Meditation has been described as a mental training that awakes your mind, to reveal your ultimate truth. In the process, you will awaken your Natural Presence—a renewed sense of mindfulness and recognition of what is happening around you. But reaching within you to reveal your Natural Presence is not easy. It requires practice and self-awareness. In this two-part post, I will teach you meditative strategies that will ultimately make meditation a success.
1. Have the right attitude.
Meditation is not just about ticking your checklist to make sure everything is accounted for. In order to awaken your Natural Presence, you must have the correct attitude of sincerity and earnestness. You must be motivated by inner peace and love. More than anything, unconditional friendliness must pervade your meditation practice.
2. Find a container for your meditation.
A container for meditation. This means setting a time and finding a space where you will meditate. You can choose to meditate at the start of the day, where your mind is calm and not beset with worries. You can also choose to commit at the end of the day, right before retiring and calling it a day. Whatever you choose, what ultimately matters is that you are able to commit your time for a whole 15 to 45 minutes every day.
As for the right space, find one that is quiet. It must be a place where you can retreat with peace. You can even decorate it with photos, candles, and anything that will elicit the right attitude for meditation.
3. Clarify your intention and posture.
Every day before starting your meditation practice, it would be helpful to recall why it is important to keep meditation. What draws you to the practice? Reach deep within you, and reflect on your heart’s aspirations. Treat this as a daily reflection, some sort of prayer, that you will need to free yourself spiritually.
With everything set in place, the next important thing is to set your posture right. Your posture will define your sense of alertness, another important aspect of meditation. There are several postures that you can try to bring a sense of alertness. You can sit on a cushion, kneel on bench as you are upright and balanced, or sit straight on a chair.
Alertness, however, is not enough. You must also be open and receptive. Once you have the proper posture, you must take the effort to relax every fiber of muscle in your body. Focus on areas of your body with too much tension, and just ease the tension. You can rest your hands comfortably on your lap. It doesn’t matter if your eyes are open or close, if your gaze is soft or intent, as long as you feel a sense of openness.
Letting go: this is an important part of meditation. Before you even start, take full breaths, and let your worries go with every exhalation. In the process, relax your hands, stomach, and shoulders. One great way to make yourself more open is by scanning your body, starting with your scalp down to your toes. As you do the body scan, focus on parts of your body where you can relax the tension and let go.
