Meditation Myths – What You Should not Believe

I always try to explain why I would like to be able to meditate instead of just doing it.

As a mom the main reason is always: Lack of time!

Good excuse, isn’t it?

But honestly, it’s not the lack of time, it’s the weakness of willpower.

Sad but true, we find excuses instead of stepping in.

If I want something I surely will find the time.

So just a couple of days ago I decided that I want to change this and start a meditation routine, MY meditation routine.

Give it a few minutes per day! This is a start and everyone can find these five minutes!

But first, while thinking about this topic, I stepped over so many descriptions what meditation is and what it isn’t that I thought I need to write.

Write about what you please SHOULD NOT believe as it may ruin your attempts to find your own way of meditation.

Nothing fits into a certain structure, especially not a meditation.

Most of the people have no idea at all what meditation is.

They see it as an unknown factor and there the myth building starts.

Myths are:

• Meditation is worshiping or praying – Noooooooo, it can be but it’s NOT a MUST!
• Meditation is a religious act – Nope, again, it can be but it doesn’t have to be connected to any religion.
• Meditation is nonsense – for people who are not willing to go deeper than the visible surface it’s a common excuse not to try it.
• Meditation is hypnosis – no as this is a complete different field.
• Meditation is relaxation – although you may feel relaxed after a meditation it’s not relaxation but a way towards relaxation.
• Meditation is only for spiritual persons – another no because meditation is for everyone.
• Meditation is neglecting reality – that’s so wrong, it’s a way of bringing reality up instead of neglecting it.
• Meditation is for the weird – Yes, I love to be called weird because normal (whatever that is) is too boring and life is too short not to be weird from time to time 😉
• Meditation is Magic and Mystical – I love the thought and even if it’s not considered magical – if that’s your approach to give it a try I would say YES, purely Magic!

So we have a list of what meditation is NOT but what is it then?

Meditation is…

This is the question which has 1001 answers because meditation has a million facets and faces. From my point of view it is something completely unique. Unique as the person itself.

If one person is meditating while walking through nature another one needs a special place and ritual to be able to meditate.

Some are chanting mantras and some need complete silence around them.

Some are able to quiet their mind and some are not but both are meditating.

An indeed wonderful description is the following from Deepak Chopra:

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet, It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there.”

It is there!

The good news are that we all have it in us! We all have this quiet place somewhere inside of us, this realm for the soul and mind. The way towards it is what let’s us struggle and feel incomplete, stressed and not at ease.

Our minds wander most of the time, it would be strange if we had a quiet mind because we have so many things which influence us daily. What we need is to find a way to find this quite place. One way is to sit down and stop what we are doing.

Let go

Mediation is letting go of all of these thoughts and bringing our focus back to one point. And this one point is preferably just a flickering candle or a leave on a tree, nothing that raises further thinking.

That one point can be anything, a song, our breath, a candlelight, a certain sound, chanting, felling ourselves – you see there are many ways to meditate.

Surrender

Give it a try and just start to surrender to what is, the benefits are limitless.

Good luck and Namaste