Meditation Basics

Meditation is an amazing tool for healing. I always recommend it because it makes such a huge difference in the brain. And this is not just kooky weirdness. There are tons of studies that back up the effects of daily meditation. Here's a link to Wikipedia. Here's a link to an article 3HO, a meditation organization, about the medical benefits of meditation. Actually, go read that article right now. It talks about the effects of meditation on sleep, productivity, memory, stress management, and more. Basically, the benefits of meditation seem just about endless.

Why Kundalini Meditation?

Image here.

I love kundalini meditation (as opposed to other forms of meditation) because it isn't boring. That's the only way to say it, for me! I've tried other forms of meditation in the past--the kind where you sit quietly and try to still your mind, but I always feel like a failure in that because I clear my mind of some stuff, only to have other stuff rush in and fill the same space. Sitting still gets old after not a long time.

Kundalini meditation utilizes "mantras" (chants) and "mudras" (motions) while you meditate. This gives your mind and body something to latch onto while you're clearing your mind. In other words--it's meditation, but not boring!

Basic How-Tos of Kundalini Meditation

Here is the blog that introduced me to kundalini meditation. I started by watching the youtube videos below, and then I took the basic meditation class through Tree of Life Kundalini Yoga. This teacher and blogger is LDS and she comes at everything from a Christian perspective generally, but also a Mormon perspective in particular. She has a great video on kundalini meditation explained for Mormons here.

When you do kundalini meditation, it's important to kind of tune your mind into the frequency of the meditation. So every meditation session starts with a tune-in to that frequency and a tune-out. This is how to tune in:


Then you can do your meditation(s). Most of them are only a few minutes long. I do the kirtan kriya every day. To me, this is a Christ-centered meditation and I always think of Him while I do it. The words, Sa Ta Na Ma, mean Birth, Life, Death, and Rebirth (or, to me, rebirth through Resurrection). This one has has a lot of studies done on it for its power to change the brain. Check out this article from the Huffington Post on the many benefits of kirtan kriya. I do it for 7 mins/day, or occasionally 11 minutes if I'm feeling extra meditative.



This is a video where you can just meditate along with me every day--no explanation, just meditation!



I do the prosperity meditation daily as well, for around 3 minutes, and let me tell you: it works. Money, stuff (clothes, food, books--material goods) and job opportunities flow into your life when you do this daily! Try it! I saw my first results within 3 days and within a week, I was really feeling the change. Love it.



This is a meditation for clearing anger:



This is a meditation for healing addictions. Almost everyone is addicted to something... if you don't have a high profile addiction like one to drugs, alcohol, sex or pornography or nicotine, you likely have a lower profile addiction like one to working, using the Internet, texting, or sugar. Here's the meditation:




This is how to tune out and end your session:




Surprising Side-Effects of Meditation

 Two things stood out to me when I began my daily meditation practice. The first was that about three days in, I got acne again for the first time in years. To me, this was a visible proof that my meditation was actively clearing toxins from my body. I also got some canker sores in my mouth for the first time in a very long time.

The other thing that stood out to me as I began a daily practice of meditation was how my meditations seemed to affect the people around me as well--not just myself. For example, when I started the prosperity meditation (har, har), three days into my meditation, my husband was contacted about a new job opportunity, seemingly out of the blue.

Basically, when you start a meditation practice, you don't just bless yourself. You bless your whole family.

Your anger meditation can release anger from yourself, but also your children.

Your addiction meditation can break your own sugar addiction, while also helping your loved one's pornography or drug addiction.

Your kirtan kriya meditation can bring you greater peace, while also increasing the overall peace in your home.

And so on. 


Resistance

One thing worth mentioning briefly is the concept of resistance. Sometimes the subconscious mind resists meditation--it doesn't want to process the gunk it's been storing. This resistance can take many forms but basically it comes down to the subconscious mind really fighting you from meditating. One example would be, you start falling asleep every time you try meditating. Or in the middle of your meditation, you get really jumpy or something. Resistance can take many forms. But it is actually a really, really good sign. It means that you are on the brink of processing something big that will really bless your life to get out of your system. So keep going!

Meditate, meditate, meditate!


Conclusion

Me after my morning meditation.

 The greater peace you can receive from meditation may not come right away--since meditation helps you process subconscious junk, it can actually be kind of uncomfortable. Your life may get a little uncomfortable as your body and mind begin this processing. You may find yourself dealing with issues you thought you'd overcome, but really didn't. For me, I was blown away by the magnitude of some things that came up in my first 40 days of consecutive meditation. Did I spend some time in tears? Okay, yeah. I did. I had things to mourn and grieve and things to sort out from my past, and getting those out involved some crying and general spiritual discomfort. But it was important to get those feelings and those issues out of my body and my spirit so I could move on.

I've compared this before to giving birth. In order to get that baby out, heal up, and move on and be happy, you have to actually push the baby out. And sometimes that process can be kind of difficult and painful (obligatory link to how I gave birth in my living room, which was incidentally, not that painful or difficult! Still intense, though). But after the baby is born, things are good.

