. You are now using your mental muscles in ways you have not done so in a long time. You may experience chaotic mental experiences or even emotional releases during your meditation practice. This does NOT mean that your meditation practice is not working. This is actually a sign that it IS WORKING. Your mind needs to go through some conditioning similar to your muscles needing to go through conditioning. Meditation is allowing the body to restore balance, and that is can lead to an active mind in the practice.
Light Watkins teaches beginners the acronym "E-A-S-Y"
Embrace
Accept
Surrender
Yield
This means that you want to Embrace your thoughts while meditating
Accept all of your experiences
Surrender to them
"and anything that you consider to be distracting, you want to Yield to that as though this is actually what's supposed to be happening."
Myth 3 "Meditation is hard"
Here Light Watkins flips the coin on meditation. He went from talking about making meditation easier, to shifting gears to what makes meditating hard. He states that many people are unnecessarily increasing the difficulty of their practice.
One mistake is their meditating position...or their "hold." If you are sitting in a position and "holding" your body in a way that causes discomfort, then your body is too active unnecessarily, and this will cause your mind to be unnecessarily active. This can include keeping your back too straight, or forcing your legs to cross too deep into a stretch while sitting cross-legged. There is nothing wrong with using some back support or sitting in a comfortable position that is easier on your body. You do not need to sit like a monk.
Well that is all for now. This post is getting a bit long. Perhaps I will continue tomorrow with a few more myths about meditating. I hope you enjoyed and learned something new. If you have any advice or suggestions, please feel free to comment. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you soon...