The Benefits Of Meditation
Meditation as a spiritual practice is essential for your spiritual development and increased alignment with the Divine Self.
Frequent meditation will empower you to:
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Improve your spiritual equilibrium
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Clear negative energy attachments
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Access your intuition
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Find answers to personal issues
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Resolve spiritual questions
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Manifest your desires
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Enhance your cosmic connection the Divine
What Is Meditation?
Prayer is when you talk to Spirit. Meditation is when you listen. Meditation serves to silence the human ego, so that you can hear the voice of the Divine. It does not involve any form of rational thinking, logical analysis or critical judgment - those are the activities of the ego. Meditating is the process of entering into an altered state of consciousness where you become a witness, observer and receiver.
Meditation as a daily spiritual practice will fine-tune your alignment with Source Energy and the Divine Self, to improve the clarity of your inner guidance. Meditation consistently nurtures and develops your ability to manifest your desires, and ultimately will ensure that you fulfill your true destiny in this lifetime. Daily meditation shifts your spiritual awareness from a low level 'dial-up connection' to a powerful, broadband satellite connection.
Types Of Meditation
There are three fundamental approaches to meditation.
1. Concentrative meditation is to completely focus your conscious awareness and mental attention on a specific object or focus point for a certain period of time. Concentrative meditation is therefore the active directing of your attention towards only the focal point of your choosing and not onto anything else. This object of your attention might be a single word, or a mantra, image, concept, question, idea, symbol, feeling, sensation, belief, or a religious figure. This form of meditation can be focused upon simple things, like your breathing, or complex concepts, like ‘the sound of one hand clapping’.
2. Mindful meditation is the art of being mindful and receptively conscious of your field of awareness. In this form of meditation you are not actively directing your attention or focus. Instead you are merely a witness, or a non-reactive observer monitoring the content of your inner experience from moment to moment. It is an acute open awareness of the flow of the present moment. Wandering thoughts or distracting feelings are simply noticed, without resisting or reacting to them in any way. Mindfulness meditation is therefore not so much about what one focuses on, but rather the quality of your focus or awareness in each moment.
3. Guided meditation is not meditation in the traditional religious sense. It is akin to the process of creative visualization, the main difference being that it is ‘guided’ and you therefore need someone else, in the form of a meditation instructor or a voice recording, to guide you through your meditative journey. When you are not being guided but instead ‘guiding’ yourself, then you are engaging in creative visualization.
Guided meditation usually ‘tells a story’ and has a beginning, middle and an end. It basically serves the same purposes as a creative visualization session, such as connecting with the Divine Self, intuitive development, manifesting your desires, transforming your thoughts and emotions, sharpening your senses or improving your health and reducing stress. The possibilities are truly endless.
Guided meditation is a great way to start if you are unaccustomed to meditation. You can get started right now by streaming or downloading some of my guided meditations.
How To Meditate
To get the best results from your daily meditation practice it is important to start from a solid foundation of basic principles recommended for any form of meditation. Anthon recommends the following strategies and building blocks for your meditation practice.
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Choose the appropriate time and place. Ensure that you do your meditation in a quiet, peaceful place where you will not be disturbed. Decide on a set time for meditation in your daily schedule. Most people find that meditating in the morning, before they start the day, is the best time, because your mind has not yet been cluttered by all the hustle and bustle of daily life. You do not need more than 15 minutes per day to begin with; you can always increase the time later if you wish. If you are a complete novice it may be best to start with a shorter time of just five minutes and gradually work your way up to longer periods.
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Find a comfortable body position. It does not matter too much in what position or posture you place yourself to meditate. The most common method is seated on the floor with the legs crossed. It is, however, perfectly acceptable to meditate while sitting in a chair, lying down on your back or even standing up. The truly important aspect is to ensure that you are perfectly comfortable and relaxed in whatever position you choose. If you experience any discomfort, adjust your position or change to something more comfortable.
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Create a closed circuit. Meditation is greatly enhanced by crossing the legs at the ankles and gently clasping the hands or intertwining the fingers. This creates a ‘closed circuit’, providing a more stable basis for the flow of energy.
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Begin with grounding, centering and shielding. Always ground and center within your material body and shield yourself energetically, before you enter into an altered state of consciousness (see previous chapter).
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Start with relaxation. Always begin your meditation session with some form of physical relaxation technique or exercise. I recommend progressive relaxation, which is a systematic approach to relaxing different parts of your body, one at a time, simply by focusing on that area and imagining the tension ‘flowing out’ or ‘melting away’. A good way for beginners to learn this process of complete relaxation is to tighten or contract the muscles in each area, holding it for a few seconds, and then letting it go and feeling the area relax. Start with your feet and work your way up, focusing on each body part or area for a while, before you progress to the next area.
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Quiet your mind. Once your body is completely relaxed, the next step is to shut down all your thoughts and let your mental state become quiet, calm and relaxed. Avoid any inner ‘chatter’ or self-talk. Forget all your responsi-bilities, worries, concerns and anxieties. The aim is to ‘clear’ the mind completely. Do not allow your mind to wander. Simply relax and try to think of absolutely nothing. It is also important to reduce the effect of exter-nal stimulation of the mind via the five senses. Therefore it is best to meditate with your eyes gently closed in a quiet, warm and comfortable environment.
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Focused breathing is essential. The main focus of any meditation session should always be your breathing. By diverting our attention to the natural flow of our breath, we are more easily able to transcend the mind and calm our thoughts. Your breathing should not be done consciously; don’t focus or put any effort into inhaling or exhaling. Simply allow breathing to occur spontaneously, while you merely observe it happening. Each time you find yourself being distracted, or your mind following a thought process, return to observation of your breathing. You are ready to begin your meditation once you have reached a state of complete relaxation, when the mind is ‘thoughtless’ and you no longer need to be aware of your breathing.
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Learn by using guided meditations. Guided meditation is a great way to start if you are unaccustomed to meditation. Guided meditation is a great way to start if you are unaccustomed to meditation. You can get started right now by streaming or downloading some of my guided meditations.
