Foundations 4: The "M" Word, Meditation

Meditation. Yeah, I was getting to it. Honestly, this can be a little further down the list but at the same time, it can be before Presence. Either way, we have to get to this topic one way or another.

So all the books out there say, "Meditation is key to spirituality and manifesting the life you want." Yes and no.

We have to understand that there are hundreds of different meditation practices out there. And that is probably a gross understatement.

I find there are three main styles of meditation.

1. Introspective

2. Expansive

3. Active

There are different techniques for each of those styles. And they don't all do the same thing. Active, for example, is maintaining a calm and receptive mindset while being discerning of the situation around you. This type of meditation style helps with Presence in the Present.

Expansive helps you to connect and realize how much you are A PART OF not APART FROM the world around you. This is a great style to use for Syncing with your Body. Because when you are in sync you gain the ability to perceive on the liminal levels what is going on around you and how to adapt.

Ritual prepares you for your day, your week, a ceremony, etc. It is a time to look within and take account of yourself and your state of being (mind, body, emotions, spirit, etc.). So this is a great time to use an Introspective style of meditation.

Sitting on a rock in nature beside a river isn't going to change your life. Spending 15, 30, or 120 minutes a day quietly sitting isn't going to make you more or less spiritual. Regular meditative practice, ritualistic maybe, and using the right style of meditation with techniques that work for you (they aren't one size fits all) is a tool. Not the end all be all.

With all that being said, let me add some caution to learning meditation techniques. Teachers or books that say it's easy are just trying to get your money. Teachers or books who say, "If nothing changed you didn't do it right," are just trying to get your money. Teachers or books who promise to change your life in 15 minutes are just trying to get your money.

Developing a spiritual life or just the life you want takes time, patience, and a whole lot of work. So be cautious and discerning of what influences you are allowing in. The world is at the start of a spiritual awakening. And there are sharks in the water.

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the three styles I spoke of earlier.

Introspective

This style of meditation is the most commonly seen form or style. Examples of this include:

• Chakra Meditations

• Mindfulness Meditations

• Body Scanning

• Mind Programming

Introspective meditation is setting aside time to find a sense of inner peace. This is when you open your conscious mind to the messages of your subconscious mind. Typically what is seen when using this meditation is allowing your mind to wander and either focusing on a thought, emotion, or memory. These foci can either come from what arises from your subconscious or you can sit with an intention and let the subconscious thoughts just flow around you while you keep your mind directed at your goal. You are enacting your mind to process things you may be holding onto while also directing your thoughts toward a specific goal.

Now let’s say your goal is to make more money. This doesn’t mean you are sitting there saying to yourself over and over, “I will start to make more money. I will start to make more money.” What you are doing is outlining that you have a goal and you are directing your thoughts to develop a process to attain that goal. The stuff that flows around you is the stuff that could distract you or make you procrastinate in developing an action plan. Instead of being a constant repetition of your goal in your head what it will look like is, “My goal is to make more money. How can I do that? Oh, I can crochet. I can start making simple crochet items for my friends. I can list myself on Etsy or Michael’s Maker. How do I charge? Well, yarn is this much so I need to know how much that is by yard then….” I could keep going. But that’s generally what a good goal-setting mediation looks like. You have a goal. You ask yourself a question about the goal. You answer the question. And you keep going with that process.

Another example of how Introspective meditation can be used is in Mind Programming meditations. You can set up rules and parameters for specific triggers. I have five affirmations to live by.

1. I am resourceful, responsible, intuitive, and wise.

2. I harm not lest I be harmed, but I shall defend the defenseless.

3. I guide and am guided on the truest path which yields great without taking excessively.

4. I speak truthfully and honestly without causing pain or embarrassment unnecessarily.

5. I am discerning, emotionally open, and receptive without judgment towards others.

I used mind-programming meditation techniques years ago to forge a pact between my mind and my spirit. If I step out of integrity with any of those five affirmations I will forget the one I have gone against. I check in with myself once every couple of weeks to make sure they are still there. If I cannot remember one, I go into a deeper Introspective meditation technique to reflect on where I messed up. I work to correct that situation in my spirit so that I can get back in alignment with my integrity of self.

Techniques that people imitate often, like the monks chanting an om, may not be for goal setting. It could be used to just release the baggage of emotions, events, and thoughts you have held on to. Viewing them in your mind and letting them flow away. Introspective has many uses and benefits, just understand that meditation alone doesn’t change your circumstances.

Expansive

This style is the second most common, but, in my opinion, misunderstood. Expansive meditation techniques are the complete opposite of Introspective. Instead of looking within you are looking outside of yourself. I, personally, find the Expansive style to be more needed in today’s society than the Introspective style. Introspective has tons of resources, books, and teachers out there. Expansive is something people still either find on their own or find in some obscure text or website.

“Well, obviously it’s just going out in nature, so it cannot be that big of a deal.”

