Easy Essence Beginners Meditation Series: Lesson 1

Welcome to the Easy Essence Meditation Series.

In this first lesson,

We'll be covering a lot of information,

All of it designed to help you learn to meditate and to help make meditation easy and enjoyable for you.

Then at the end of the lesson,

We'll be doing a short meditation.

As we go through the information,

I suggest you get comfortable and just let it all sink in.

When you begin to meditate,

You'll find that the positive impact meditating has on your life is tremendous.

You'll gain certain benefits from meditation that are universally experienced,

Such as relaxation,

Stress reduction,

And improved health,

But you'll also experience benefits that are unique to you,

Because meditation catalyzes the unfolding of your unique potential,

Your own special gifts,

And highest possibilities.

Before we go any further,

Let's define meditation.

Meditation is consciously directing your attention towards something in order to alter your state of consciousness.

The key word here is ATTENTION,

How you direct it,

And what you direct it toward.

There are various things you can direct your attention toward,

Your breathing,

Visual images or symbols,

Mantras,

Positive affirmations,

Etc.

And when I say that meditation alters your state of consciousness,

What do I mean?

What is an altered state of consciousness?

It can be as simple as deep relaxation,

It can be feeling inner peace,

It can be experiencing inner stillness or deep silence,

Or it can be experiencing heightened awareness or internal bliss.

In this course you'll learn four different meditation methods.

They are 1.

Mindfulness meditation,

2.

The inner light meditation,

3.

The golden sun meditation,

And 4.

The universal mantra meditation.

Although each of these methods is unique,

They all have a common thread that ties them together.

All of them are what I call essence meditations.

Essence meditations are methods that have the capacity to take you to deeper states of awareness and connect you with your essence,

Your inner self.

And when you connect with your essence,

You tap an inner wellspring of energy which will have a positive effect on all the branches of your life.

The energy from this wellspring is the source of health,

Vitality,

Emotional well-being,

Mental clarity,

Creativity,

Inner peace,

And more.

My first meditation teacher,

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,

Referred to it as the source of all fulfillment.

Your experiences in meditation are likely to differ from day to day,

But no matter what you experience in each meditation,

You'll be drawing forth some of that energy from your inner wellspring,

And this will produce positive results in your daily life.

Now let's dispel two common misconceptions about meditation.

These misconceptions tend to be the main stumbling blocks to making meditation easy.

Misconception 1.

Meditation requires turning off your thoughts and making your mind blank.

Not true.

Have you ever tried to stop thinking and make your mind completely blank?

What happened?

Chances are you weren't able to do it for more than a moment or two.

But the good news is,

You don't have to make your mind quiet.

You don't have to quiet your mind.

You will experience varying levels of inner quietness in meditation,

But not by willfully turning off your thoughts.

Turning your mind will result naturally,

Not from your own efforts,

But as a result of the method you are using.

Misconception 2.

To meditate,

You must be able to stay focused.

Not true.

Absolutely not true.

Although staying focused in meditation does become easier with time and practice,

It is not a requirement for meditating and gaining good results.

Your mind will drift off your primary object of focus during meditation,

Some days more,

Some days less.

But no matter how many times it happens,

You just keep bringing it back.

That's simply part of the process.

Now that we've dispelled those misconceptions,

Let's briefly go over three important points for making meditation easy and enjoyable.

1.

Put your expectations aside.

Forget about whatever you think is supposed to happen when you meditate,

And accept whatever does happen.

There are no supposed tos in meditation.

2.

Don't worry about doing it right.

I suggest you delete the terms right and wrong from your meditation vocabulary.

3.

Meditate with medium effort.

While it's necessary to make some effort to stay focused,

There's no need to try too hard.

Medium effort falls somewhere between the two extremes of intense concentration and completely spacing out.

Before we do a short meditation,

Let's briefly go through the basic guidelines for how to sit when you meditate.

1.

Find a fairly quiet place to meditate.

Eliminate as much noise and as many potential distractions as possible,

But don't worry about those things that you simply can't control.

2.

Be comfortable.

You can sit in a comfortable chair,

Or on the bed,

Or on a cushion on the floor.

Leaning back against whatever's behind you is fine,

And it's okay to put a pillow behind you for extra comfort.

3.

Sitting with your spine reasonably straight is good,

But there's no need to sit rigidly.

And if,

For physical reasons,

You can't sit up,

Or simply don't feel like sitting up,

It's okay to lie down flat on your back.

4.

Place your hands in any position that feels comfortable and natural.

You can place them together or apart.

You can put your hands on your lap with palms up or palms down.

Just go with whatever feels most natural.

Now let's do a short,

Simple meditation to show you how easy it is to direct your attention.

As we go through this meditation,

Simply notice how you have the ability to direct your attention to whatever you choose.

Don't worry about staying focused.

You can make a little effort to keep your attention on each of our objects of focus,

But the aim of this exercise is to show you that you can direct your attention to whatever you choose.

Now let's meditate.

Sit comfortably,

Close your eyes,

And let your breathing be easy and natural.

Now direct your attention to your breathing.

Notice your breath coming in and going out.

Simply pay attention to your breath coming in and going out.

Notice how easy it is to direct your attention to your breathing.

Now imagine a large green ball,

About the size of a beach ball,

And direct your attention to that green ball.

Don't worry about seeing it clearly.

Just direct your attention to your imaginary green ball.

Now imagine that your ball is yellow.

Imagine a bright yellow ball.

Simply direct your attention to that bright yellow ball.

It's easy.

And if your attention drifts off,

It's okay.

Simply bring it back.

Now imagine a tree in front of you,

And direct your attention to that tree.

It can be any kind of tree.

I suggest you go with the first tree that pops into your mind.

Simply direct your attention to your tree,

And if your attention drifts off,

Just bring it back.

Now imagine the ocean and the beach on a beautiful sunny day.

Imagine the ocean with sunlight sparkling on the water.

Imagine the waves rhythmically breaking on the shore.

And imagine a gentle ocean breeze blowing over you.

You may see the ocean clearly in your mind,

Or faintly,

Or you may just sense it.

However you perceive it is okay.

Notice how easy it is to direct your attention to the ocean and the beach.

And if your attention drifts off,

Simply bring it back.

Now imagine the ocean at night.

Imagine the tranquil moonlight reflected on the water,

And the small waves gently breaking on the shore.

Notice how peaceful it is here.

Just direct your attention to the peaceful night ocean.

Now take a deep breath or two.

And when you're ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

See how easy it is to direct your attention to these things?

Meditation can be that easy if you simply follow the guidelines.

Although all the meditations you'll be learning in this course are easy,

They're very powerful.

And each one will be a little bit more powerful than the previous one.

In our next lesson we'll be learning mindfulness meditation.

This meditation originally comes from the Buddhist tradition,

But because it's so universal in its approach,

It's become extremely popular throughout the world.