The Power of Meditation: What Works Best For You In Meditation?
"What works best for you in meditation?" I asked a friend. I've been doing a lot of that lately, asking friends how they ...
"What works best for you in meditation?" I asked a friend. I've been doing a lot of that lately, asking friends how they conduct their practice. It's been very helpful hearing about the range of what works best for different people. I've been collecting their responses as part of my research for The Power of Meditation, and I am adapting some of their practices for myself.
One friend said, “I use the following the breath approach. I place my attention at the front of my nose so I can feel the air move into me. Slowly I follow the passage of the breath further and further down the air path. I pay attention to the coolness of fresh air and with each breath I try to follow it even more as it moves down into me. I sometimes notice a swirling sensation as it moves through my nasal cavity, then I notice the feeling as it goes down my throat and then the fullness as it enters my lungs. In my mind I place what I call my essence on the breath as it moves in my body.
“Once, after a month or more of practicing this way I noticed I was progressively more aware of being inside. It was as if I was aware of myself as my lungs and I was breathing my body. I experimented with changing the size and point of focus. It's rather difficult to put this into words that will describe the sensation accurately, but to me it was as if my consciousness was sustaining my existence. My existence was riding on my consciousness.”
His answer was a reminder to me to return to simplicity and to recommit to my practice.
Here are other answers from other meditators I questioned as well as articles on happiness and kindness:
How to you increase your focus in meditation?
How do you practice meditation?
Want to be happier? Stop doing these ten things right now
Quieting the mind with kindness
A Complete Body Scan as a Meditation-Like Activity
One friend said, “I use the following the breath approach. I place my attention at the front of my nose so I can feel the air move into me. Slowly I follow the passage of the breath further and further down the air path. I pay attention to the coolness of fresh air and with each breath I try to follow it even more as it moves down into me. I sometimes notice a swirling sensation as it moves through my nasal cavity, then I notice the feeling as it goes down my throat and then the fullness as it enters my lungs. In my mind I place what I call my essence on the breath as it moves in my body.“Once, after a month or more of practicing this way I noticed I was progressively more aware of being inside. It was as if I was aware of myself as my lungs and I was breathing my body. I experimented with changing the size and point of focus. It's rather difficult to put this into words that will describe the sensation accurately, but to me it was as if my consciousness was sustaining my existence. My existence was riding on my consciousness.”
His answer was a reminder to me to return to simplicity and to recommit to my practice.
Here are other answers from other meditators I questioned as well as articles on happiness and kindness:
How to you increase your focus in meditation?
How do you practice meditation?
Want to be happier? Stop doing these ten things right now
Quieting the mind with kindness
A Complete Body Scan as a Meditation-Like Activity
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