Daily meditation matters

In this blog I’m going to discuss why I think that a short daily meditation can serve to any person who would like to find and sustain harmony in his life. Through meditation you learn to calm your mind and achieve greater clarity. It also helps you to reduce stress and integrate into your being the experiences that life brings you day after day. Once your mind can be still for some time, it is easier to connect with your consciousness, your true self.

I think these are enough strong reasons for people in general, Qigong practitioners or not, to make a meditation practice their priority and their daily habit. Regular meditation would improve the quality of people’s lives enormously.

In the end of this blog I will describe shortly a simple sitting meditation method which is used in a Taoist tradition.

Different traditions, different meditation methods

I would like to mention that there are many different explanations and interpretations of what meditation is, especially if you compare different traditions. Keep in mind also that different methods of meditation are used for different goals. But for the purpose of this blog this is not relevant as we will stay at the basics.

Short meditation for anyone

People have very different aims in their lives and therefore also different priorities. In Qigong and Nei Gong practice a meditation is an important part of regular daily practice and it is indispensable on the path of self-cultivation. I’m perfectly aware that even inside this specific area there are not many people whose major priority is inner cultivation and they are willing to find enough time to explore human mind, energy and consciousness in a deeper way.

For an average person or practitioner whose desire is mainly to calm his/her mind and to reduce stress a simple meditation practice of 15-30 minutes per day is enough if practiced correctly.

Meditation and stress

Today people complain constantly about being stressed. They can present you the whole list of persons and situations that are »guilty« for the stress they are experiencing. But doing so they put themselves in a helpless position as in the majority of cases they are not able to control other people and circumstances.

But we can choose to see the situation from another perspective that probably many won’t like. The stress that you experience depends from your level of ability to cope with different (stressful) situations. And yes, you can improve this ability in different ways and meditation is one of the best. Your susceptibility for stress can be greatly reduced by practicing meditation daily.

When your mind is scattered, you are experiencing stress. You can’t be calm and experience stress.

When day after day in your morning meditation you experience some moments of calmness and silence inside yourself, you start to introduce gradually these qualities also in your daily life . There are more and more moments of harmonious experiences happening suddenly as consequence of your more peaceful mind.

Inner silence

I could say that today majority of people hardly spend any time in silence. Even if there is no noise around them, they still have their constant inner monologue. Meditation helps you to dissolve into emptiness the buzzing thoughts, which are predominantly unimportant, but they make your mind scattered and tense.

Clear mind

A meditation is the best way to cultivate your mind. Remember that a short daily meditation is for your mind equally important as is for your physical body a shower, brushing one’s teeth… You have to maintain clean your physical body, but also your mind. Meditation is the »water« for cleaning and purifying your mind.

A regular daily meditation, even so short as 15 minutes, starts to bring more clarity in your mind.

Clear mind will enable you to see through the veil of false beliefs that you have picked up on your path of education, socialization, from media etc. In order to make changes in your life you have to become aware of them. And a new clarity will help you to find and start practicing new beliefs which will be more in harmony with the real you.

In our society it is mind that is emphasized and valued above all. Therefore it is funny to me that this same society neglects methods for maintaining the mind clear and efficient. But I must admit that recently there are changes on the horizon, for example numerous initiatives to make a meditation an integral part of school curriculum. 🙂

Meditation as the first on priority list

If somebody who is complaining about stress, lack of time, decreased focus, unhappiness, without purpose in life… would ask me how he could start changing his situation I would recommend him to start with a short daily meditation as the first thing in the morning.

Start with simple meditation

Here I present in short a simple Taoist meditation practice which can be easily practiced by anyone. This meditation represents basis for more advanced methods. Maybe I will describe it more in detail some other time but to start this should be enough.

Find a quiet place where no one will disturb you. You can sit on the floor with legs crossed using a zafu or some other pillow or sit on a chair, if you prefer. Sit comfortably but with your spine straight. Your palms are folded in front of your lower part of abdomen (the region of lower Dantian).

Close your eyes and relax. Breathe abdominally and through nose. Let your mind calm down. Focus really softly on your breathing without forcing anything. Be the observer of your breathing rather than the actor. Let your breath be silent and slow..

Let go all the thoughts that will eventually come (and they will). Notice short moments, seconds, when your mind »pauses«, becomes silent and there are no thoughts. Be patient, don’t force anything, don’t expect anything. For now just breathe and enjoy in the silence…

For the beginning it would be enough if you sit like this for 15 minutes. Gradually you can increase the time of your practice to 20 or 30 minutes. As I said, if in all these time you experience few seconds of silence you are on a right track.

Gradual process

As usually I would like to emphasize that a meditation is a process in which you evolve gradually. There are no short cuts. Be persistent but patient and don’t force anything. The effects of meditation are accumulative and therefore as you progress with your daily routine you will notice changes and improvements. Regular short meditation are therefore more effective than an occasional long meditation which might sometimes even increase your tensions.

Morning meditation

We, me and Petar, usually warmly recommend to meditate in the morning before you start with other daily engagements. This is usually the time when your mind is relatively calm and your vibration is higher. But if you really can’t, do the best you can.

Besides the morning meditation you might discover how beneficial it is to sit in silence after you have came from your job or before you go to sleep. A lot of your physical and mental tensions will release, you will sleep better and I expect that also during the next morning meditation you will be more centered and calm than usual.

Conclusion

I could summarize the message of this blog saying that if you want to change your life in better, start to meditate. Maybe this seems an exaggeration to you but it is not. 🙂

May the Qi be with You!

Smiljana