Meditation Mystification
Meditating for long periods of time (more than 30 minutes) is often the worst way for a beginner to practice stillness. But everyone has this idea that long bouts of meditation is how the Buddha or some yogi became enlightened, so it must be right. Well, I can’t speak for what they did, but I’m here to make the make the case for an evolved practice know as falling still.
The practice of Falling Still includes frequent one to two minute meditations in between activities throughout your day. When you actually Fall Still, you gently place your feet on the floor, hands on your knees (best to be sitting), and take a series of deep breathes, (audio mp3 tutorial).
That’s it. Quite simple, but amazingly profound.
Why does Falling Still working? Meditation is the vehicle, not the destination. The vehicle of mediation is there for us to transport ourselves into the only true thing that exists - the present moment. Just as long as you get there, it really doesn’t matter how long it took you. In the space of the present moment time is irrelevant. Whether you’ve been meditating for 30 minutes, 1 hour or all day has nothing to do with your level of consciousness. All that counts is that you make a rip in the fabric of “reality” and connected with the oneness that exists.
Remember, all spiritual practices, including meditation should be fun. I often find spiritual newbies feeling guilty for not being able to enjoy meditation. They think something is wrong with them… like they don’t have enough discipline to be able to sit still for hours. I’m here to say that it is time to leave all this meditation mystification behind and actually focus on practices that produce true results. Results like feeling calmer, peaceful, centered and most importantly, finding that all actions that you partake in become their own meditation.
For the most part I’ve left the lotus position behind (unless it comes up spontaneously) and I’ve made falling still my primary practice. This means that when I switch from one activity to another, I take a 2 minute opportunity to Fall Still. Sometimes it happens 18 times a day, sometimes it happens 5 times a day and sometimes I forget all together and only pull it out when I’m experiencing challenging times.
Give it a try.
