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How to practice meditation on a daily basis

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stella cherry
How to practice meditation on a daily basis

Postures, breathing, frequency ... Using your mental strength to find peace is easier than you think. Small precise in seven steps for the use of those who want to learn how to practice meditation every day .

 

Summary : how to meditate alone

 

1 - Find the right time

2 - Create the right environment

3 - Relax

4 - Choose your posture

5 - adjust your gaze

6 - focus on your breath

7 - Purify your mind

8- learn to meditate for free

 

Listen to yourself recite

 

When stress suffocates us, we are like the mountain surrounded by clouds. To meditate is to let the wind clear the sky and reveal the azure. Tinged with oriental poetry, the metaphor is by Marc de Smedt, our guide for the session that will follow. Journalist, writer and director of the quarterly magazine “Nouvelles Clés”, he was initiated into Zen meditation by the Japanese master Taisen Deshimaru. Engaged in a spiritual quest, he nevertheless considers that it is not necessary to be religious to meditate. From a purely secular perspective, one can, he suggests, "integrate meditation into his daily hygiene practices". Meditating then amounts to offering the mind the care that is usually given to the body: a shower to purify it, a little gymnastics to strengthen it.

 

From zen to tantra, from yoga to tai chi, the techniques are varied but all rest on the same bases: a correct posture or movement, a work of breathing, an attentive presence at the moment. Because the subject is vast, we will only approach here the immobile meditation, easier to practice at home. “The exercise is simpler than we imagine, assures our expert. Many do not know the benefits because they set the bar too high. The idea is not to suffer martyrdom two hours a day in the lotus position, but to give yourself, two or three times a week (and in the posture that you can hold!) A quarter hour of serenity. Practiced regularly, it allows the "meditator" to register in a better self-awareness,

 

The watchword for this session will therefore be: “Try. »Do not try to comply strictly with what is offered here. Instead, explore your own path until you find what works best for you. "The body knows what it needs," says Marc de Smedt. Let him find the most favorable moment, the posture in which he feels anchored, the breath that regenerates him. Accept to grope. There is nothing to accomplish, just to be. Here and now. Learn meditation practice.

 

1 - Find the right time

It all depends on what you expect. We can meditate in the morning to start the day in better moods; in the evening to get rid of accumulated tensions; or at noon to recharge its batteries halfway through. When you have understood the process, which is basically that of a reminder of yourself and your conscious breathing, you can meditate anywhere (in the metro, at the office) and anytime (while eating, cooking), as soon as you feel the need to come together.

 

The ideal is to choose a specific time and duration (for example just before breakfast, for ten minutes) and try to stick to it. Do not shorten your sessions if they prove painful, do not extend them when they are more pleasant. Learning consistency is part of the process.

 

 

2 - Create the right environment

Always try to meditate in the same place, preferably in a quiet room, sitting facing a wall. In general, try to avoid anything that could distract your gaze or fuel your thoughts.

 

You can create a more soothing atmosphere by installing a carpet, lighting a candle, or burning incense. Choose loose and comfortable clothes that you will find at each meditation session, and don't forget to take off your shoes. You can also choose a discreet musical background (without words) to accompany you.

 

3 - Relax

Before going into meditation, you can start with a time of relaxation. Lying on your back, stretch, yawn. Eyes closed, breathe in through your nose, calmly, deeply. Relax your belly, let it swell on inhalation and repel air on expiration. Be aware of your supports (heels, calves, buttocks, shoulder blades, back of the head, elbows, palms ...) and their weight on the ground. Concentrate on your toes, imagine how they deploy, feel their tensions, release them.

 

Do the same for each part of the body, going up along the legs, the kidneys, from the back to the neck, then going down along the arms to the fingers. Let your joints and tissues relax. Feel yourself floating. When you are ready, open your eyes and fix a point on the ceiling, your eyes clear. Get up.

 

Before and after meditation, do "gassho": join hands at face height and bow in a sign of concentration and respect for what you are going to do, or for what you have just done.

