I have been engaged with a practice of meditation and self awareness for nigh on over 20 years, make that 25 years if I include the first five years of 'asana only' practice. It's a useful thing to be able to look back and reflect upon the journey and consider what insights that I have garnered along the way.
So here it is, my list of 9 things that I have noticed from 20 years of meditation practice;
Grateful for a System.
I have heard rather a few meditators explain to me that their practice is - 'just to sit' - which I guess is lovely, and sitting quietly can certainly have a curative effect, but when we are 'just sitting' we miss out on some of the core benefits of meditation that come from working with a intentional technique and a system of applied awareness.
Meditation is not just a nice thing to do, it is a system of personal psychology, designed to support us in transcending our trauma and limiting patterns of behaviour, so that we can experience kaivalya / or liberation. It can be lovely to have an aimless wander in the forest, but if you are going to cross a rugged mountain range, interspersed with rivers and deep valleys (ie. your mind 🤯) you are best to have a compass and a good map, not to mention a guide who has taken the journey before. Likewise, sitting quietly is nice, but if you want to experience the full benefit of meditation, you are best to engage with a clearly defined and refined system to guide your practice, and find a teacher who is experienced and coherent in that system.Grateful for a Tradition
I am profoundly grateful to have connection to a lineage of teachers who have explored the path before me, offering insights from their journey and support for mine. My life is short, I don't have the time to experiment with lots of different meditation systems, I want to use one that has been tested and shown to be effective, and comes with clear instructions and support from a lineage of teachers who have utilised and refined it over many years.
Meditation & Breathwork are the Very Best of Friends 🌬️🧘🏻🙏
One of the great joys of Yogic Meditation is that it offers a comprehensive system of integrated Breathwork & Meditation techniques. Breathwork (or yogic pranayama) has been shown to have a profound effect on the nervous system, giving us control over our nervous state and the capacity to move effortlessly into deep states of meditation. For anyone who has struggled with meditation (ie. everyone) breathwork is the special sauce that makes entering meditation easy.
Yoga Nidra is a Cheat Code for Meditation
Yoga Nidra has been a one of the greatest gifts received in my life. I had a rather lacklustre commitment to seated meditation when I first came across it, I could sense the benefits, was committed to practice, yet found it was an enduring struggle to commit to meditation on the regular. Enter stage left: Yoga Nidra, essentially, it was the practice that I really needed, giving me a relief from my 'busy brain syndrome' and the capability to reprogram my subconscious using sankalpa. Ultimately Yoga Nidra has supported me to create a wholistic practice of meditation, that also includes breathwork, kundalini kriyas and more traditional seated meditation techniques of Ajapa Japa and Antar Mouna.
Meditation on the Internet is Possible
This has been a revelation from the Covid era. During this time I have attended as well as delivered online meditation classes and trainings in breathwork and meditation. I was originally dubious, but must admit that it can work rather well. Meditation requires a level of personal space, so setting up a home 'meditation nest' is paramount to developing a home practice, also the tools that e-learning can provide are excellent at supporting the teaching & learning process, not to mention the fact that we can access teachers and courses from all across the world at a timing of our choosing.
Meditation adjacent to a rainforest waterfall work wonders, yet meditation adjacent to a MacBook Pro works too!
6. Meditation in the Great Outdoors is Wonderful
I like to go back to the roots of meditation as often as possible. Spending quiet time in nature has always been one of the cornerstones of my personal practice.
Whether it's just a five minute pause on a walk to just close my eyes, breathe and listen to the sounds, or an extended sadhana in the foothills of the Himalayas, there are few things that I have found more invigorating than practicing pranayama and meditation in the Church of the Blue Open Sky.
7. Do some Big Practice, plus lots of Little Practice
I have found that yearly (or more often) practice intensive works wonders in establishing the foundations of our meditation practice - carving out some dedicated time (a few days or a week) to focus completely on practice takes us much deeper into our experience. Between these intensives it is best to support ourselves with a manageable level of practice that can be done on most days of the week.
8. Meditation has a cumulative effect. 📈
This is great news, the benefits of meditation carry on far beyond the time of the actual practice and we earn compound interest on the practice that we have done in the past. From a neurological perspective we are retraining our nervous system, expanding our 'window of tolerance', from a yogic perspective, we are transcending our karma, reprogramming our patterns of behaviour and learning how to live in a more holistic manner.
If we learn the lessons, we shouldn't have to learn them twice. In fact what I have noticed is that when I have slipped away from my practice (and surely we all do?) when I return I don't have to go back to the beginning and relearn everything, I can return (almost) at the point where I left off.
9. The meditation more that you do, the less meditation that you need to do... (small caveat required here!)
This is essentially because you will get better at it. Meditation techniques are skills that can be learnt, and once you learn them, you will refine and get better at them. Meditation is both the Practice / Technique used to come into meditation and the Experience or State of being in Meditation. Once we get better at the technique of meditation, we will become more efficient in taking ourselves to the experience of Meditation. Ultimately we hope to carry this experience of being in meditation into our lives, remaining steady, clear and present as we explore the field of karma in our daily life. The caveat is that although theoretically you might need to do less, you may in fact WANT to do more - as the benefits are amplified through expertise, we may find ourselves more and more, meditation is the work of lifetimes, once we get into the groove, it can actually be FUN, so don't be shy, jump right in, your journey can begin Here & Now!
So there it is, 7 things that I have noticed from 20 years of meditation - it's not meant to be definitive, just some reflections from my journey that might perhaps assist you with yours.
