What Is Meditation?

What meditation is not…

• Something we actually ‘do’ - It is less about doing and more about a state and way of ‘being’, a state of ‘thoughtless awareness’.

 

• About not thinking, and ‘zoning out’ – You might think you can’t meditate because you can’t stop thinking, (this can be why some people lose their interest or motivation for meditation). You cannot simply stop your thoughts, instead, meditation involves noticing and becoming aware of the flow of thoughts through your mind and developing a new relationship with them.

 

• ‘Relaxation’ - Meditation requires mental focus and energy, (whereas relaxation occurs when your mind is at rest and the physiological functions that consume energy slow down). During meditation, your mind may feel spacious, but you remain awake, consciously present and focussed.​
   

• A ‘quick fix’ - Meditation is not a thing you do to ‘correct’ your life or make you feel ’better’, it’s not a ‘crutch’, or the ‘be all and end all’. Meditation is a tool you use to reconnect to yourself, a way of checking in with where you are, a point of reflection, so you can feel what has been going on in your daily life and what is happening in your body.

 

• Easy for everyone else except you – You might think it’s easy for everybody else to meditate, while you struggle to know where to begin. Guidelines for how long to sit in meditation and how often can really help. The easiest way to begin meditation is to find a quiet place to be by yourself, sit quietly and focus on your breath. Eventually, meditation becomes much more than just ‘sitting still’, it becomes a way of growing your capacity for insight and compassion, developing clarity, your ability to see things as they are, and to have the strength of mind to stay in the moment.

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What meditation is…

A technique of focusing or clearing your mind using a combination of mental and physical techniques.

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• A practice of focused concentration, bringing yourself back to the present moment, repeatedly.

• A set of techniques to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention.

• A means of transforming the mind, sharpening focus, and attention, connecting to the body and breath, developing acceptance of difficult emotions, and even altering consciousness.

• The practice of encouraging and developing concentration, clarity, emotional positivity, and a calm seeing of the true nature of things.

• A transformative experience that can lead to a new understanding of life.

• Non-religious – while many spiritual traditions include meditation as part of their teachings, the practice itself doesn’t belong to any religion or faith. Though ancient in origin, meditation is practiced today in cultures all over the world to create a sense of peace, calm and inner harmony.

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