Meditation: the path to inner peace?

The practice of meditation predates all religious traditions and is thought to encourage the mind into it’s most natural state; open, alert and at rest. It’s known to be beneficial for concentration, confidence and stress and well as improve energy, general health and well-being. Sounds great, but how do you do it? My baby steps down the path of meditation have taught me that it’s a truly individual experience, and it’s important that you find the right technique for you.

Busy Minds

For the past two years I have suffered with insomnia. It’s not a constant problem but there are some nights when I literally don’t sleep for one minute, and I turn up at work looking and feeling like a zombie (without being able to blame mojitos and a night on the dance floor). My sleepless nights are definitely stress induced, at times when work is busy or a relationship is bothering me. I’ve tried everything from excessive exercise to pints of port to induce slumber, with very little success.

A friend of mine suggested I try meditation. A friend of hers had suffered depression, taken up meditation and noticed a dramatic difference to her state of mind within three months. I was interested to find out more, as to that point my experience of meditation had been ‘ohm-ing’ at the start of a yoga class, losing the feeling in my feet from sitting in the uncomfortable lotus position and trying to stifle giggles.

Type ‘meditation’ into Google, and you’ll see there isn’t just one way to meditate. The practice of meditation is thousands of years old and there are probably as many ways to meditate. It was evident that achieving inner peace isn’t as simple as crossing your legs and humming; I needed to do my research if I was to find the right technique for me.

For the Patient – Shambhala Meditation

Shambhala is a type of spiritual practice of Tibetan lineage. I went to one of the free ‘open evenings’ at The London Shambhala Meditation Centre in Clapham. Here you can learn how to meditate and have the chance to chat with other experienced meditators over tea and biscuits before a group meditation session.

First we were taught how to sit correctly. I was relieved to find out the lotus position isn’t essential as long as your spine is straight, shoulders are relaxed and chest is open. There are special meditation cushions available which make it easier to maintain this posture.

The purpose of meditation is to turn down the volume on the incessant chatter that most of us experience in our head. When the mind becomes still the mind the body relaxes and we feel more balanced, calm and at peace. Of course wanting to switch our minds off is one thing, and actually doing it something much more challenging. ‘Meditation is a journey’ we are told by our teacher. We can’t expect to transcend into a higher state of consciousness after half an hour, so we shouldn’t be too tough on ourselves if we find our minds keep ‘chatting’. Like any exercise, you need to practice to improve your skill.

The group meditation was ninety minutes, though I only managed to stay for half. The session was broken up into twenty-minute stages. We started off sitting in rows and were told to silently focus on a point on the floor in front of us. Making the mind quiet is even harder when you have visual stimulus and I couldn’t help but be distracted by the people and objects around me.

Dynamic meditation is a little bit different...

The next stage of the meditation involved walking in single file in a circle around the room. Again, it required great effort not to let the mind wander on to where that woman got her funky yoga pants from, or whether the bearded man would be better looking without his excessive facial hair. I quickly became frustrated that I wasn’t anywhere close to a meditative state, and even though the teacher had warned that meditation requires patience, my ego demands quick results and I knew that Shambhala was not my path to finding personal bliss.

For the Energetic  – Dynamic Meditation

Dynamic meditation is a type of active meditation, developed by an Indian sage called Osho. He taught that clearing the mind does not have to involve sitting quietly, but we can achieve the same level of clarity, awareness and peace through a series of physical and emotional activities.

Dynamic meditation is most effective practiced at the start of the day and takes about an hour. There are 5 stages:

● For 10 minutes – Begin the meditation by focusing on your breath – inhale naturally and exhale sharply with force.

● For 10 minutes – After hard breathing is the expression stage where you simply let go of all emotions – spontaneously and without thinking. This could mean laughing, screaming, or running around the room!

● For 10 minutes – This is the ‘action’ stage and involves jumping up and down shouting the mantra ‘hoo hoo hoo’. Use all of your energy, land flat on your feet each time and feel the energy centre around your pelvis.

● For 15 minutes – Stop jumping suddenly and hold your position. Do not move at all and be aware of the energy inside and around you.

● For 15 minutes – Dance! Let your body start to move where and how it wants. Express your joy and gratitude for life, and carry the feelings of happiness with you to the day ahead.

This meditation is very physical and if you’ve never done it before, prepare to feel like you’ve done a 3-hour gym session the next day! Once you can let go of you inhibitions this meditation can be incredibly releasing but definitely not one to do before bedtime.

For the Busy – Vedic Meditation

The Veda is the body of knowledge from ancient India that is the source of yoga, mediation, and Ayurvedic medicine. The London Meditation Centre runs free introductory talks onVedic Meditation a few times a month that explain how the technique works and the effects on the mind, body and soul.

The technique taught is very much aimed at the busy city dweller. It is practiced for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes again in the afternoon. It can be done anywhere as long as you can sit comfortably in an upright position with your eyes closed. My daily commute on the tube has now become my sacred meditation time!

Vedic meditation is usually taught over three or four days, each lesson lasting around a couple of hours. The first day involves a small ceremony to honour the tradition of Vedic Meditation and its lineage. During this ceremony the meditator is given a mantra, and by thinking of this mantra they can bring their mind into a quiet state of alertness.

During the meditation breathing can slow and the body feels heavy. Sometimes the mind will appear busy, but this can just be a result of tension releasing from the body and appearing as thoughts. It’s important to let thoughts leave the mind gently and not hold on to them and start actively thinking. After twenty minutes gently open your eyes, start to move the body and expect to feel refreshed and rested.

True relaxation at a meditation retreat

I particularly liked this course as it covers the scientific research into Vedic meditation and specifically what happens physiologically during meditation. Being skeptical by nature, I found it reassuring to know there were some hard facts to explain my feelings of inner peace! Even after you complete the course, the teachers are still available if you need help with your practice, at no extra cost.

For the Enthusiast – Retreats and Vipassana

For those wanting to explore meditation further or who feel ready to take their practice to the next level, there are retreats all over the world where you can dedicate whole weeks or even months to deepening your meditation.

In Miasto, Italy the Institute for Meditation and Spiritual Growth runs a range of meditation retreats where you can experience several different kinds of meditation. Although normally you would not practice four different meditations in one day, by experimenting and playing you can find the type of meditation that best suits you.

And if it’s purification and full enlightenment that you’re after, then why not try Vipassana. This is definitely the most hardcore of meditations, which involves a ten-day vow of silence, no contact with the opposite sex, no reading, writing, physical activity, intoxicants and no physical contact of any sort. This technique aims to draw attention to the changing nature of body and mind and the meditator ‘experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness.’

Although the thought of being able to ‘face life’s tensions and problems in a calm and balanced way’ sounds extremely appealing, I don’t think I’m ready to give up my mojitos and late night dancing just yet!