Today's thought of the morning arose regarding Meditation. Many of us have a general idea of what meditation is or looks like and most people immediately think of the good old classic image of someone in comfy yoga style clothes sitting on their zafu (sitting pillow) in lotus pose with fingers in a mudra position (think finger touching thumb) while trying to keep the mind from thinking any thoughts or focus on anything that isn't emptiness or silence.
I am here to tell you that is simply one generalized perspective and pretty misunderstood. Meditation takes many forms and presents it's differently for each person. Some thrive on specific meditations forms/practices (my favorite is Yoga Nidras! The none sleep one's.) while others find that meditation is something that already exists within the range of their daily or lifestyle activities (sports/exercise/hobbies etc).
I was introduced to a neat little meditation App called HeadSpace just at the cusp of what was going to turn into my pretty intense spiritual awaking (blog to come shortly on this). Head space helped me realize that the mind does not stop talking but rather you learn to be with that head chatter, learn to ignore it and learn to be easy with yourself on the journey of meditation without having those unrealistic expectation of what you might have thought meditation should be.
As my meditation journey progressed the last 3 years I have also found that meditation isn't linear in it's appearance. There are some stages in my process of life where I DO NOT have it in myself to sit all calmly and silently on my cushion with breathwork or mind clearing. That form, however, works great for grounding me and calming me in times of anxiety and overwhelm; It allows me to reconnect back to me. I have learned that meditation must fit into the cycles of me.
For me meditation is simply retrospection/introspection without interruptions. It's a space to get quiet and allow things beyond my daily mind to surface. It's reflection in a space that allows a much higher mind and clearer perspective to shine through with better wisdom and clarity than the mind that operates during the daily bump and grind. It's softer, it's kinder, it's chalked full of perspective and often time's brings answers to things that have been troubling me.
What does my meditation look like? It takes many forms. Most time's it's just me with my coffee cozy on the couch in silence first thing in the morning before i have to wake my child for our morning routine (I purposely wake up 1hr early every morning to have this time). Other times I am doing what one would see as classic meditation; Lotus pose on a cushion trying to clear my mind and listen to my body. Other times it's while i'm doing my crafting hobbies, driving in the car, drawing mandalas, doing yin stretches or qigong.
None of those times do I intentionally go looking for the meditative mind (aside from the classic meditation) but they are times that i've realized, for myself, the meditative mind presents itself. These are the forms of meditation that naturally occur in the cycles of me.
What does meditation look like for you? What is your definition of meditation?
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