7 things you MUST do while meditating.
Have you been wanting to meditate but aren’t quite sure what to do?
Then this blog post is for you.
7 things you must do while meditating
Don’t worry, you don’t need any extra tools or supplies, just a willingness to learn a new way to quiet your mind. Perhaps you’ve felt called to start a meditation practice but aren’t sure where to start. Maybe you find yourself able to sit for 3 hours in daily meditation but are looking for some tips to bring something else to your meditations. Either way, you are in the right place.
In future blog posts we will be going over the theory & how to meditate, but first let’s address a pressing questions that may be on your mind…..
What are you supposed to DO while you’re meditating?
Here are the top 7 things you must do while meditating
Stay focused on the meditation.
This may sound like a walk in the park, but don’t get to ahead of yourself here. We are a distracted species to put it mildly & with good reason too. Maybe you’re like me & you feel pulled in various directions throughout your day. Keep something in mind in any meditation you are only focusing on 1 of 2 things.
On an object- concentrative meditations ask you to focus as fully as you can on the object of meditation.
On a technique- technique oriented meditations ask you to focus as fully as you can on performing the technique.
The act of meditation itself is just about experiencing specific states of mind & placing your awareness & attention to control your focus. It is not about clearing your mind & eliminating your thoughts. We will get to thoughts shortly as what I have to say may surprise you.
Deal with the wandering mind.
Contrary to popular belief & poor new age teaching meditation is not about clearing your mind because the mind does what the mind does best, wanders. So in order to deal with the wandering mind awareness is going to be your best friend. Being aware the mind has wandered in the first place is key.
Catching a wandering mind takes practice so if you don’t notice it at first, be gentle & with some patience you will strengthen this practice. A wandering mind is a natural part of life but sometimes it can get out of hand but with a practice such as meditation you can train that beautiful brain of yours to work in your favor. Since we are not in the business of shaming the brain for doing its job, this brings us nicely to the next point.
Notice any distractions & thoughts.
What are distractions? There are 3 categories of distractions
Mental sensations (thoughts, ideas, memories, worries, plans, the grocery list, etc.)
Bodily sensations (sounds, sights, smells, tastes & kinesthetic sensations)
Mixed mental & bodily sensations (emotions)
What are thoughts? Now this may blow your mind a bit, as it did mine when I came across this information. Thoughts are no-thing, they are NOTHING. Thoughts exist in the realm of the unconscious, along with all other ideas & inspirations that we assume comes from us, we will be getting deeper into that teaching in another post.
What if you looked at thoughts like the songs you hear on the radio? What happens if you don’t like the song that comes on the radio? Do you get mad at the station for playing the wrong song or do you simply change the station?
Think of it this way, the song is the thought, the radio station is your emotional frequency. If you do not like the thought, change your emotional frequency. All you need to do is aim for the next most believable emotion. So if you’re feeling fear for example (which by the way is just a cover emotion for something else) the next most believable emotions perhaps is anger. It might be too much of a stretch to go directly from fear into acceptance so all you have to do is find your next most believable emotion.
Remember we aren’t here to only experience joy, there is an entire gambit of emotion for us to explore, discover & create with, but more on that another day.
Three things you can do when you notice a wondering mind, distractions & thoughts:
Notice the mind has wandered.
Return the mind to the thing you were supposed to be focusing on.
Hold the mind on the thing that you were supposed to be focusing on.
So now that you’ve noticed the wondering mind, the distractions, the thoughts, although not real they can certainly feel very real.
How do you move past these?
Observe without engaging.
By being aware of the stimuli but not engaging with it. I know this is easier said than done somedays but I promise it does get easier like anything, with some focused & dedicated practice. Think back to a time when you were learning to ride a bike. Where you able to just hop on & just go or did you need some practice learning how to balance your body? I’m not a gambling lady but I would bet the first few times were shaky & maybe you even fell off. Did you get back on or did you abandon bike riding all together?
Much like learning a new skill, like riding a bike or learning to meditate, these things take practice. Who told you that you had to be good at something the first time you try it or else it means…… (insert limiting belief here)?
Unless you are meditating in a sensory deprivation chamber you will hear the sounds of the room you are in but you get to decide if you want to engage with them or not. Just allow the stimuli to arise, exist & then disappear. Keep in mind the more you engage with a thought the more it pulls you in.
Allow the thoughts to pass you by.
What if you looked at thoughts like trains at a station? Each coming & going to a specific predestined direction. Meditation allows you to sit in the train station watching the thought trains go by, by just observing them & allowing it to pass you by. If you stay at the train station long enough & visit it often you may even start to notice those trains (thought) have a schedule they like to run on.
So, why does this matter? If we’re just observing why do we need to even care about this schedule? For clarity amongst other things such as understanding & an awareness of how your mind works & wanders. By strengthening a practice of observing your thoughts during meditation you will be able to stop allowing the distractions of life to move you off course in the moments you aren’t meditating.
Letting go vs repressing.
Repression is unhealthy & leads to bottling things up.
Letting go is healthy & is pretty much the opposite of repressing.
When thoughts come up in meditation& they will, you have 3 basic options:
Think about it- we don’t need to avoid our thoughts becaseue what we resist persists. There are times you will need to think about your thoughts & what is coming up for you. This option is best saved for moments when you aren’t meditating.
Be aware of it, passively, without engaging it. This is the ideal option you could aim for.
Ignore it & pretend it’s not there, consciously pushing it back into your subconscious. This is the least healthiest option.
Practice non-judgmental awareness.
Let’s start to control those emotions & stop reacting out of habit by practicing non-judgmental awareness. I personally find it easy to not judge what I see before me but find it difficult to not place judgments on myself, some days go smoother than others but we’re all human. Nobody said we had to be perfect, so if you do find yourself judging, just place your focus of attention somewhere else.
This may be an unpopular opinion but we are the ones in control of our emotions. Emotions only control us the amount we allow them to. It is far too easy to blame our emotional state on the people around us, society, on the kids, the dog, the spouse etc. that we forget we can choose how we want to feel & react in any given moment.
You have 3 basic options on how you can respond or react emotionally when meditating:
React instinctually/habitually.
Remain still & stable emotionally.
Choose your own emotional response.
I hope you enjoyed these 7 things you must do while meditating.
To see the video that accompanies this blog post HERE