4 - Choose your posture

In the Buddhist tradition, one meditates generally in the position of the lotus (or "zazen"). Sitting on a round and firm cushion (the "zafu"), cross your legs while keeping your knees on the ground, your left foot placed on your right thigh and vice versa, the soles of your feet turned towards the sky. It is in this position that the Buddha, motionless as a mountain, attained enlightenment. No need to contort if you lack flexibility. Just remember that the posture should allow you to find by the body what should be the disposition of the mind: stability, righteousness, openness.

 

You can therefore also opt for the half-lotus (one of the legs rests flat on the calf of the other), the position of happiness (the sole of each foot is inserted between the thigh and the calf of the other leg), or the beneficial posture (the ankles are brought back under the pubis, the soles of the feet one against the other). You can finally kneel on the zafu or sit on a chair without leaning back, feet flat on the floor.

 

In all cases, be sure to keep your back straight by arching your kidneys slightly to extend the spine and release the solar plexus. Slightly tuck in your chin, relax your shoulders.

Place your hands cupped against your abdomen in the energy zone of the "hara" (three fingers horizontally below the navel), the back of the left hand resting in the right palm. The thumbs, horizontally, touch each other at the end. Your hands take the form of an egg, symbol of the origin of life.

 

After a while, you may feel tense. The discomfort often goes away on its own, as the muscles relax. Otherwise, change position.

 

5 - adjust your gaze

In principle, the eyes are half-closed, the gaze is posed - without fixing - one meter in front of you. The idea is to close the eyelids enough to bring attention back to the interior, while remaining connected to the surrounding world. To begin with, if your gaze is constantly diverted by an object or a light, it is better to close your eyes. If, on the contrary, you feel close to drowsiness, open them wide to regain your vigilance.

 

6 - focus on your breath

Breathing is, after posture, the second pillar of meditation. The technique of "anapana" (the "back and forth of the breath") recommends focusing on the "door of the nostrils", the triangular area that extends from the tip of the nose to the upper lip. It is simply a matter of becoming aware of your breathing, letting it be what it is, sometimes fluid, sometimes jerky, until it slows down and becomes lighter. In Zen, attention is focused on expiration: we try to push the breath towards the hands and the hara, in order to fight against our tendency to breathe only from the top of the lungs. Diffused in the belly, the breath vigorously chases away the tensions and brings back a feeling of harmony.

 

This exercise of concentration on the breath helps to fight against the dispersion of thoughts. At the same time as it soothes, it teaches the mind how to come together, to strengthen itself.

 

7 - Purify your mind

The work on the body, by posture and breathing, aims to discipline it to better focus on the mind.

 

"Vipassana" (penetrating vision), one of the oldest Buddhist techniques in India, aims, below illusions, to rediscover the true nature of the mind. It is about letting thoughts arise without forcing or restraining them, without condemning or approving them. Just watch what looks like the images of a film appearing and disappearing. Let your shadow share invade your consciousness, then leave you as the pus comes out of the wound. Accept pain, anger, fear or shame. Try to learn from it, invoking the antidote to what makes you suffer (compassion against hatred, joy against pain, etc.). Soak up. If the exercise is too painful,

 

Listen to yourself recite

 

Are thoughts jostling, scattering, or harboring false views? To undermine these mental processes, the "yogic" tradition uses mantras. It is a repetitive recitation, whispered or silent, of a sound (the famous "om") or a sacred formula ("Shri Râm, jaï Râm"). The mantra is pronounced in the longest expiration possible. Its symbolic charge and its vibratory power help to empty the consciousness to leave a feeling of peace. You should to do maintain daily meditation.

 

The Zen tradition also seeks to confuse the intellect with the help of koans, which are the enunciation of a paradox or an enigma ("The donkey looks at the well, the well looks at the donkey. Do not s 'escape "). But while the mantras lead to the dissolution of thought, the koans, on the contrary, force the "meditator" to go to the end of his reflection to collide with a wall. In both cases, the mind is relieved of its daily restlessness. It will work fine when you know to well how to meditate well.

 

Contact :

 

Website : https://www.mindfulmeditationaustralia.org.au

 

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 6170
Swanbourne WA 6010

Call: 08 6249 0175

[email protected]

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