It is so much more than just being out in nature! It is a realization that you have a part to play in the world around you. Harmony is the goal of Expansive techniques. You learn that the ant and the wolf are as vital as the mushroom and the dead leaf. Every part is, as I said earlier, A PART of A GREATER WHOLE. Nothing is apart from anything else, it is all a part of everything else. This style of meditation teaches you how to adapt and maintain your own identity while still showing you how you are included and how you contribute to the whole.

This is the first meditation style I learned. When I was much younger the only thing I really knew about meditation was focus on one thing. I would go out into the woods behind our house and sit next to a tree. I would focus on the tree for different periods, studying it. I would go back inside and write down everything I could remember about the tree. At first, it was things like bark patterns, the number of limbs or leaves I counted, if there was grass or dirt or moss at the roots, etc. As I continued to do this though I started to notice that my observations were getting more broad.

I started notating how many squirrels I saw, describing the different birds that would land on the tree, the different insects I would see, and the way the light and shadows changed and danced around the tree…it kind of became a lot. But it was worth it because I realized how important that one tree was. I no longer looked at the tree as just a tree. I saw it as being a microcosm of life as though it was a new world in and of itself among hundreds of other worlds. And the woods stopped being woods and became a universe nestled in my backyard. Everything is at war and peace simultaneously, creating this beautiful scene of harmony.

The definitions of Harmony can be summarized to say different parts coming together as a whole. Music is a great example of this.

Peace, on the other hand, is not synonymous with harmony. Peace happens when there are no disturbances, turmoil, or conflict.

In nature, there is ALWAYS conflict or disturbances. Insects and invertebrates attack each other for territory or to eat each other. The cycle of predator and prey in general exists every day. Birds singing is them flirting. Limbs break off of trees all the time from either squirrel jumping on the wrong one or a strong wind blowing through. These limbs come crashing down on the ground tearing through other limbs, ripping off leaves, and creating shockwaves we rarely notice but equal to earthquakes for smaller creatures. This all still comes together fluidly and we accept it as nature because it is harmonious.

Again, that is the goal of the Expansive meditation style. To learn what harmony is and how you can be in harmony with the microcosm surrounding you. Other examples of Expansive meditation techniques can be described as out-of-body Experiences. Including:

• Astral Projection

• Lucid Dreaming

• Guided Meditations

Active

This style of meditation is greatly underestimated and not spoken of nearly enough. Classic examples include:

• Yoga

• Tai Chi as exercise

• Shamanic Journey/Flight

• Qi Gong

The purpose of active meditation is to direct and flow energetic patterns. Shamanic journey for example is not an Out of Body experience. It is a completely in-body experience. Dancing, singing, drumming, etc is done to separate the journeyer from the normal physical mindset and open the veils to the spiritual realms. The visions induced during the actions become a physical experience rather than just a movie scene or visualization.

Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong are ways of channeling the flow of energy within the body to create a balance throughout or to target problem areas and release knotted-up or bound-up energy.

Active meditation goes back to being aware of your body. When we are in sync we can feel energetic patterns around us and consciously reflow or reshape the energy as needed. Active meditation is done over time and consistently grows into a daily state of being.

Remember in Rituals we talked about someone with a good Temperament. That state of being is achieved because they have a grasp on events happening around them. That temperament is developed from how they utilized Active meditation without even realizing it. When done consciously it creates a learned behavior that carries on.

But wait, there’s more. Active styles of meditation can become confusing with Introspective and Expansive. That’s because Active styles are taking the other two styles and applying them to movements or your daily activities. There’s this growing idea that to meditate you have to sit with your back perfectly straight or lay down perfectly straight. That notion was adopted from Chakra meditations which use that form to align the spine and allow the energy to flow through the chakras. It is NOT necessary for every single form of meditation.

I usually tell people to get as comfortable as possible for Introspective or Expansive meditations when they are starting. This way they will have as few distractions as possible. I don’t like the “sit up straight and push through the discomfort” mindset. It's, again, something I find counterintuitive and counterproductive. If I am doing chakra meditations with someone, sure because that is a specific technique developed over centuries. But general mindfulness and expansive…honey just get comfy. I promise it works better that way.

Ultimately meditation is about focus and listening. When you are focused on memorizing something you are meditating, for example, the Bible says to meditate on the word. Art projects are great stress relief systems because they cause us to focus on what we are doing. Once you get into a rhythm of meditation you start to notice a shift where you will be doing something and suddenly time has gone by and you feel much better. You entered a state of meditation. You are also in a state where you can "listen" to the signals you have received and stored. This is how you gain guidance through meditative practice.

Meditation isn’t necessarily easy. It is easy to find information but developing a ritualistic meditation practice takes a lot of discipline. That’s again why I put it later in topics because everything discussed before this can help to get your rhythms flowing. AND meditation is not the end all be all. It bears repeating. You should develop the skill because it is a component of a lot of what you will be doing in your practices. Mostly because it trains you to create a shift in your consciousness from which you can access new layers of this great big onion of the world we live in.

Thank you again for reading. I know this was a long one, but it was all important. As always, don’t be afraid to explore and experiment with different techniques from each style. Mix and match them too. Or just be a little adventurous and develop your own.