Anna Patrick's Blog, page 256
September 5, 2015
How to Meditate
Assume a comfortable position with your body. The most recommended posture for meditation is seated cross-legged. This is because it balances support for the body and wakefulness for the mind. However, you can lie down, be seated in a chair, or adopt another similar posture. The main emphasis for meditation posture is that it allows you to focus your attention on the meditation without getting distracted by the body.
Close your eyes and breathe naturally.
Focus your attention on the space directly ahead of you as the spot between your eyebrows. In sanskrit, the word for meditation is ‘dhyana’ and it essentially means ‘to pay attention to.’ There are many meditation techniques around but what they all depend on is the application of attention. Here, you want to be gentle with your attention. Do not strain your eyes but be relaxed and attentive. If looking between your eyebrows is a strain, try aiming toward the tip of your nose instead.
Do not deliberately imagine or think about anything. Remain composed, relaxed, and attentive to the space between your eyebrows. The purpose of meditation is silence and stillness. However, there is a difference between actively thinking and “having” thoughts. Here the instruction is to refrain from actively thinking. This does not mean thoughts should be suppressed from arising. In meditation, your attention might be focused and relaxed and without thought. Then a thought might arise out of nowhere. This doesn’t mean something bad or wrong happened. You do not need to push the thought away in order to “preserve” or “get to” inner silence. If you do not follow the thought by thinking about it, then it will leave the way it came. If you do follow the thought and find yourself engaged in a train of thoughts, gently bring your attention back to the spot between your eyes and refocus with a calm breath. In this way, you free your mind from the compulsion to chew needlessly on phenomena appearing in your consciousness.
Set a timer. Do not get up until the timer sounds. Along with thoughts, many feelings may get churned up during meditation. Some of those feelings may be angry, anxious, energetic, or restless. Do not allow them to control you. If you simply remain seated and attentive with eyes closed, you will be victorious over any thought or feeling that arises. It takes more doing to quit a meditation than to see it through to its end.Common Issues:
My thoughts just don’t stop. They can even get more out of control. What am I doing wrong? For your whole life, perhaps also others before it, your mind has acquired many habits and imprints. When you sit for meditation, those mental phenomena begin to enter your conscious awareness. That is how they “leave” or are “dissolved.” This doesn’t mean you forget important things or knowledge but rather the limits you have unknowingly placed on your perceptions are being released. At first, this can be overwhelming. It is not a sign of something wrong, it just requires you to apply sustained effort in the meditation practice.
How can I stop my thoughts? All you can do is rest your attention and refrain from deliberate thinking. Be patient with your mind and reign in your attention as often as necessary when you find yourself lost in thought. Once rested and focused, your attention simply witnesses whatever thoughts appear. They will settle into silence in their own time. Moments of silence and contentment will occur and deepen.
When meditating, I keep having an emotional experience of pain, sadness, obsession, anger, jealousy, etc. How can I make it go away? Like thoughts, these emotions are also imprints in consciousness that you have been carrying with you unknowingly. Your body is physically activating pathways associated with experiences that are not actually happening. In meditation, those pathways are allowed to burn themselves out. You cannot push them away or escape from them. All you can do is give them the space to be there. Like watching a thief, you bear witness to them so as to no longer lose perspective to them. They too will dissipate in time.
My body parts go numb when I sit for so long. What can I do? It’s fine to stretch out and massage your limbs if necessary during meditation. Try to keep your eyes closed and attention focused when you do.
I feel sleepy when I try to meditate. Why does this happen? When the mind is not being actively engaged, it can be in the habit of going to sleep. Whenever you feel sleepy during meditation, get up and splash some water on your face and go back to the meditation. If you haven’t been getting enough sleep then forget the meditation and take a nap.
Can I focus on my breath or something else instead of the space between my eyebrows? Meditation’s key is application of attention. Attention can be applied to the flow of breath, an image, or a mantra. However, as you practice, your awareness will settle down into increasing silence and stillness. Using the space between your eyes is a silent and still point of focus. Whereas using the breath is a moving point of focus. This has its own benefits and use too. Having practiced several forms of meditation, I like to recommend this way since it worked for me best. That said, feel free to explore in order to find what works for you. Whatever you decide, I would suggest practicing that technique for six weeks before assessing its value to you.Namaste
A great post from lazy yogi, who I was lucky enough to meet with in person last week in NYC! A warm soul I was happy to share great conversation and great tea with.
Anna
September 4, 2015
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September 3, 2015
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September 2, 2015
Meditations In Wonderland UpdateMeditations In Wonderland is...
Meditations In Wonderland Update
Meditations In Wonderland is still available for pre-order on Amazon (here) and Barnes&Noble (here), and the lucky ones (I’m so grateful for you) that pre-ordered first received advanced copies in the mail!
If you received an advanced copy, let me know what you think, share your thoughts and photos with me! If you take a selfie with my book, like Courtney did (and Winston and Maisy the adorable frenchies), I’m happy to share it on my blog!
All orders in as of a few days ago will go out on the publication date, October 6th. And how cute are Ana’s frenchies? You might remember Cezar and I used to babysit Winston when we lived in Boston! In Ana’s second photo, the quote on the bracelet is from the book:
A soul that could shed its leaves fearlessly without the fear of becoming nothing.
Just want to send hugs to all of you who pre-ordered the book, who are thinking of doing so, who plan on reading it when it comes out in October, or who have sent me kind messages along the way. You all have left your finger prints on this book, and I gave you all a special dedication in it that I hope you’ll find.
Happy Wonderlanding,
Anna
I’m back!Hi beautiful souls! Just wanted to drop you all a note...
I’m back!
Hi beautiful souls! Just wanted to drop you all a note that the move happened, I’m resurfacing and taking a breath again, and here’s a little taste of my favorite part of the apartment - our living room! If you follow me on Snapchat (@loveannapatrick) you caught a few glimpses already. I love connecting with you guys there!
Just thought I would share, and thank you all for the wonderful well-wishes as we took the plunge and uprooted. The first day Cezar and I were in the apartment I got a delivery of two boxes of my book, it all happened at once! Alice was waiting there, ready to welcome me home with open arms.
Speaking of the book, I’m putting out another note in a few minutes!
Happy to be settling in, and catching up with my inbox shortly,
Anna
