Three common meditation myths
1) ”It’s about focus and concentration.” Do you remember “Do – or do not. There is no try” from Yoda? This was written by George Lucas, a meditator who used the technique I teach. We don’t try to meditate – this practice is the opposite of the ‘strain/pain for gain’ mentality. It is surprising to me as a teacher how hard it can be for adults to let go of “effort=outcome”. Kids are better at this, and this is why is a quicker process for them to learn!
When we learn a mantra based meditation, we have a tool AND a process to make our settling into deeper layers of awareness, easy and accessible for anyone. Yes, even you, the one who tried and tried and diligently tried to follow the apps and be good at focus and the concentration (and if you did, like all humans, you found greater levels of stress and confusion as you couldn’t control your mind, and thought you were a failure. Sounds familiar?). See point 3 for more on why that didn’t work!
2) ”Mindfulness and meditation are the same thing.” These words are used interchangeably, since the popular rise of ‘Mindfulness meditation’ as written about by Kabat Zinn. Mindfulness is a way of being, a description of consciousness state. We can walk with mindfulness, or mindfully do the washing up. Meditation is a practice, something that has a beginning and end. Mindfulness is an outcome of a regular meditation practice.
My students report being more aware of the taste of their food. They become more present to the emotions and sensations they experience in the world, and find themselves navigating them more gracefully. They become the witness to themselves, able to interact successfully with external demands not beholden or controlled by them. A regular practice of Vedic meditation will increase your spontaneous access to mindfulness. And not just mindfulness – Vedic Meditation increases your access to bliss and creativity. Using the mantra and stepping beyond understanding in our practice, we return to our “eyes-open life” with more expansion: in understanding, capability, sensitivity and resilience.
3) “Meditation is hard”. This misconception comes from the belief that you can only reach inner peace as a monk spending decades up mountains. This misconception also comes from the teaching of mindfulness, which occasionally allows you to experience transcendence, but is mostly spent thinking about thinking, keeping the mind active and near the surface of awareness.
Vedic Meditation is easy because it goes with the nature of the brain, not against it. It is hard to persuade my child to do things he doesn’t want to, like leave his toys and walk to school. It is hard to persuade me to go for a run. However, if we frame it as ‘let’s chase the baddies’, we make going to school a game, and I even run to share his delight and keep him motivated. It is a joyful way to start the day – the job is done and a shared moment was enjoyed. In Vedic Meditation, we allow ourselves to be playful and childish: we say ‘simple, natural and innocent’. The mind’s nature is to think, so why would we expect it to stop? We give it a mantra to think, and the mantra’s nature is to become more subtle. As the mantra gets quieter, the mind follows it and settles into quieter levels. It is naturally drawn to follow the mantra – just as I follow Henry’s adventures and am drawn effortlessly to run in their direction.
Group Meditation each Sunday 6pm. Come and see for yourself!
