Meditative Monday

Hari OM

There is a lot of info out there about meditation. It has become 'a thing' all over the planet. Big business, in some cases. Which is ridiculous. Anyone can meditate - if they put their mind to it *cough!*

However you chose to approach it, know that - as said last week - you first need to determine the level of your commitment. No use going to the dairy once and hoping the milk will last all year. If you are reading this here, let's assume you have made the decision to practice even just for five minutes a day. Yes, again it is said. Daily practice is what will perfect it. One has to build the meditation muscle.

Then there is the location and the aasana - that business of posture. Look, this again depends on where you are at with your practice and the level of commitment - but also what sort of expectation you have for your meditative practice.

If it is simply for destressing and to improve your sense of wellbeing, then you can sit anywhere - even the office. 

If you wish deeper inner healing and to start addressing your spiritual nature, then probably it is best, certainly in the early stages, to sit in an environment conducive to that purpose. If you do not have a separate space at home, then it could be a quiet corner of your local park, or if you have the chance of it, on a hillside or beside a river or the shore of the sea.  

If you have committed to sincere spiritual practice and seek Self-Realisation (Transcendentalism), then again, it will not matter, for you will anyway be 'above' the environment. Though, to be clear, it is probably best to be a little out of the way in case someone misunderstands!

As for the posture in each case, the basics are the same regardless. However, for the first two, the use of a chair or stool is acceptable. For the third, it is likely best to follow the instructions given in shaastra as far as possible, which is to say on a grass/cotton pad on the ground/floor, legs in 'Padma pose.  Whether you chose chair or floor, the positioning is much the same - but with chair, feet should be flat to the floor. Hands and shoulders should be loose - fold hands tidily but not strained upon the lap. Keep the spine as straight as possible. The ideal is that the shoulders are over the hips, and the natural arch at lumber is not straining. 

We have become so lax in this time of office work and comfortable living. We do not realise how curved our regular posture has become. Thus, never mind the meditation muscle; we must also build the back muscle. Beginning meditation is all about body focus as we find that sweet spot where everything falls into line...

This much itself will take up that initial five minutes of daily practice...