On Your Own
Meditation Principles
You can't make a mistake in meditation. Everything that happens is part of the process of coming into harmony with ourselves and with life. Simply sitting in meditation with the intention of being present to whatever happens without resistance and manipulation sets this process in motion. It's natural that resistance will arise. It's natural that the habit of trying to feel and be a certain way comes up. When this happens, the understanding is that we let go of that. Even though we have the instruction of letting go, it may not always happen, and even that is not a mistake. Everything, absolutely everything, that happens is part of the process.
As you continue your meditation practice on your own, you may have questions about your experiences from time to time. Some of the common experiences people wonder about are described below.
Thoughts in meditation
Thoughts arise spontaneously in the mind. They are a natural part of meditation. The goal of meditation is to become more at ease, relaxed and at peace with whatever is happening. Therefore, it is important to not resist anything that comes in meditation, including thoughts.
Don't try to push out thoughts or resist them. Let them go the way they come -- effortlessly. When you find that your attention has been caught up in a train of thought, that's fine. Easily come back to the focus of your meditation if you are doing the breath or body awareness meditations. Otherwise, there's nothing to do but "be".
Don't purposely follow the train of thought. Let it go. Let go of the meaning of thoughts. Let thoughts be a meaningless activity in the mind!
Restlessness
All sorts of experiences can come up in meditation, including restlessness. Although feeling restless isn't pleasant while it's happening, continuing meditation will be useful in helping your system to settle down. You can think of it as a release of "nervous energy". Just continue meditating, allowing the restlessness to be there.
If it helps to stretch or shift your position at these times, feel free to do so.
Experiences in meditation vary -- letting go of expectations
Sometimes when people have had a meditation that is particularly peaceful and enjoyable, they feel disappointed when the next meditation isn't that way. Every meditation will be different. It's natural for your experiences to differ from meditation to meditation. Each time you sit to meditate, your mind and body are in a different state and this is reflected in the meditation.
It's important to let go of expectations when you sit to meditate. Whatever happens is part of the process, so just "take it as it comes".
Pain during meditation
If there is a pain that is so strong that it takes over your attention, that's fine. This meditation does not involve concentration. You don't need to keep your mind focused on anything in particular. (If you are doing the Breath or Body Awareness meditation, you can let go of your focus on the breath if it's an effort to keep it in your attention with the pain.)
Although pain is unpleasant and it's natural to prefer that it is not present, it's important to not resist the feeling of pain. Just let it be there and continue meditating.
Our experience of thoughts may change as we meditate
As we disengage the gears of the mind, the mind has an opportunity to settle down. We may experience more subtle levels of the thinking process. Thoughts may become more vague, or may even be an intuitive felt sense of something -- a knowing that does not get translated into words and concepts. Allow this process of the changing experience of thoughts to happen.
Sometimes you may experience a kind of dream-like state, somewhere between being asleep and awake. This also is a natural experience in meditation. There may also be times when there is a state of "no thought". No matter what happens just take it easy -- take it as it comes!
Strong emotions
Sometimes strong emotions can come up while meditating. As the body relaxes in meditation, emotions that have been held in (either from a current situation or from the past) can start to be released.
Often our life circumstances haven't allowed us to feel or express all of our emotions and they get "stored" inside. It takes energy and effort to hold those emotions in, and when we relax in meditation, that holding in is relaxed. One way to understand this is to imagine that you are in a situation that makes you want to cry or laugh but you can't because it's a place where you can't make noise or display emotion. If you can get into another place, even another room, you may burst out in tears or laughter. You can do this because you are able to relax and let go. In meditation, we can relax and let go.
When you experience a strong emotion, simply allow the feeling to be in your awareness. Don't try to resist the emotion or push it out. Allow it to be felt fully and let it subside on its own.
Copyright 2008 Mary and Richard Maddux
