Discover the Power of Meditation – Part 1
April 14, 2024
By Helena Keenan, Day Spa Manager at Polynesian Spa
Embark on a journey of self-discovery through Mindfulness Meditation! In this blog post, which is part 1 of 4 blog posts, I invite you to explore the profound benefits of integrating meditation into your daily routine. Let’s simplify the complexities of meditation and focus on two main approaches: Direct and Indirect. Join me as we delve into the four essential steps of meditation—Preparation, Relaxation, Mindfulness, and Stillness—based on my personal journey as both a meditation enthusiast and teacher.
To begin, let’s look at the different approaches to meditation but for the purpose of this article I want to keep it simple and describe the following two main approaches:
Direct – sitting silently, eyes closed in a darkened room for a period time, essentially no method.
Indirect – or gradual approach using a clearly defined set of steps as taught to me by my Mindfulness Meditation teacher Ian Gawler.
Step 1. Preparation
Step 2. Relaxation
Step 3. Mindfulness
Step 4. Stillness
I want to share with you my experience, as both meditation devotee and teacher, of how learning and using these steps helped me to deepen and maintain my practice. This will be the first of several short pieces describing my experience.
First Step – Preparation
Preparation encompasses several important aspects – environment, posture, motivation and attitude.
Environment
It helps immensely to create a calm, peaceful space to meditate. Some people have the personal space to be able to set aside a room specifically for this purpose. It could be that you have a chair in your bedroom or like me, I use a corner of my living room. You may need the support of your family to ensure you are given the time you need to sit and practice meditation. I meditate at night just before going to bed. I share my home with two housemates who are quietly occupied in their own rooms. Whatever you choose, you will need the place to create a regular practice. Any new habit requires careful thought to make it into a successful daily practice. Consider the best time and place for you to do this.
Posture
I sit on my couch in a relaxed but upright position using cushions to prop me up. My feet flat on the floor, my hands in my lap or resting palm down on my thighs. You can also use a chair or sit cross legged on the floor if you are able to do this comfortably. You want to be comfortable enough to sit still for an extended period but not too comfortable as to fall asleep.
Motivation
It is very helpful to establishing your practice if you have clear motivation on why you are meditating as this will be what carries you though the dry times when you want to give up. Everyone’s motivation is different. We can all point to reducing stress as our motivation but how stress shows up in our lives is very personal. Finding that uniquely personal motivation is essential.
Attitude
Often when people are attending a meditation class for the first time they bring with them built-in resistance to learning that shows up in the form of a lot of “I cant’s”… “I can’t because – I’m too busy, too tired, my mind won’t stop, I can’t sit still” and so on. My teacher has a whole chapter in his book addressing the internal obstacles that pop up when we try to bring a steadier, disciplined approach to our thinking through the practice of mindfulness meditation.
These are three of the main ones – boredom, impatience and sleepiness. For now, I just want to highlight that coming across these obstacles to beginning a meditation practice is perfectly normal and happens to everyone and we should not let these obstacles stop us from continuing to learn to meditate. The best attitude to start with is the “beginner’s mind” where we hold an open and curious attitude to just see what happens when we sit and close our eyes and bring our awareness inward.
