Basic Meditation Instructions

Anyone who has ever sat down and meditated, has also come to the conclusion that the mind can be very erratic. The ancient yogis use the phrase “monkey mind” to describe the mind and how it jumps from thought to thought, like a monkey swinging from branch to branch. One of the biggest mistakes one can make is to think that you are going to be in wrestling match with yourself until you tame your damn mind. This kind of attitude will leave you frustrated and tense. It is very important to understand that you are not going to shut your mind off or attain some supernatural state. You are just going to sit and be with whatever it is that arises. The instructions are very clear within the basic meditation process. The ego wants to make the meditation process more complicated then it is. Here are some basic instructions to get you started: 

• Take a comfortable seat. You can be in a chair or sit on the floor. If you are sitting on the floor, ensure that your knees are not higher than your hips. Your spine should be aligned, with your shoulders dropped and relaxed. Your ears should be centered overtop of the shoulder. 
  
• Find a point that you can rest your eyes on. 

1. If you are sitting on the floor, let that point be four feet in front of you. Make sure not to drop your chin when looking down at the floor. 
2. If you are sitting in a chair, focus your eyes straight ahead. Again, make sure your spine is properly aligned and you are maintaining an S-curve with your vertebrae. Poor posture will cause mental laziness and affect your alertness. 

• There are many meditations that have you close your eyes, but for this one keep your eyes open. It will help you stay alert and reduce sleepiness. 
  
• Now bring your attention to your breathing. Keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nostrils. 
  
• Focus on the way the air comes through your nostrils and down your throat, filling the lungs. Follow the breath as it leaves your body in the reverse order. 
  
• When your attention wanders from observing the breath—you have fallen into focusing on a thought – maybe even a stream of thoughts. 
  
• No big deal. Just recognize that you have left the present moment—label the thinking as thought and come back to an inhale. 
  
• Repeating this process of losing your focus on the breath and coming back is what creates a stronger and more stable mind. 
  
• Judging yourself or being hard on yourself when you are lost in thought will only cause more thought. Learning to touch thought with your awareness and return to your breathing will cultivate the ability to let go. 
  

The process of letting go of thought and coming back to the present moment can be viewed as a repetition. The more you catch yourself (repetitions) and come back to the present moment, the more your mind will become familiar with the present moment. This will create mental and emotional stability. 

Begin with 10 minutes a day—optimally in the morning upon awaking. This is when your mind is the most placid. You will also begin noticing that your mornings are less rushed and you feel more peaceful. Work towards 15 minutes or more and meditation will surely change your life! 

Pure Potential

The word spiritual comes from the Latin prefix, spiritus, which translates as breath. The central theme of spiritual practice is coming back to the present moment. You develop a relationship with what you experience when your attention is focused on something other than thought. The breath is the anchor of this process and is intimately connected to your state of mind. Even using the word spiritual can get in the way for many people. Some of the most spiritually advanced people I have met in my life don’t actually consider themselves spiritual or care to think of it as such. They are just good people who see beyond concepts. I love these people because there is no pretentiousness in who they are.  

We have all heard the statistic that the average human uses 7-9% of their brain. What is possible with the other 90%? Some say humans like Einstein, Jesus Christ and the Buddha tapped into the greater depths of their brains—explaining their superhuman feats. I am sure we could create a list of people who have been superhuman and all of them would tell us the same thing. Their feats, discoveries and superpowers came from a place beyond their own thought. If this is the case, why doesn’t every human being cultivate this power? 

When we draw our attention away from our thoughts and onto the breath, we become anchored in the now. As our minds start to become more placid, paradoxically we become more alert and attentive. Meditation is an exercise that strengthens our ability to stay in this state of presence. That is right—meditation is an exercise that strengthens our ability to connect to our basic essence as human beings. View meditation as lifting weights for the mind. The more often you return to the present moment, the more connected you become to your pure potential. Your pure potential is beyond concepts, thoughts and words. In Zen they call this state, “No mind”

Research shows that when people are meditating, they tend to move from a mind dominated by Beta waves (Busy) to a mind of Alpha and Theta waves (creative and relaxed). Research has also shown that activity between the right and left hemispheres of the brain balances out, thus we begin using both sides of the brain.  I’ve never met anyone who said “I just can’t seem to think enough.” I do meet people who tell me they just can’t seem to stop thinking so much. When the mind is flooded with too much thinking, stress and lack of clarity can become the theme for your life. 

