Meditation .. what’s it mean to You anyway?
By Eileen Strong
Did you know .. that there are 100’s of different ways to “do” Meditation?
I was talking to a guy just before Christmas who had been warned by his GP that he really needed to get his blood pressure a bit lower. I asked him if he’d ever done any Meditation, or had he thought of learning how to do it, because Meditation can and does tick all the health and wellbeing boxes for the majority of people who try it and get into a regular practice of some sort. Lowering blood pressure is just one of many of those benefits.
“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not into all that kind of hippy-woo stuff!”
And I thought to myself, oh, that’s such a shame, if only you’d just give it a try! And what did he mean by “hippy-woo stuff” anyway?
Well, I do know what he means by “hippy-woo!” Many people think of the social revolution of the 1960’s/early 70’s when they hear the word Meditation, and associate it with .. well, whatever else he associates it with that doesn’t appeal to him about hippies or woo.
Isn’t it a peculiar thing how we all seem to have our own different ideas about Meditation. I mean, what is it that pops into your head when you hear the word “Meditation”?
A Tibetan Monk sitting in a cave?
Maybe a hippy with a guitar, smoking a joint?
Or maybe it means “meditating” on a problem, and being in deep thought?
Or engaging in some kind of religious prayer or pagan ritual perhaps?
Or maybe you do Yoga or Tai Chi and just associate Meditation with those or some other relaxing practices.
Truth is, it’s all those things, and more. There are moving, walking, talking, dancing, sitting, standing, cross-legged, singing, talking, humming, Omming, out-of-body, pain-relief, mindful, compassionate … and a whole lot more Meditations! Meditations you can do in a minute, or over a couple of hours?
And you know, every different “sort” has it’s own rewards and it’s own benefits.
I first starting teaching Meditation in 2014 and I like to keep things simple and easy to do. Maybe I’m just a bit lazy like that. But why make life more complicated that we need to?
So, I personally just like to highlight 3 things that 98% of different meditation practices have in common.
Simple Fact No 1: We all breathe while we’re doing it. Yep. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be here having this conversation right now.
Simple Fact No 2: We can all attain and enjoy deeper states of calmness and peace while we’re doing it.
Simple Fact No 3: We are mentally alert, yet physically relaxed while we’re doing it.
When we meditate, we can shift ourselves out of our busy, stressy, doing, fretting, over-thinking, over-worrying state, and – simply by deciding to do so – drop into what I call a more “meditative state of being”. i.e. being calm, focused, yet relaxed.
Even just knowing we can shift from stress-mode to relaxed-mode within the space of 60 seconds is empowering in itself! Would you agree?
Did you even realise you can do that?
And would you like to find out how easy it can be to do that too?
And, then some, what ARE all those health and wellbeing benefits of Meditation anyway?
We hear about it all the time these days in health and wellbeing circles everywhere, you’ll find it practiced all over the world, and it’s been around for 1000’s of years! So, there must be something to it, right.
Would you like to find out more about Meditation and how you can easily learn to do it for yourself?
Why not come along to the monthly Meditation Class that I host here at Acorn.
It’s very friendly, informal and welcoming .. and you’ll learn loads about Meditation, how to do it, and meet some other folks too who are finding out more about it just like you.
And before I finish, I’d like to add that I still go to other meditation classes myself too!
The day we think we know it all
is the day we stop learning.
Would you agree? When there’s 100’s of different ways to “do” it, why just stop there?!
To pre-book your place on Eileen’s upcoming Meditation classes, visit EileenStrongCoaching-Events or contact her direct at eileen@eileenstrongcoaching.com for more information.
