A Perspective on Meditation

Let's face it! There is a ton of information around meditation, mindset. etc. Everywhere you look and on every platform there is some form of meditation that claims to be more promising over others. I mean, since when did the very thing that is "supposed" to settle you, end up in some form of vain competition for your participation? Why has "meditation" become another thing to do? And, if you are one of the individuals that says, "Well, I'm not very good at it", or "I can't just sit there and do nothing", then this is the blog post for you.

First, in order to figure our why you haven't been able to engage meditation in a way that you would consider successful, we must redefine what meditation really is. In the West, we have a very interesting reputation of taking ancient/eastern concepts and principles and retranslating them in our own way of thinking. When this is done much of the original understandings of many practices have lost their true luster. When western civilization thinks of meditation, the instructions are distilled down into a form that leaves many feeling powerless. Sit down in a quiet place and watch your thoughts. However, when we are able to reintroduce the eastern mindset into the principle of meditation, a new perspective is realized.

In Sanskrit the word meditate is, Dhyāna. Which can be translated as, contemplation. My favorite definition of this word is summed up by Dr. Joe Dispenza. According to Dr. Joe Dispenza, meditation simply means "to become familiar with". Now I know you're already asking, familiar with what? The answer is very simple. Meditation suggests that you become more familiar with YOU. Yep, it's really that simple. Sitting still and watching your thoughts is not meditation. In fact, for some, it's torture because they get stuck in the "doing" which is the antithesis of what meditation is all about. The principle of meditation is not about doing, but about BEING. It's about getting familiar with who you are when everything that pulls on you is stripped away and all that remains is you and the breath in your body. It's watching the waves roll over the beach sands or listening to the birds chirp during the seasons. It's watering a plant, planting a garden, or writing in your gratitude journal. It's the deep breath you take when you're with your favorite person. It's the invitation to truly Let Go and Just Be. Meditation is about becoming familiar with life as you participate with it in gratitude. Now defining it this way, with this perspective, takes all of the busyness out of the principle. You're already doing enough. My question is, Are you 'Being"?