Why & How To Meditate

Hey there Friends in this video I talk about the origins of meditation, the benefits and how you can explore meditation. I also dispel some myths around meditation. Meditation really can be for everyone and it has such great health benefits to support us living in this modern day. Anyone can do and you can do it anywhere.

Transcript

Hello I'm Amanda and welcome to this video about meditation. So I thought that I would jump on here and give my take on the benefits of meditation, How you might like to proceed with meditating, Where meditation came from and maybe dispel a few of the myths around meditation. I know there are a few around and we might also enjoy meditating together just for five minutes. Okay so let's get started. So maybe what we should start with is the origins of meditation. It's really hard to know, It's really really difficult to know. The research that I have done shows that meditation was documented as far back as 1500 BC in the Vedas and you know where did it come from? Maybe from you know sitting around the campfire and being absorbed by the flames. That's very meditative isn't it? And a lot of meditation techniques were handed down from the teacher directly to the student, So not necessarily written about. The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditatum which means to ponder, To ponder. How beautiful is that? Hmm that was something that I'd never heard before. Yeah so when I first started meditating back back around maybe 25 years ago, Regularly, I remember my teachers explaining to us in my second yoga teacher training. They explained that the postures that we were doing in our yoga practice were really just a vehicle to be able to sit strong and tall and you know in a very supple and relaxed body in meditation. Interesting. I found that really interesting and I never knew that that was the reason why we practice these postures. I knew that you know I wanted to be strong, I knew that I wanted to be flexible, I knew that I wanted to be supple but I didn't realize that there was a little roadmap and I guess we could go into the eight limbs of yoga right here but we're not going to because that's a whole other video which I could go into. So let's get into the benefits of meditation. There are so many, So many benefits to meditation and there's a lot of scientific study being done on this right here right now. So meditation is known to reduce anxiety, Reduce depression, Reduce stress. I know that that's definitely the case for me. That's one of the reasons that I meditate, That's one of the reasons that I sit still every day and ponder. There is definitely a sense of enhanced self-awareness that comes from meditation. There's also a definite sense of self-compassion and compassion towards others that can be developed through practices like loving-kindness and offering metta. I feel like a sense of self-compassion is definitely, Definitely developed during meditation because we give ourselves time and space to really acknowledge and allow whatever is happening, Whatever is coming through to come through and let it be revealed for us to see, Hear, Taste, Touch and experience. Meditation is said to aid sleep. It can help to enhance or extend our attention span. It's also been known to reduce blood pressure which is really helpful. Now why would we do meditation? Why would we begin a practice of meditation? I was writing some notes about this because I find it fascinating that I feel called to sit still, That I want to sit still. And we as humans have survived for thousands of years and we have these highly developed nervous systems and our nervous system is constantly scanning, Constantly scanning where we are in space, Surveying the scene for any danger. Our first priority is survival. Our first priority is safety. So even while I'm sitting here talking to you I might be aware of a dog barking and part of my brain is thinking, I wonder why that dog is barking? And that's the nervous system kind of gearing up, Noticing what's going on. We have these highly developed nervous systems and we have two sides of that. So we have the sympathetic side of the nervous system where we react, We fight, We flight, We fend off our attacker. And then the other side, The parasympathetic side of the nervous system where we get to rest and digest. Now these days we are all busy, We're all in busy mode and often we can get into this perpetual cycle where our sympathetic side of the nervous system is highly activated. So our button gets pushed constantly and our body is releasing chemicals, Hormones, That means that we're highly activated. Meditation is such a great tool for helping to reduce stress and reduce those chemical reactions within the body. Now there's a type of meditation for everyone, There really is. You could do walking meditation, You could do mindfulness meditation, You could sit and watch the breath, Which we're going to do in a moment. You could have a mantra. So for a busy mind it's wonderful to use mantra because you're repeating the phrase or the sound or the beej repetitively for any number of times, It might be 108 if you've got a mala sound or nada meditation. So listening to the sound of a gong or listening to the sound of music, How beautiful. You could listen to the sounds in nature, That's a meditation. You could sit with your eyes open and watch a leaf blowing in the wind. Other types of meditation are body scan, Yoga nidra, Like sleep yoga, Tai chi, Qigong, Yoga. Yoga is a moving meditation. So there are so many types of meditation, I'm sure that you could find one that would suit you. Now in terms of myths about meditation, I'm only going to pick a few, But one myth that I'd like to dispel here is that we must sit still or stay still when we meditate. One of my favorite meditation teachers is Sally Kempton and who has passed but her teachings live on