Author: Mireia Nuñez

What is the real purpose of meditation?

Emptying your mind of thought is not the purpose of meditation. The real purpose of meditation is self-reflection, which leads to self-discovery, which leads to self-realisation.

This process of self-realisation not only releases emotional blockages in the body, which are the precursors to disease, but also connects us with a deeper reality.

Our lives are very busy and the pace of life is fast. There is little time to think and reflect. For many of us, we have lost the connection with ourselves, our reactions and understanding how we feel.

Meditation understands and corrects the mind that created any imbalance

The purpose of meditation is to observe our minds, to understand what we do, why we do it and how to correct it. The mind can often work independently of time.

For example, when we think about a stressful past event, the body can start to produce stress chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol as if it occurred yesterday.

Re-visit past mistakes

Looking back at past mistakes, not in condemnation or blame, but to understand what we did or what others did to us (it is immaterial whether it comes from us or others, the mind responds the same way), is an important process to bring the mind to a state of balance.

Energy blockages are usually caused by our emotions. The mind creates them, the mind undoes them. As we reflect on ourselves and correct our minds, less repetition takes place. Many people talk of a repetitive pattern in their lives; this is because the mind is never corrected.

Achieve true balance

It is a simple process, but difficult to achieve as we don’t like to face our ‘faults’. For many years, we have been hard wired to deny or suppress our least attractive traits. It drives us deeper into ourselves and we try to suppress it. However, the true balancing act is to reduce what is plentiful and increase what is lacking. In other words, rather than suppress our least attractive traits, we should make the opposite stronger. For selfishness, balance with giving; for arrogance, practise humility; for anger, practise calmness or humour.

As the mind is corrected, the body is healed.

I’m concluding my three-part blog series on meditation with some words of encouragement. Some people believe that meditation is exclusively reserved for the most spiritual, disciplined or mentally-focused among us. This is false, as by adopting meditation and mindfulness techniques you can manage negative thoughts relatively simply; promoting the inner peace which exists inside you.

Trying to meditate

It may be that you are reluctant to try to meditate, or that you have started only to give up quickly after a few frustrating sessions. Maybe you believe that you don’t know how to do it or that you are doing it incorrectly. Meditation is a learned skill. It does require practice and determination that will lead to improvement. If you are struggling with a busy mind and find it hard to switch off, start by trying it in combination with chanting or Qi training. The Qi energy you receive during both will allow you to quieten the mind and have a much more successful and enjoyable meditation.

Meditation does not mean a blank mind

Some class members explain that when they start to meditate they are easily distracted. They sit down and close their eyes, and all they can think about is their to-do list, their job or the day they’ve just completed. So they give up. It may be difficult to achieve a completely blank mind; however, this doesn’t mean you aren’t meditating. Part of meditation is to accept distractions as part of the experience. Clearing inherited energy patterns can significantly improve your meditation. Our mind is made up of the conscious and subconscious. The conscious mind is made up of all the thoughts, feelings and emotions from our life experiences, whereas the subconscious is made up of all the thoughts, feelings and emotions from our ancestors’ lives.

Being in the moment

When we meditate we are trying to just be in the moment. Meditation allows us to be really present with ourselves. During meditation our attention is turned inward for a specific period of time, often by focusing on our own physical/mental experiences. Despite widely-believed myths, meditation is not a strict process. It does often have a planned start and end point, but it is actually simple to meditate, even for beginners.

Having no expectations

I encourage you to step away from thinking that something must be ‘achieved’. The most dramatic results will come from allowing things to naturally unfold. Release any expectations you may have about what meditation will or will not do for you. The simple act of observing your thoughts, rather than becoming embroiled in them, is a sufficient goal for your practice. Stay curious about what emerges without trying to analyse or judge.

There are different approaches that you may wish to try and see what resonates for you: some people respond well to visualisation, some to mantra-based work and others to a physical or movement-based style of meditation.

Reflect on your session

I would like to end this blog series by encouraging you to celebrate the time that you have spent meditating. When you’re finished, no matter how long you have committed to, smile. Be grateful for this time that you gave to yourself. End your meditation respectfully. Be sure to slowly ease into the physical state. Take as long as you need to do this and instead of resuming your physical activities immediately, consider spending some time reflecting upon your session. You may also want to just spend a few minutes expressing gratitude for what you have and what you enjoy in your life.

My previous blog reflected on the basic steps of starting a meditation practice. It’s very normal to struggle with a wandering mind during meditation time. Today I will talk about developing concentration. Without concentration it is impossible to meditate and a helpful technique to support concentration is to focus on the breath.

Focus on the breath

While a relatively simple suggestion, keeping your attention on the breath can be challenging. Attention is easily captured by a distraction, making you forget that you’re supposed to be paying attention to the breath. However, when you understand breathing physically, mentally and spiritually, then you will be able to use it to clear your mind very quickly. We all take breathing for granted. Everything breathes; taking in the new and removing the old. When you breathe in, you are taking both air and invisible energy into the body. When you breathe out, you remove carbon dioxide and toxins from your body. You can also use the breath to release old emotions and pain from your body. Everything including the universe is breathing. This movement of expansion and contraction is what keeps everything alive and in a state of balance and harmony. Therefore it is important to love and respect ourselves by paying attention and appreciating our breathing.

Focus on your abdomen

Start by focusing on your abdomen. The energy point just below the navel is called the ‘dangeon’. This is the most central point of our energy system and where our Qi energy is stored. We can imagine it as our battery. Start to breathe in deeply through your nose, letting your abdomen rise as it fills with air. Breathe out slowly through your nose, letting your abdomen fall. Continue to breathe deeply in and out focusing on the ‘dangeon’ and on your breath. You can count silently how long it takes you to breathe in. Then count how long it takes you to breathe out. If your breath in is shorter than your breath out, then try to lengthen it until they are both equal. For example, if your breath out is shorter, try and lengthen it to match the in breath. Once your breathing is even, continue to breathe in and out for ten minutes.

Focus on your dangeon

When thoughts come, don’t entertain them. Let them come and go without getting engaged. When you notice you are engaging with a thought or emotion, don’t worry about it – just gently return to the breath and focus on your dangeon. After some time you should feel your mind quieten. You might also start to feel a deep sense of stillness and peace. Breathing this way, while focusing on the dangeon, helps to correct the flow of Qi energy in the body, helping it to circulate in the right direction. This stills the mind and allows us to make a connection to our original mind or spirit.

Self-reflection

When we start to feel calm and peaceful, through breathing and focusing on the breath, then we are ready to use our mind in the right way. This is the best time to reflect on our day or on our recent actions and intentions. This is a process that can be very natural. When a thought comes, let your mind explore the situation from all angles, taking into account each person’s side of the story. If you see you did something wrong, you were disrespectful or unkind to others, then make a plan to rectify your actions. The more we do this, the better relationships we can build and the more positive energy we spread around us.

Chanting classes

Good breathing technique can also be developed in chanting and Qi classes. Some of the training steps work directly with the breath, using it to receive and circulate energy in the body, as well as open deep energy blockages. Chanting helps us to calm the mind and tune to the unique vibration of Qi, so we can start to receive energy and clear the mind. This vibration creates inner happiness and opens our heart, so we naturally want to share what we have with others. Chanting also strengthens the abdomen or ‘dangeon’, which is very important for both our health and vitality.

You can find out more about chanting and Qi classes here.