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EMBRACING MINDFULNESS AS MEDITATION

VOL.25

TRANSITIONING FROM RIGIDITY TO FLOW


For a long time, I wanted to address meditation and this feels like a good time since I am now beginning to prepare and share with you various practices that I classify as meditations. In the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of people advocating for meditation and mindfulness practices. These tools that they are sharing are great and I, myself, am a huge advocate of meditation and use it everyday to keep me centred and grounded in some way, shape or form.


As a meditation teacher, trainer, and practitioner, I've observed how the wellness industry frequently misinterprets the fundamental nature of meditation. Our society's capitalistic mentality fixates on success and tangible results, leading us to quantify our progress through various metrics. We become preoccupied with counting the number of days we meditate and showcasing our achievements, creating unnecessary pressure. Missing even a single day can evoke feelings of guilt and stress, which goes against the essence of meditation—a practice meant to alleviate such burdens. Meditation should be a liberating experience, freeing us from the constraints of performance and comparison. Instead of seeking perfection or validation, it should be embraced as a personal journey of inner exploration and growth. By letting go of the need to constantly measure and prove ourselves, we can truly embrace the transformative power of meditation, finding peace and tranquillity within.


Meditation should serve as a means to calm our minds and gain clarity and perspective amid life's constant "noise." However, by fixating on meeting self-imposed obligations in our practice, we inadvertently contribute to our own stress. Meditation was never meant to be an obligation; it's an opportunity to connect with ourselves wherever we are on our journey. Instead of adding to our pressures, meditation should gradually alleviate them in the long run. It is a tool to find peace and inner harmony, free from the burden of performance or achieving specific outcomes.


Meditation is a reflective and contemplative practice that involves training the mind to focus and redirect thoughts, leading to a state of mental clarity, emotional calmness, and increased self-awareness. It is an ancient practice that can be found in various cultures and spiritual traditions around the world.


Mindfulness serves as our vessel to embrace the present moment and establish a profound connection with our bodies and the surrounding world.

During meditation, individuals typically sit or assume a comfortable position and engage in specific techniques or exercises. The focus can be on various elements such as the breath, a mantra, a specific object, or simply observing thoughts and sensations without attachment.


The primary goal of meditation is to cultivate a heightened sense of mindfulness, where one becomes more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgement. By doing so, individuals can gain insights into their own minds, develop a greater understanding of themselves, and learn to respond to life's challenges with more clarity and equanimity.


Meditation has been associated with numerous benefits, both physical and mental, including stress reduction, improved concentration, emotional regulation, better sleep, and an overall sense of well-being. It is important to note that meditation is a skill that may require regular practice and patience to experience its full benefits. There are many different forms of meditation, each with its own techniques and objectives, allowing individuals to find a practice that resonates best with them.


If we examine the true meaning of meditation as a form of mindfulness, it raises the question of why meditation is often synonymous with mindfulness itself. This is a query I encounter frequently and have grappled with personally. Amidst the inundation of capitalist behaviour and the prevalence of easy access to meditation apps, the authentic essence of these practices seems to have become lost.


There are currently hundreds of meditation apps catering to people's desire to meditate, but what receives less attention, and what I want to emphasise, is the practice of mindfulness in daily life.


My journey with meditation began when I sought to extract more from my day and alleviate haunting thoughts. At 19, burdened with anxiety and paranoia, I lived a fast-paced, stress-filled life, thinking it was the path to thriving. I explored various types of yoga classes, although they didn't truly resonate with me. Yet, I cherished the moments of meditation and rest at the end. I loved how I could detach from reality and focus solely on my breath. It gave me fleeting feelings of empowerment and control.


Over the years, the fusion of yoga and meditation consistently surfaced in my experiences. I endured the passive-aggressive yoga teachers and their love and light rhetoric to reach those precious 10 minutes of peace at the end of class, reminiscent of the tranquillity I felt when alone in nature.


During my travels to different parts of Asia, I encountered Buddhism through interactions with Thai monks who taught me to view the world through the lens of beauty. I learned that my life could embody beauty through stillness, reduced talking, and heightened awareness.


My explorations extended to India (where I ended up living in my later years), the Himalayas, and Punjab just to name a few. It was within these locations where I discovered Kundalini Yoga—an incredibly potent form of meditation that swiftly dissolved my haunting thoughts. It offered relief from anxiety that persisted long after the practice ended.


For me, every modality I have practised and trained in has been an endeavour to comprehend their intricacies and boundlessness. I am not seeking to become exceptionally flexible and embrace the namaste culture. My aim is not to become a being of light that speaks softly and showers everyone with love. My true interest lies in deciphering how certain practices have liberated me from suffering and prolonged pain.