in many of her students. She's a wonderful, Wonderful teacher. Go and have a look at her stuff. She talked about in one of her books and meditation for the love of it, The Shakti energy moving through the body and I know that for me swaying a little during meditation and having the permission to be able to do that feels wonderful. So just swaying and moving as you need to. I can remember when I first started meditating many years ago now and we would have to sit in a certain position and we would have to repeat a specific mantra that had been given to us and I remember thinking this is like torture because I had pain in my shoulder, The mantra didn't resonate with me and I was told that we must do this because that was meditation and I am so glad for so many teachers who have given me the permission, The capacity to choose what is right for me at any given moment. So you know you might choose to do mantra meditation one day and then the walking meditation the next day. You might hum like in my previous video. Humming is a form of meditation, Beautiful form of meditation. Meditating on that sound vibrating through the entire body, The wonderful way of meditating. So sitting still, Repeating the same practice over and over again. I don't agree with that so I really feel like I remember I had a teacher many many years ago and people from Brisbane would probably know of him. His name was Bert Weir and he developed a course called The Center Within and he is another person that has passed on to the other realms but I remember talking to him many years ago and he talked about the fact that he got bored very quickly and I have to agree that I feel like I do too. And so you know different stimulation and taking care of my knees in different ways I found to be very very helpful. So explore, Explore different types, Different styles, Different teachers to see what resonates with you and you know don't necessarily stick to the same practice. You know try different practices. There was one more thing, The big one, The big one that meditation is about stilling your mind. Oh it's so not, It's so not. It's about watching, It's about listening, It's about sensing into what is happening, What is going on for you right at this moment. So if we try to stop thought then we start to get into this push-pull, This little battle and we don't need to. The tool or the skill that we're cultivating is the ability to observe. We're cultivating the observer, That wide open space that we all have. So if you have any questions or comments feel free to pop them below and now we're going to do a little practice. I hope you enjoy it and you don't necessarily have to sit or lay down in any particular way. You could be standing. You do you. So you find a comfortable way of receiving the next few minutes and again I'm going to hit my timer so just one moment. So I am hitting my timer for five minutes. We're going to do five minutes of meditation practice together. You can have your eyes open or closed. You could be seated in a chair. You could be seated on a cushion like me. You could be standing up. You could be laying on your bed. You do whatever feels good to you. All right? So we are going to do a practice right now which is a breath practice. We are simply going to watch and observe the breath and I'm going to talk you through it. Alrighty? So join me. Get comfortable. I'm going to press go or press start now and I'll guide you through it. Okay? Here we go. So take a moment to wriggle and jiggle as much as you need to and if you want to close your eyes feel free. Soften your shoulders away from your ears and for a moment sense the parts of your body that are in contact with the ground, The bed, The chair, Align your spine right to the crown of your head and then relax your muscles down and then sense the space that you're in, Whether you're outside or you're in a room. Sense the space you're in and begin to perceive sound. The sounds that are maybe outside the room, Inside the room, Inside your body and then draw your attention to the feel, The sensation, The sound of your own breathing and watch your body breathing. Breathing out and in. Noticing if you can the way your breath naturally knows how to breathe. Notice where your body expands or contracts. Notice where your body moves as you receive breath. Notice if you feel like moving or not. Notice if you feel some aches or discomfort, Tingling or tightness and acknowledge your whole experience. So if you notice something that's irritating you instead of closing the door to that open the door and welcome the experience in. Become the observer simply watching your current experience. And if your mind drifts off, As the mind will do, Gently nudge it back, Reel it in and come back to watching the breath, Feeling the breath, Inhaling and exhaling. There's nothing else we need to do. You're just being with our current experience. A few more breaths. Noticing thought arising, Sound awareness. And coming into this space of great allowing. Allowing your body to be, Your mind to be, Your feelings to be, Your breath. And then when you're ready begin to deepen your breath. Maybe move your head a little side to side, Sway a little. And then begin to allow your eyelids to open, Pause and allow life to come to you. The wonderful thing about meditating is we don't need to label it good or bad. It just is as it is. Five minutes. Five minutes is how long we were sitting watching the breath, Simple techniques. Sometimes meditating is challenging and sometimes it feels easier to slip into. I would like to hear what you thought of this video, If it was helpful, If you learned anything new and if you'd like to experience different types of meditation with me. I'd love to make some shorter videos where we explore different styles of meditation. Thank you for your practice. Have a great day or night wherever you are. Namaste.