7 Secrets No One Told Me When I Learned to Meditate

Meditation doesn’t have to be hard if you understand a little about what it is, and what to expect! 

I started meditating and teaching meditation at aged 20 when experiencing a spontaneous spiritual awakening and opening of my third eye.  My spiritual teachers were ‘not of this world’, and so, they were not able to help me with the nuances of a meditating human body and mind in the 3rd dimension! 

For me, opening to the enormous psycho-emotional and physical benefits of meditation was easy and immediate.  However, establishing a regular practice was a little more difficult as it came with a whole host of belief systems and doctrines that no one could explain for me.  I trust that these 7 secrets that no one told me when I learned to meditate will help you hone and enhance your practice, and help you cut to the chase to get the most out of your meditations.

1. Your body AND mind will play up.  It will wear you down like a small child on sugar and will not want to stay still for more than a few seconds before a random collection of aches, pains, itches and scratches kick in to grab for your attention. You'll probably also find that your head just won't shut up and rant on about all the things you should be doing instead!  This is all OK and perfectly normal!  It is not a sign that you’re doing it wrong or are “no good at meditation”.  In this very fast paced world of ours, we have forgotten that being relaxed and peaceful is actually our natural state.  A guided meditation can help you to focus and also teach you how to work with the body instead of against it.
2. You don’t have to meditate like a Zen monk.  Sitting with an Indian Guru and ‘Ohm-ing’ for hours on end really also isn’t the most efficient way to make a difference to your wellbeing. Scientific studies now show that as little as 10 minutes of meditation each day will have a beneficial effect on your entire being.  It doesn’t even have to be a sequential 10 minutes. In fact, the harder you try, the more resistance you create in your body and mind.  This then contributes to greater stress levels and dis-ease!  Just relax - Meditation can be very straight forward if you let it. 
3. Meditation is not a team sport. It is an intensely personal, precious, quiet moment within your day that you get to be still and take the pressure off.  The content of your meditation doesn’t need to be shared, it isn’t a competition, and it doesn’t matter what someone else thinks of it.  This is because it comes from YOU and your unique divine expression of the Universal energy – you’re one of a kind, so please don’t judge your ‘brand’ of meditation by other people’s standards. 
4. Meditation is not spiritual Hoo Har.  It’s also not about making yourself permanently blissful and walking around in a state of eternal ecstasy (although glimpses of that is definitely possible!).  And if anyone tells you they don’t have any issues now that they’re meditating, they’re probably in denial (see the next point).  Meditation is a practical, perfectly natural method of enhancing body, brain and spiritual function getting in touch with your creative potential. From there you can take actions that bring you greater peace, strength, resourcefulness and wellbeing than you’ve ever experienced before.
5. Meditation gives you access to the ‘real you’.  The benefit of this is that you can begin or expand your ability to live consciously, purposefully and from a truly authentic place.  For this reason, it can sometimes be very confronting and a not a little bit scary at times!  We can discover elements of ourselves that have previously been denied or hidden.  This is a BLESSING when embraced for the gift that it is!  Once seen, limitations can be cleared or transformed opening the way for a happier and more joyful life than you can possibly imagine.
6. You can’t "do it wrong". I REALLY wish someone had told me this when I began.  I might have better spent the energy I wasted on guilt and self-punishment! But hey, that was also part of my journey!  Although Meditation is not something that you can make a mistake with, it can get faster and easier to get into a relaxed state as the body and mind remembers and recognises what you're doing!  It is also worth noting that no two meditation experiences will be exactly alike – therefore, it is impossible to judge a meditation as good or bad without limiting your experience.  Accept every meditation as it comes to you and trust that everything is exactly how it is meant to be right now for your highest evolution.
7. There is no single BEST way or better style of meditation than another – they all have merit and purpose.  Although it can be said that certain meditation styles work particularly well for certain people, or certain circumstances.  For example, guided Mindfulness and Creative Visualisation meditation are great for first timers. Mindfulness can help to manage out-of-control thoughts, switch off the fear centre of the brain to bring about an instance physiological relaxation response, and supercharge the awareness of what's happening with your beliefs and thoughts about yourself and the world.. Creative visualisation is great for beginners as it utilises our imagination – something that is usually pretty active in most people – to imagine positive outcomes and future experiences that we wish to bring about in our life.
   

Sometimes, taking the first step to start meditating is the most difficult. 
If you always wanted to try it, but perhaps you didn’t think you’d be able to do it, or maybe it’s not easy for you to attend a group class, you may find a private guided meditation lesson is a great place to start.

In a private session you will learn how to break through any beliefs that are stopping you from getting the most out of your meditation.  You’ll be able to hone in on any specific life challenges that is bothering you or weighing you down and get immediate relief,  and I’ll be there to guide you the whole way, which will help you to anchor your mind, reign in a restless body and really tap into your true personal power.  We also record your live guided meditation for you to keep!  A personalised meditation that is exactly customised to your needs can be used to practice your meditation skill as often as you like at home.  Better still, come to my consult room and experience meditation with me in person, or let's meet via skype if you’re somewhere else in the world!

Head over to the My Holistic Nurse facebook page and let me know about your experience with meditation.  Are you just starting out, or a seasoned meditator?  Let's connect!

Kristy

Do you want to learn to meditate but can’t get to a group class?
Do you want to focus on a specific personal issue in a meditation but have trouble guiding yourself through it?
Are you interested in how meditation can help you manage chronic illnesses like pain and fatigue?  
Find out more at www.myholisticnurse.org or call My Holistic Nurse on 0487 769 629.

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