Hence, I persistently learn and share my insights. Today, I wish to broaden your perspective, encouraging you to embrace a more comprehensive approach to meditation and mindfulness.


In our society, meditation is promoted to look a certain way. It seems like there are criteria that we have to meet in order to have it constitute as meditation. Sitting cross-legged, for example. Or having our eyes closed. Or having a vision that transcends reality: the experience should be trippy otherwise we haven’t gone deep enough (although this can happen with years of practice, in most cases they are actually a reaction to mental health issues and psychosis).


To me, meditation is an ever-evolving practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness takes precedence in everything I do, and meditation becomes a resource I reach for, much like a vitamin, when I need it in a given moment.


There isn't a single prescribed way, no definite right or wrong approach; it's about navigating through life and having supportive tools for the journey. That's why I choose to emphasise acts of mindfulness. By focusing on these acts, I hope to convey that many aspects of daily life can become intentional and mindful experiences. You don't need to feel like a failure just because you couldn't mark another day on your meditation tracker. Your worth is not defined by achievements but by the thoughts you create and the projection you put forth. Embracing this understanding allows you to appreciate the beauty of your mindfulness journey without fixating on external measurements of success.


Mindfulness serves as our vessel to embrace the present moment and establish a profound connection with our bodies and the surrounding world.


Allow me to illustrate how this translates into my daily life. Instead of starting each morning with a specific meditation practice, I engage in my morning ritual, and throughout the day and week, I draw from my mental resource kit to select a practice that suits my needs. When feeling stressed and overwhelmed by the lively chatter in a house full of girls, I step away for a few minutes to indulge in long, deep breathing. I continue until I can extend my exhale beyond my inhale, feeling a sense of stability, smoothing out any anger and angst along the way.


If sadness and past stories resurface, affecting my interactions with my husband, I turn to a meditation or mantra that nurtures self-love. These tools are at my disposal, and I prescribe them as needed, interweaving daily rituals and routines as pure acts of mindfulness.


In these mindful moments, I savour the steam rising from my coffee, relish the aroma of freshly warmed milk from the espresso machine, and delight in the fragrance of the flowers and lavender I walk past as I let the chickens out each morning. Hanging out laundry, I notice the cool touch and pay attention to the sun caressing my face while pegging the clothes on the line. When preparing meals, I take extra care and express gratitude for each ingredient and think of ways to make a simple family meal more beautiful. What colour can I add, what extra texture and flavour can I contribute that will make us all feel more indulgent, these are the things that I think as a prepare the daily meal, turning the routine into an intentional act of pleasure and beauty.


At my desk, I create an environment that sparks joy and fosters connection. This doesn't mean there's no chaos or drama—such is life. Rather, my choice to appreciate the beauty in the things I encounter daily replaces moments that would have otherwise caused stress, frustration, or discontent with love, admiration, and awe for the simplicity that surrounds me.


By navigating our relationship to meditation in this way, we gain clarity about ourselves and the things that we need. Meditation or mindfulness should be and is an invitation to tune in and navigate life from our centre.


Mindfulness is our way in. Being intentional about why we’re doing something and inputting that energy and intention into everything that we do is the true path that mindfulness should set us on.

In many instances, we find ourselves following the dictates of others: work before play, completing the week's tasks before indulging, adhering to prescribed routines. However, what if we prioritised ourselves instead? What if we became attuned to our inner guidance and charted our path from that place of awareness?


Rather than simply reacting to life and living on autopilot, what if we actively created our experiences? Imagine tuning into our desires precisely when we needed to, constantly reminding ourselves of the goals we strive to manifest. By embracing this approach, we would become the architects of our lives, shaping our reality with intention and purpose.


This ties into the idea of projection that I’ve been talking about in The Mystery Teachings: in our lifetimes, we are here to uncover and discover our true Selves amidst the “noise”. Mindfulness is our way in. Being intentional about why we’re doing something and inputting that energy and intention into everything that we do is the true path that mindfulness should set us on. From this perspective, we are in the driver’s seat. Suddenly we are not labouring to ideas that ensure we fit into an ideal box but living life in a way that brings us pleasure and joy. It may be that having that structure is your way of navigating the world, but it may also be that your perspective aligns with my way of moving through life with mindfulness first. Mindfulness ensures that I am always aware, always tuned into something greater, always guided by the Goddess. It means that my life feels wholesome, free, and filled with infinite possibilities.


Look at your day, the flow that occurs and begin to embrace mindfulness as your compass, allow it to unlock the boundless potential within, so you can navigate life's currents from a state of flow and experiencing the true essence of liberation and inner peace.


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