Meditation … It’s Not What You Think, Or Is It?
A peaceful woman sits cross-legged, index fingers/thumbs curled toward each other in Jnana Mudra, as a close-mouthed smile spreads across her face, OM reverberating.
A typical image of meditation, right? Maybe, but it’s not the whole story — not even close. I’ve encountered many misconceptions throughout a decade of teaching yoga and meditation.
“Meditation is only for spiritually enlightened beings.”
“With my mind, I could never acheive that state of being.”
“Meditation is for hippies.”
“Meditation is a waste of time.”
These are just a few nay-says I’ve heard.
The term meditation may refer to a state of being, but the practice is something different altogether. In fact, I suggest we remove the word meditation from our vocabulary, give it space to mean something other than those picture-perfect images it conjures.
I liken the practice of meditation to the practice of life. None of us are getting it ‘right.’ We are all figuring things out as we go. Life, yoga, meditation — they are all about the journey, never the destination.
A little background/history/philosophy on meditation (from one yoga tradition — there are many) … according to Patanjali, an old yogi sage who wrote the Yoga Sutras, meditation is one branch of the 8 limbs of yoga. It is number seven of eight, also known as Dhyana. Dharana (concentration) is six and Samadhi (becoming one with object of meditation) is eight.
As I’ve worked with these concepts and taught them to beginners, I suggest that most of us are practicing Dharana (concentration) when we are practicing meditation.
We are simply learning to quiet and focus our minds through the practice.
Perhaps we should call it …
Mindfulness Practice, Quieting Practice, Stillness Practice, Time Out!
What’s the point? We live in a loud, overstimulated world. Stillness practice helps us find home base, and shows us our habits and tendencies so we can work with them. It teaches us to stay with feelings of uncomfortability and uneasiness when it would be easier to run.
All of us have crap to deal with every day, and the brain doesn’t stop. Quieting practice allows us to slow down instead of always flying through life — never really noticing what’s happening under the surface.
Time out gives us a few moments to stop. Reflect. Eventually grow and become better versions of ourselves, people who are able to deal with the crap in a gentler, easier way.
Stillness practice gives us the opportunity to observe, to recognize that all of the thoughts that come up are just, well, thoughts. They aren’t who we are. They don’t define us. They aren’t even necessarily true. In fact, often they’re not.
There are lots of forms of ‘meditation.’ What works for one person will be torturous for another. (More on that later in this series.)
So ‘meditation’ IS what you think, sort of.
But it’s not about what you think. It’s a practice of observing the thoughts and separating yourself from them (if only briefly) to reach higher states of consciousness. At the very least, a regular time out will help you to stop reacting, to take a pause to breathe and reflect before lashing out in a charged situation. Doesn’t that sound glorious?
Want to go deeper? Me too.
I write daily thoughts on yoga, meditation, and what it means to live a more conscious, embodied life. Please come with me on this journey. I too am learning as I go and would love the company.
Are you ready?
Thanks for reading. Did you enjoy? Please tap the 💚 to recommend it to others. Namaste, Heather
Heather is a holistic health writer and yoga educator. She shares here daily as part of her personal writing practice — mostly lessons about embodied living, yoga and personal development. Cheers to a life well lived!