In my observation, it seems that many people would rather spend their whole lives being the spiritual equivalent of 41 weeks pregnant, about to pop thanks to the sheer volume of spiritual and emotional trauma that they would rather keep inside than suffer the pain it would take to let it all go. I must assume that some of this holding onto trauma is due to ignorance about how to let go of it, and some of the white-knuckled grip on the past is insufficient faith that God will take care of everything. But there are answers! And the pain of processing complex emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual trauma is basically nothing compared to the pain and inconvenience of carrying around that baggage on your back for your whole life.


I can't recommend meditation highly enough. I believe it is a tool that should be in everyone's toolbox. Is it better than prayer and scripture study? Uh, NO. Always prioritize those first. Although I will mention that meditation has helped me learn how to study the scriptures better. To me, my scripture study and meditation are linked now.

But if you're already on top of growing your faith in God through daily prayer and diligent scripture study, meditation is a great add-on that will truly bless your life and the lives of your loved ones.

studying the scriptures like you meditate

I have to go to bed RIGHT NOW, but I wanted to blog quickly!

I've been taking the 40-Day Meditation Challenge from Tree of Life Kundalini Yoga, which is run by Progressive Prophetess. One of the rules is that you have to do your meditation for 40 consecutive days, as in, you miss a day, you start the count over.

For the record, I believe I am on Day 14. And yes, I did my meditation for today!

One of the reasons meditating for so many days in a row is recommended is that you're building new neural circuitry in your brain and each day builds on the habits built in the last. It's more complicated than this, I think (or is it?), but that's my summary.

This site explains the kirtan kriya.

To perform the kirtan kriya, which is the kriya I am doing for 40 days,  one of the things you do is envision light from God entering you through your crown, and making kind of an L-shape in your head to beam out through your forehead (your third eye).

[Side note: Progressive Prophetess has pointed out the Christ connection to the kirtan kriya. If I may add to the LDS kundalini scholarship, I would like to mention that in my own practice, rather than interpreting the "maa" as "rebirth," I interpret that rebirth more along the lines of "resurrection," which to me more solidly reinforces the idea of the kirtan kriya being about Jesus Christ and our own divine paths. Resurrection is a type of rebirth, after all--our rebirth into our new perfected bodies.]

Anyway, I've been focusing on getting in my daily meditation, and it's become a priority for me. I will stay up late to get it in, even if--like right now--my eyes are closing on me and I'm totally drowsy. I realized, I want to get in my meditation because:

A. I want to complete the challenge! 40 consecutive days, baby!
B. Did I mention I paid $60 for the class on the challenge? Gotta get my money's worth! :o)
C. I want those brain changes!

But here's the important thing: the prophets and scriptures have certainly commanded us to meditate (although they are not always clear on the definition of meditation). But an even clearer commandment is to study the scriptures.

As I was explaining the L-shape of light that's supposed to go on in the kirtan kriya to a friend, I had a sudden understanding that this is how scripture reading is supposed to work, too. Maybe not in exactly the same way as it does in meditation, but in a similar way. A chiastic way, perhaps. Maybe the opposite way. Maybe as we study the scriptures, light and understanding enter us through our third eye--basically our eyes and minds--and help us connect up with God. Or maybe light and understanding from God is supposed to enter us through our crowns and enlighten our minds and eyes as we read the scriptures. Either way makes sense to me.

From lds.org.

It suddenly became clear to me that just as meditation is the most effective at creating a change of heart and mind when it is done for consecutive days, so is scripture study. To me, in the past it has been easy to compartmentalize scripture study into something that's just kind of nebulously good for the spirit, rather than something that actually has real, true potential to change the literal heart and mind. I mean, I know that's true, but I don't know that there are studies showing how scripture study changes the body as there are studies about kundalini meditation.

I mean, look. Wikipedia even has an article about the research on meditation's effects on the body. Meditation has been shown to make a measurable difference in the workings of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Meditation has been shown to alleviate chronic pain, reduce stress, and do all sorts of great stuff for the human mindbody.

But it appears to me now that meditation works on the same pathways that scripture study can work, if we are diligent about it and do it every day, and go into it with the right frame of mind.

Imagine reading your scriptures for 11 or 31 minutes a day, with the background focus of your mind being that light of God entering your body through the top of your head and then enlightening your vision and your mind as you study His words. Or imagine envisioning the light from His holy scriptures enlightening your body through your third eye and linking you back up to Heaven, opening your connection with God in a more visual way. Would that not enlighten your understanding, even just the one time you tried it?

From lds.org.

Now imagine doing your scripture study that way every day--building those neural circuits that are also built during meditation as you study God's word. Imagine the ability to reduce stress, get your body in better condition, receive greater light and understanding, as you implemented this practice.

I write all this as someone who doesn't actually do that stuff--yet! But just understanding that this type of scripture study is a possibility is kind of blowing my mind. I had to share. Maybe tonight will not be the night I start reading the scriptures with the background intention of that light and knowledge making the L-shape in my head as I read, but it's now officially on the to-do list. We'll see how it goes!