Sitting in meditation gives one the time to relax in mind and look beyond immediate circumstances; to take in more data.
For example:
When traveling by car at 65 miles per hour, the view is blurry when looking out the side window.
But when you stop the car for a moment and look out the side window, even in the countryside, you can see many details, such a types of flowers growing along the road, the number of people in a field off in the distance, the types of trees on the horizon, and other objects, depending on how long you sit there without moving.
In the same way, when we sit in meditation our bodily movements slow down. When we are still and not thinking about moving here or there or what we are going to do next, we are taking a vacation from the physical. We have time to use our mind to work out situations in a deeper way, as if we are looking at all that is going on down the side road.
This technique for problem solving is a big benefit of quiet, still meditation time.
Another way to use the deeper and more far-ranging view is to plan out our own future, and a step-by-step sequence of what we need to accomplish a goal. Then at the end of meditation, we can record our new plan or insights in a journal.
The most joyful way I like to use this in-depth quiet time in meditation is to think about family and friends, send them loving thoughts, and then visualize my love spreading outward, person by person and on throughout the universe, including to those who are dear to me and have left my sight in the earthly physical plane.
Which brings me to another benefit of this in-depth experience: I feel emotionally close to those who have passed on when I think about them while sitting in meditation. My mother passed away many years ago, but I gather her wise counsel while conversing with her in the depth of quietude.
I feel benefitted by visiting the depths of my being, discovering again the endless joy springing from that eternal place within us all. I feel connected to all in the river of bliss flowing deep within my being, a place I can visit and imbibe in at a moment’s notice by sitting still in meditation.
For teens and adults:
Gentle Yoga and Meditation – for All AdultsGentle yoga poses and meditations for adults of all ages, plus a dose of yoga philosophy and virtues. All poses illustrated. 107 pages. Table of contents at this link.
For kids
Yoga for all KidsIncluded in the text are 4 styles of meditation for balance, harmony and instant stress relief, plus 15 gentle moving yoga poses that can also be used as a basic motor skills lesson plan, followed by 18 chapters about how to live social skills, and a dictionary of 40 one sentence definitions of happiness. For kids of all ages and abilities. Fully illustrated with photos of poses.
I invite you to join me in a world-wide cyber meditation every day of the year. Click on this link to read about it. And if you’d like to receive our free weekly newsletter of updates to the meditation site fill in the blanks below.
Article by Susan Helene Kramer
