Ayurveda Living

You may have these visions of yourself sitting in Padmasana (lotus position) at brahmamuhurta, the most auspicious time of the day before sunrise.  As simple as it may seem, it is not easy.  Not only for people past their prime, but for anybody raised outside Vedic culture and, therefore,  not initiated at a tender age.  Sitting in padmasana requires practice.  Try it.  Your joins are locked and honestly, it hurts!

Arm yourself with courage, patience, determination and … a good cushion.

Mahesh Maharishi Yogi must be credited to have introduced meditation in a big way in the West in the second part of the twentieth century.  He had labelled Transcendental Meditation a very ancient spiritual practice  known for millennia.  The rest is history.  Meditation is getting acceptance to the point of becoming trendy even mainstream in more than one ways.

All meditation is transcendental.  It is generally taught as a therapy to calm the mind, release stress and induce states of contentment leading to happiness. Meditation is aimed at reaching higher levels of the mind and our inner Self and our Higher Power at the same time and this is Upasana.   Some are said to experience great spiritual happenings, others find some form of useful relaxation which can even relieved them from the foes of deep depression.  Much can be said about this great mystical science of depression but this would be outside our fields of compentence and the range of our objectives.

Meditation is a must on the way to self-healing and life mastering.  Start small, a few minutes a day, and then increase the lenght of your sittings by a few minutes until you feel comfortable.  Do not attempt to sit in padmasana as in the pictures unless you are very supple.  It will be very difficult to concentrate if you feel pain all over your body.  Sit in a chair if you cannot sit on the floor with your legs crosssed.  It is important to keep your back and your head straight, your shoulders relaxed and your hands on your tights.  First observe your breath, make it regular and then subtle, observe your thoughts.  Later on, you could add a mantra,  You may like to listen to some new-age music or some guided meditation commentaries for positive thinking. 

All agree that regularity is the golden rule of meditation as we mentioned it earlier.   Keep a special meditation slot in you time schedule and think of place as your meditation spot.  It is highly preferable to meditate on an empty stomach early in the morning and also in the evening to let go of the daily frustrations and prepare yourself to a restful night of sleep.  

Why is regularity (same time, same place) is so important? 

First, the time.  it is very important to coerce body and mind in some form of routine, some kind of discipline.  Without discipline, there is no gain neither in the spiritual world nor in the material world.  Success does not come by chance usually.  Within a well-established routine, mind and body become obedient servants and work in harmony.  Meditation becomes the happy hour, a well anticipated festive moment.  Be prepared to hear protests from your ego which will suggest our good arguments to let go of your spiritual practice.   

Then the place.  It is very important to have a special set-up for your upasana, some kind of a small sanctuary, even an altar.  With time, this place will become energized and full of positive vibes.  It will be a place of peace and calm where you will find renewed energies as in some sort of temple.  Your own spiritual practice will suffice to transform this space.  You will be happy in your own company and that of your Higher Self. 

Your sanctuary can be as simple as a single votive candle which symbolizes your readiness to attune with the Divine.