Meditation: Be the Change
There is a scene in the book “Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Practise Being Present
Formal meditation is wonderful, but it is not for everyone and I think it is much more beneficial to be fully present and practise mindfulness as much as possible. One can make room for the awesome energy of the universe throughout the day—it need not be restricted to times of practising sit-down meditation. The good news is you don’t need to be silent in lotus position for hours to do this! Simply become an astute observer of your thought processes and emotions. There are endless opportunities to practise this throughout the day. Everyday activities like doing the laundry or cutting the grass can become your sadhana (Sanskrit for spiritual practice). Even the simplest acts, such as drinking a glass of water, can help you focus. As you drink, feel the water on your tongue and the coolness in your chest as it makes its way into your stomach. It’s amazing! This may seem like a strange thing to do, but this is what being mindful is all about! It’s about doing one thing at a time and giving it your full attention.
Resist Reaction
As you get better at practising being present, you can bring this kind of attention to your mental/emotional responses to life. Any time that you experience negative emotions like anger, annoyance, or hurt, see if you can observe the emotion in your body before you react. Reduce the experience to a feeling or sensation that you can pinpoint in the body. For example, notice your chest tightening and your heart racing and try breathing into that space. When we don’t add thoughts to these sensations, it is quite astonishing how quickly they dissipate into the nothingness from which they came. Someone cutting us off in traffic or a rude remark at the checkout can occur without setting off a chain reaction of negativity. We stop the negativity by observing our internal response to the situation instead of lashing out. I believe it was Gandhi who said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” With this in mind, you can take everyday situations and turn them into small victories for peace. So when others act unconsciously, you can choose to bring calm to the situation. This doesn’t mean that you let people walk all over you. It means that when you do respond to others’ hurtful words or actions, you do so from a place of stillness. I promise you, there is great personal transformative power in this! If we truly want peace on our planet, we must start with ourselves. Living your life meditatively is a beautiful and empowering way to bring about this change.
© Copyright 2010 Holly Wilson
Author Bio: Holly Wilson is a freelance writer/editor and stay-at-home mom. You may contact Holly at holly@ecoerth.com. If you liked this article, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.☮
I meditate but to me it becomes more like a day dream. As Anthony said not to long ago “You can be anything you want in your mind and no one gets to say that’s not you” Insightful little fella at times. My day dreams are never of a perfect life with a castle to live in but I find myself dreaming of ways to help others. I believe I’m a fixer of sorts and when I don’t have the control to fix I dream up ways to do just that. Peaceful yes but only in the dream sequence as once you step away the problems are not really fixed at all as other’s don’t really see the issues. To meditate and to let go of the control I have not conquered as of yet so total peace eludes me. If I can hide behind the walls of my home which is not just a house but a surreal area then all is serene. You let the world step in and serenity is gone. To meditate to where I don’t share the pain sounds somehow sinful and I’m just not ready although I love the concept. To turn over the problems to God is something I find easier as it still allows me the option to speak my mind to react, to feel the anger to absorb the hurt and yet the option to let it go. The turmoil is over whelming at times and yet my home creates the peace I crave. I have to work more at letting the world in. A saying always comes to mind to me a place I’ve always went. “In my own little corner in my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be”
In saying all that Holly you always make me dig deeper thank you for that.
Thank you. (: There is no judgment here, only gentle observation of our interactions with others. As for “total peace,” it eludes me too! But, even when we do “lose it” there is always a chance for self-reflection…
Hey, have a listen to this song. It’s called “Be Here Now” and I think it’s so moving. Enjoy! ♥
http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/s/Be+Here+Now/2qBFbG
Doesn’t it feel wonderful and peaceful that you are able to trust the strength within to solve problems and form solutions that best suites you.
I like your idea of mindfulness in daily living. There is such empowerment in mindfulness. I know I feel more grateful and blessed at the wonders of the universe when I can be mindful. Indeed the simple act of drinking a glass of water can nourish all aspects of my being! Being non reactive is also important for over all well being. I’ll have to try focusing on the bodily sensations….I haven’t tried that…..most of the time I can be non reactive if I can find compassion with whatever I’m being reactive over. When someone cuts me off in traffic, or other such instances where I used to be more reactive, I tend to calm myself with compassionate thoughts. I try to send them a small prayer or well wish on their journey. I forgive immediately for things that I used to get very angry and irritated over. Of course there are still times when I can be very reactive, but the important thing is that I learn from these experiences, reflect upon them, and this can usually bring me back to a state of inner calm again.
I f had honestly never thought of meditation as a way of being…I always thought of it as sitting down and trying to calm my thoughts. I love these new thoughts on meditation that I now have! Thanks!
Eckhart Tolle is the one who introduced me to this whole idea of meditation as a way of life. He’s my Guru.
He’s written many books and I like them all equally. The key is to get curious about your behaviour and not to beat yourself up when you do react. I still struggle with that.
The Dalai Lama wrote the following on his facebook Wall this morning. It’s such a powerful and timely message: “Sometimes harsh words or physical intervention may be called for. Patience safeguards our inner composure: we are in a stronger position to judge an appropriately non-violent response than if we are overwhelmed by negative thoughts and emotions. It is the opposite of cowardice, which arises when confidence is lost as a result of fear. Being patient means we remain firm even if we are afraid.”