How
many times have I heard someone say that they cannot meditate? Plenty.
We think that if the laundry list of thoughts show up in our mind during
a meditation then we must be doing it wrong.
I am here to say (or at least to write) that that is simply
not true. I rather like the quote from Kim Boykin and Gerald G. May, “Zen meditation is often misunderstood as a practice of stopping thoughts or having no thoughts, but it’s actually a practice of noticing thoughts. Zen is not about eliminating thoughts, but illuminating them.”
OK, so now that that is settled, if you are sitting in meditation and your monkey mind begins rambling its seemingly endless tirade, instead of getting angry with yourself, simply recognize what is coming in. Honor it. Even thank it for showing up. Then tell it, rather matter-of-factly, that you are going back to your focus and then watch it drift away. If another thought comes in simply repeat the process.
not true. I rather like the quote from Kim Boykin and Gerald G. May, “Zen meditation is often misunderstood as a practice of stopping thoughts or having no thoughts, but it’s actually a practice of noticing thoughts. Zen is not about eliminating thoughts, but illuminating them.”
OK, so now that that is settled, if you are sitting in meditation and your monkey mind begins rambling its seemingly endless tirade, instead of getting angry with yourself, simply recognize what is coming in. Honor it. Even thank it for showing up. Then tell it, rather matter-of-factly, that you are going back to your focus and then watch it drift away. If another thought comes in simply repeat the process.
It does not matter how
many thoughts show up. What matters is
your reaction to them—and frankly that doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme
of things either. The Universe isn’t
sitting in judgment for your inability to sit quietly—only you are doing
that. If you release the judgment, you
will likely find that meditation is not only relaxing, it is also a powerful
Source of information for you.
I once struggled with
resolving an issue with setting up my new computer. It was in French and my French is about on
par with a second or third year high school student. In other words, I am hardly fluent. That, in addition with the fact that I barely
know how to do anything on my computer outside of the basics (even if it were
in English) you can imagine I was not having an easy time with it—and that is
putting it mildly. After several days of
trying to find the answer on Google, connecting on chat rooms and asking my
dear brother for the umpteenth time another myriad of computer questions, I was
still flummoxed.
I got to the point,
where I begrudgingly sat on the floor facing my problem head on—right between
my old American computer that would die after five minutes of use and the new
French computer that I could barely understand. At a loss for what to do, I almost gave up. That is when I decided to consciously
breathe. I next closed my eyes and asked
the Universe for its help. I mean, let’s
face it, the Universe knows everything, right? Why couldn’t I get a little help with my
computer problem?
After a minute or two,
I felt an energy move into the crown of my head. It didn’t “seem” as though I had the answer
yet, but I felt as though I was finished.
So, I opened my eyes, moved my fingers to the keyboard and clicked open
a window on my new screen. I saw an
unchecked box that I hadn’t noticed before.
I didn’t know what it said, but I checked it anyway. And guess what? The whole thing worked. Yep, meditation can even help with resolving our computer issues!
So, needless to say, I
am a big fan of the meditative practice.
At least once a day, if not twice (or sometimes even more) I can be found getting
my meditation groove on. I have a
tendency to change things up a bit, focusing on different things that are
important to me in the moment. Lately, I
have been doing things even more differently than usual. That’s because, I have been guided to listen
to classical music during my meditation.
Classical music has
long been attributed to improving our memory and therefore our IQs and I figured
that was a good thing. It also has
powerful healing properties. It is
energy after all. Sound doesn’t simply
go in through our ears; it showers our entire energetic and physical bodies, as
well. Even in the West, most university
hospitals have a music therapy department.
Additionally, classical music helps with spatial-temporal reasoning
skills. Dr. Alfred Tomatis calls this
the Mozart Effect. [1] I bet Mozart had no idea he would have such
an effect on people, centuries after he left this plane of existence.
According to an
article written by D. Holt, a study shows that patients who underwent
operations with a local anesthetic exhibited 29% less anxiety if classical
music was playing during the surgery. [2]
Furthermore, the site Light Bridge
Music relays how our auric fields shift while listening to classical
music. Plus, this type of music can also induce
altered states of consciousness (or ASCs) [3] —and that is what
surprised me most when I began my musical meditation journey.
For those of you who
know me, I am not only a Shamanic teacher, I am a Shamanic practitioner and
moving through the journey state is such a profoundly enriching experience for
me. I have found that when I meditate
with classical music, I move deeply (and I mean deeply) into my Source. Even
if the thoughts traverse their way to me, I am able to say to them, “Thank you
very much, but I am going back to the music”—and I do. Instead of being in a car or a rollercoaster,
I am on a ride of sound waves—connecting with each note as I go. It has truly been a wonderful experience.
Not only have I been
more relaxed and more connected, there has been another added benefit that I wasn’t
expecting. For you see, over the last year I have been
tired from working at my sales job that pays the bills. It’s been challenging for me to find the
energy for my Spiritual work, including my writing. Even though I only work part-time, when I come
home after working a shift, all I want to do is sleep. On my days off, it's the same thing—all I want to do is
sleep. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of
time for writing. However, as I began
listening to the classical music, my energy has started to come back. Truth be told, I haven’t felt this
invigorated in nearly a year. I actually
have the energy to spend more time on what I love and I have more energy to
spend time with friends too—and those are both very good things indeed!
So
if you are feeling like trying something new, why not whip out your iTunes and
play a little classical music while you are meditating. You may be surprised to see how much it helps
to shift not only your meditation practice, but your physical, emotional and
energetic levels, as well. Amen to that!
Thank
you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
This blog entry comes from my monthly e-Newsletter. If you would like to receive an inspirational story in your inbox every month, please sign up at http://lisatunney.com/enews.php.
This blog entry comes from my monthly e-Newsletter. If you would like to receive an inspirational story in your inbox every month, please sign up at http://lisatunney.com/enews.php.
[1] Music has Healing Properties by Mahmood Saberi http://gulfnews.com/life-style/health/music-has-healing-properties-1.1142820
[2] The Healing Effects of Music Proven in Tests by D. Holt http://www.naturalnews.com/035632_music_sound_healing_medicine.html#ixzz2a07iLfVk
[3]The
Power of Music by Light Bridge Music http://www.lightbridgemusic.com/power.htm
