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particularly active, I bring in a mantra to chase them out. I repeat a word
or phrase in my mind like “love” or “thank you” or “yes, please” or
“om”—something that makes me feel good and is fairly neutral, but you
could use a mantra like “meatloaf” I guess if that’s your thing.
5. Try and do it first thing in the morning so you’re not distracted by
whatever the day brings. You’ll also be more connected having just
woken up from sleeping.
6. If there’s something in your life that you’re working on or through, you
can set an intention/ask for help during your meditation practice.
Meditating is about receiving information from The Universe; setting
intentions and praying are about sending information out to The Universe.
There are two ways you can do this: A) Start with a question, something
like, How do I deal with my pain-in-the-ass teenage son? And see what, if
any, answers download while you meditate, or B) Meditate first, open up
the channel, clear out the chatter, and then ask your question in a space of
clarity and connection and see what, if anything, comes to you.
GUIDED MEDITATION
There are countless CDs and DVDs that various hippies and guru types have
made over the years to walk you through meditations. I suggest taking the
guided route when you’re first starting out if you’re having trouble wrangling
your mind into submission. They make great training wheels and I still use
them occasionally, especially if I want to focus on something specific.
There are also guided meditation centers all over the place, and it’s really
nice every once in a while to meditate in a group— you can really feed off that
energy and get the discipline to sit there for an extended period of time. Do a
search for meditation centers and ashrams in your area. Sometimes yoga
studios hold guided meditations, too.
CHANTING
Chanting is also a great way to get into a meditative state. You can repeat a
mantra over and over out loud on your own or, if you prefer to avoid getting
busted and very possibly ridiculed, you can do it in a group by attending a
Kirtan meditation class. Kirtan meditation involves call-and-response chanting
of Sanskrit mantras or devotional songs, and you can attend classes at a yoga
studio or meditation center. Also check out Transcendental Meditation
instruction, a form that involves repeating mantras and sitting twice a day for
around twenty minutes at a time.
I’ve had some pretty profound experiences while meditating; I’ve seen the
walls melt around me, felt like I was levitating, and have experienced such a
state of euphoria that it almost hurt. I’ve also had extremely un-profound
experiences; I’ve fallen asleep, spent the entire time squirming and thinking
about what to make for lunch, and have been totally in The Zone, and then
realized I was in The Zone, and thought Awesome, I’m in The Zone! Thereby
pulling myself out of The Zone.
The important thing is that you keep showing up. Even if you’re only in The
Zone for one collective minute out of the thirty minutes you’ve been sitting
there, it will eventually start making a notable difference in your life.
I think meditation is even more essential now that we have all this
technology at our fingertips and distraction has become a way of life. While I
truly believe that we, as a species, are becoming more and more conscious, I’m
amazed by how, at the same time, our attention spans are rapidly shrinking. I
was playing tennis the other day with someone who got a text, pulled out his
phone, and checked it in the middle of a point. It’s astonishing that we can still
speak in full sentences.
Aside from being one of the most powerful tools in our consciousness-
raising toolbox, meditation is a much-needed respite from the madness, and
will help us from becoming a bunch of scatterbrained ding-dongs as we zoom
around our brave, and extremely exciting, new world.
CHAPTER 11:
YOUR BRAIN IS YOUR BITCH
Mind is the master power that molds and makes
And man is Mind and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought and, shaping what he wills
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills.
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking glass.
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