The Gift of Meditation by Dhyan Punitama (Dhyan means Meditation and Punitama means Purity).
There is a lot of talk about meditation these days.
Articles and interviews about the benefits of meditation.
The power of meditation to help with anxiety and stress.
“How to Meditate” Apps, workshops and retreats, etc
Meditation is going mainstream. This is wonderful and it is about time!!
Meditation is such a Gift! Truly, with a capital “G”
And still, it is not so easy to make it part of your everyday life.
How to do that?
How to choose to make time for meditation?
How to be open to the Gift of Meditation?
I spoke the other day with a young woman, who clearly believes that
Meditation is good for her, but who has been, like many of us struggling to make it a daily practice. She was saying: “I sit down, and the sufferings begins! I am feeling pain in my body, heart, and mind. I keep telling myself this is how it should be, that it is o.k. this way. No pain no gain! And that once I have done this for many months and years, and have suffered long enough, I will finally be feeling calm and fulfilled inside!”
I said to her: “How would it be, if you won’t have to suffer for so long or not at all? How would it be if Meditation would be fun and joyful?”
She was like: “OMG, no one has ever suggested that this before”
So how would it be, if you enjoyed meditating, rather than dreading it, looked forward to it, to this luxury of time to be with yourself, to notice your body, be with your body, notice your breath, be present to yourself. And what would it be like if you actually loved and enjoyed it? Realizing the preciousness of this moment, here and now. Getting a distance from your minds chatter, seeing, and appreciating what a beautiful planet you live on!
It is important to find a way to enjoy your meditation.
If you don’t, it won’t be long before you forget about it all together.
It is essential to find a technique that will work for you, that will actually draw you toward meditation. A technique that is exciting and not boring! That will be more interesting to you then the TV series, the shopping trip, or the endless worry about what happened in the past or what will happen in the future!
In my experience, most of us have too much energy in our heads, bodies, and minds. What if we prepare for meditation by using all that energy first, and express it in some ways, before we sit down to be still and watch our breath?
It can be very helpful and enjoyable to move our bodies, dance, walk, jog, use our voice, with singing or catharsis, making room inside, unburdening our mind, before moving into stillness, and being ready to encounter who we are. Then it might be easier to be with oneself, the breath, the stillness, the energy of being alive. It can happen without struggle and suffering. Not that we won’t encounter, misery, pain, worry and darkness, but we will have more room to welcome it all. To be with it all, the darkness as well as the light.
This is the Gift of Meditation.
Meditation has been in my life for over 40 years. It has had many different incarnations and had a great impact for me personally.
I am passionate about it and love to share it.
You can contact me personally if you are interested in Mindfulness or Trauma Healing sessions.
Punitama@osholeela.org