Another misconception is that you have to sit to meditate. Ideally, this would be best, but you don’t have to do this to start. I meditate all the time. Driving in the car, washing dishes, listening to someone talk in a conversation. I love to meditate when I run. I will bring my attention to my breath and when it wanders to a thought, I am aware of it and return to focusing on the breath. You can do it! Before you move onto another website or your next task, try it. Bring your attention to the breath. Breathe in through the nose and feel the air come through the nostrils, down the throat inflating the lungs. Pause at the top of the inhale, exhale slowly feel the air as it leaves the lungs. Notice how you feel after doing this just once. Congratulations! You have just meditated! Now try incorporating this into other activities and you will begin noticing settling changes throughout your day.

Repetition is Key

I began rereading A New Earth because I wanted to be on the same page as everyone on the podcast. I am reading deeper into Tolle’s message this time around and the reason is simple—repetition. I read A New Earth two years ago and in the last two years my ability to be present and to not live so much in my head has matured. I am nothing special. It is just that practice and commitment creates depth.

Ryan Burnes, one of our teachers, is also rereading A New Earth. Just this morning I finished a 6am practice and I asked him,  “How is it the second time around?”   Ryan responded with “I’m wondering if I really read it the first time.”  We both laughed because we know that the wisdom Tolle expresses is at such a depth and clarity that every time you read it, the teachings will absorb farther than before, leaving you with a feeling that it is new and fresh.

I believe many people get this feeling from reading any book containing truth. You are in a different place within your life everyday, so reading anything that speaks of truth can be applied and practiced. Ryan then made the following comment as he pointed to my office, which contains a lot of books; “You have lots of new books in there—you don’t need to buy more books.  Just study the ones you have.”

There is an old Zen proverb that says “You can never step into the same river twice.”  Truth needs to be explored again and again. The one thing Hatha Yoga practice has taught me is that you can never do the same pose twice. Each day your mind, emotions, and body are different. If you are locked in thought, you might convince yourself that you are doing the same pose as yesterday, yet this is truly impossible if you are in a present state of mind.

Eckhart Tolle

Recently I have been all jazzed up over Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey joining forces on a podcast. Eckhart Tolle is a renowned spiritual teacher who has written books titled Power of Now, Stillness Speaks, and his latest, A New Earth. The podcast is a book review that takes callers and also answers e-mails pertaining to A New Earth. The podcast started off with over 700,000 listeners representing 190 countries. I know in the last 6 weeks, the number have grown but I can’t tell you what they are. During the first podcast, Oprah said this is the most exciting thing she has ever done. That statement took me back! 

Tolle poetically and simplistically writes and teaches about the importance of understanding the difference between thought and what lies behind thought: our presence or consciousness. His message parallels Jesus and the Buddha and his delivery is digestible and non-dogmatic if you are ready to listen with your consciousness. In all his books and in the podcast, he has said there are people that are just not ready to understand that they are not their thoughts, and come to the realization that there is something vaster than their thinking mind residing within them. He goes onto say that unless you have observed your thoughts and realized there is something that can view your thoughts and emotions like a 3rd party observer, the book may not be for you.   

I first read the book Power of Now in 2002 and have reread it several times over the years. The first time I read it I was at a yoga retreat in Utah, sitting 9600 feet above sea level with my legs kicked up. and I read the line, “You cannot think and feel at the same time”. This sentence has stayed within my awareness for the last six years. I don’t profess to be a spiritually advanced person and I continually get hung up in my thoughts and emotions. Over the last six weeks I have felt a deepening of his message and I have been talking with colleagues and friends about why this is happening. 

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