The Best Kept Secret to Meditation Every Beginning Meditator Should Know
Ever notice how the mind tends to drift to the most random things? Be it the things one has yet to check off their to-do list to the seemingly never-ending responsibilities and obligations that require immediate attention, the mind is liable to wander into every other tense in time, making it one of the most frustrating parts of meditation. If you ever wonder what it is that everyone else knows you don’t, rest assured you are not alone. This piece will delve into the best-kept secret every beginning meditator should know.
Meditation Practice
Meditation is paying in-distractable attention to where one is directing their awareness on an (aka energy) moment-by-moment (aka present moment awareness) basis. This can be accomplished by walking, sitting, lying down, or being immersed in creative expressions (art, music, writing) that center your awareness within the present moment (aka flow state). Meditation is any practice that empowers you to go beyond the pull of distractions to singularly center your attention in the now. In other words, it empowers you to extract your awareness from distractions to be fully present for what activity you are engaged, in without dispersing your attention into multiple different directions (aka multitasking). Likewise, attentive awareness calls for you to close out your awareness of distractions and focus solely on the present moment, which is most commonly represented by one faculty that can only occur in the present, the breath. Unlike the mind, which can revert from the past to the future and back again, the breath is the one faculty that can exclusively occur in the present.
Not Your Typical Practice
Ever been so engaged in an activity, it figuratively made you come alive to the point where you became so intertwined with the activity that it felt as if time stood still. Perhaps you are an artist, musician, painter, writer, or any of many artistic creators that have found yourself so caught up that practically no form of distraction pries your attention away from your desired intent. If this resonates, you, my dear, have experienced and practiced meditation. Hence, you are more equipped than you think to drop into practice. Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not just a one size fits all approach with clearly defined limitations; it is a fluid practice that can be done in many ways.
No matter how much time, effort, and energy we invest in focusing on the past or directing our energy to hopes or fears of the future, all we ever have is the moment now. Likewise, meditation empowers you to reclaim your power by exercising non-judgment, observing where you are directing your attention, and redirecting it anytime it doesn’t align with your desired intent. In the case of formal mediation (aka the poised positions and postures that typically come to mind), it is the practice of bringing both the mind and body into a state of stillness.
Notably, one must continue the flow of thoughts. However, the body and mind are interconnected because if you bring the body to a state of stillness, the mind will follow. Hence, this is often why one is called to lower their gaze or close their eyes, as it supports you to close your awareness to external distractions. Theoretically, having volition (aka control) over one’s attention seems simple. However, like most things, simple doesn’t equate to easy. As multidimensional beings, we have been conditioned to do multiple different things at the same dam time (aka multitasking). However, multitasking is a conditioned habit that can make it a challenge to focus solely on the present. As with many things, a challenge doesn’t mean impossible it simply means that it takes time, effort, and practice to develop and refine our innate ability to do just that.
The Best Kept Secret to Meditation
The good news is you do not have to entertain every thought that passes through your awareness. Thankfully we are not the substance of our thoughts, as you do not think thoughts, you obtain them from the universal field. Likewise, everything you consume by way of the things you observe and take in through your physical senses seeps into your consciousness, making indelible impressions in your subconscious.
Ever fallen asleep with the TV on in the background only to reimagine and replay the programming (aka the movie or show you wait) in your dreams? Perhaps as a young child, you were on the receiving end of some of the most disempowering statements that a teacher could ever speak to a child “You’ll never achieve XYZ,” or the infamous “You’ll never amount to anything.” From childhood to adulthood and everything in between, you’ve likely been on the receiving end of others questioning your worthiness. The more attention one gives disempowering thoughts and declarations, the more it forms an impression in the subconscious until you heal it (aka release it).
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to believe all of your thoughts. Just because something passes through your awareness doesn’t mean you must give it your energy and attention. Where your attention goes, your energy flows, so the moment you withdraw your attention, you take your power back. So how does one know if and when to withdraw their attention? Thought that arises that causes you to question your worthiness is low frequency. Likewise, high vibrational thoughts are uplifting and affirm the truth of your being; anything else is just a distraction.
Be it conscious or unconscious, the thoughts you entertain make their way into your subconscious, making you much more susceptible for them to rise to the forefront of your awareness when you least expect it. Hence, this is why you will likely experience the seemingly random flow of thoughts and distractions that rally to compete for your attention the moment you drop into practice.
So naturally, the more low vibrational thoughts one entertains, internalizes, and recycles within their thoughts, the more liable it is to resurface repeatedly. The secret that every beginning meditator should know is that you can agree to disagree with your thoughts by observing and accepting them for what they are without trying to interpret, overanalyze, justify, or rationalize them to be anything other than what they are, release any judgment and allow them to freely pass through your awareness without internalizing it.
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