Cultivating the stillness that meditation provides becomes an important balance for our active lives. The body needs this time – time to be silent, still, focused – so that our attentional energies can stream inwards.

All day long our attention, which is our energy, goes outwards into the world – to serve others through work or through commitments to family and friends, or in entertainment (which is the creativity of others), or in our own creative efforts. These things give life meaning, but there must be some time during each day where this outward focus turns inwards – and our energy turns inwards, to relax and nourish us, to gain clarity, and to improve the connection of our minds with our bodies.

Relaxation: a chance to put to rest all our concerns and pre-occupations, ease tensions that have built up, relaxation is the precondition of all healing. Relaxation means “letting-go”, and surrendering ourselves to the moment – letting go of the past, letting go of our concerns for the future, and delving deeply into what is in the present.

Nourishment: This time fills our inner reservoir with the energy we need to be effective at our work and other commitments; and in this way our external activities become empowered by this time that we dedicate to our inner world.

Clarity: we turn our attention away from the preoccupations of our every day lives, giving thought a rest from its constant grappling; this sends our energy deeper into our beings, from out of which arises a different perspective and creative solutions to the things we are engaged with.

Connection: the more we develop a rapport with our inner selves, the more meaningful our feelings and sensations become for us. As we place focus on the sensations within us – in our muscles, tissues, and organs – they reveal themselves to us; they tell us stories about ourselves, past events that we could not let go of. We can then apply our current maturity to those past stories (often from childhood) and release the energy that has become blocked there.

Meditation and sitting still is a skill, and just like any other skill, takes time and dedication to perfect. In this way it is just like riding a bike. At first, we fall off, unable to balance; then we get back on the bike and try again, only to fall off again. But with time, our bodies learn how to navigate and associate all the elements of the activity. Inner work is no different – it just takes practice. That it has also a certain mystical aspect does not mean that it is difficult and unapproachable; like any other sport or skilled activity, we get better at it the more we engage with it.

That it does have a mystical aspect is, however, something that makes it different from almost all other kinds of activity. This mystical aspect comes out of the fact that through stillness and silencing of thought, we reach deeper into ourselves and come into contact with a part of ourself that is beyond our ordinary world. Here we can participate, learn and interact just like when we are in the normal world, but without the limitations of time and space. Individual humans are like individual hairs on a head, when we trace our consciousness to its root, we find that we are all connected in and a part of one great mind that encompasses all of creation – past, present and future.

The essence of meditation is concentration: focusing our attention for a significant period of time. The effect of this concentrated attention is cumulative, both within each individual session and over time as a result of many sessions. At first when we sit down to meditate, nothing happens – or nothing seems to happen. But if we are concentrated, and stay with the meditative practice, then something does indeed happen: a threshold is passed and amazing things happen within us. It is like water coming to the boil: at first when we place the pan of water on the heat, nothing seems to happen – we wait and we watch. If we concluded that indeed nothing was happening, and took the pan off the heat, then nothing will come of the event and we will confirm to ourselves that nothing happened. But if we leave the pan on the heat then the water heats up, a threshold is passed, and in a single flash the water boils. The heat element on a stove is nothing other than concentrated energy – and if we could only be as good at concentration as the heat elements on our stoves (a single focus, and never a moment of doubt), we would all be capable of amazing things. But with practice, it gets easier; the effects of our efforts have a cumulative effect over time, and less time is needed “before the water boils” in each individual session.

The “water boiling” in the analogy refers to a moment of complete absorption within ourselves, and depending on which chakra the energy of that moment goes to determines the nature of the experience that will occur.

The basic methodology of all meditation is to concentrate one’s attention elsewhere than in the thinking brain. This is not to say that thinking is bad, just that it is over-utilised, and we must try to bring back balance within our minds by stabilising attention elsewhere within our being.

The analogy here is that thought is like a potent laser gun, which, if persistently firing every second, gets weaker and weaker. Alternatively, if we keep our finger off the thought-trigger, the laser charge will build up, so that when a round of thinking is let off, it will be much more potent. It is said that “thought makes an excellent servant but a terrible master”. The purpose of meditation then, is to place thought back in its place within our beings where it is most useful – as a selective tool, and not a persistent one.

Attention is the key. The essential understanding is this: that where (think: location) our attention is, that is where our energy of that moment is going. If our attention is located in the physical part of us called “the brain”, it will produce thinking, because the brain is our organ of thinking. On the other hand, if we place our attention at other locations within the body, we will not “think”, rather, our energy will go into and advance the function of the body at that other location.

 

There are some very powerful other places within the body for attention to stabilise. If placed on the vital organs (lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, spleen/pancreas), it will energise and heal those organs; if placed on the breath, it will calm us and take us to a deep place within our consciousness; if attention is placed on areas of pain within the body, the body will use the added energy to heal those areas; if attention is placed on subtle energy centres (“the chakras”), it will vitalise and heal those energy centres, allowing us to participate in potentials within us that require greater energy (psychic abilities, for example). For example, if attention is placed at the location of the “3rd eye” it will open us up to visionary experiences.

We are so used to thought predominating our awareness, that it is natural for our energy to shoot back up to our brains while we are doing the practice of placing attention elsewhere. When that happens, we must notice it as soon as possible, and then gently draw our attention back to the task at hand. It is important to be gentle on ourselves, because we don’t want to condition aggression into the meditative experience. By that is meant, if we get angry at ourselves for losing concentration, then our bodies will register aggression as being part of the meditative experience, and this will build fear and limitation into our deep psyche. It is very much like the training of an animal. People who have had experience with training dogs, for example, point out that when a dog is trained with love, it is more willing to take risks in what it chooses to do, whereas dogs trained with the stick are fearful and inflexible when it comes to dealing with new situations. Our minds are the same in this respect; we need to train them with love and gentleness in order for them to be effective.​

A few practical tips.

Put aside the time: When at home, set aside a regular time for meditation practice. It is like a date with yourself: a special time where your attention and energy is going inside yourself, and not externally to other people or projects. Decide before you start how long you are going to meditate for, and then keep to that time.

Make a special place for practice: If you meditate in the same place everytime, then that place becomes conditioned for meditation, and you will find it easier to meditate there. This phenomenon develops over time – and with time the energy of that location becomes a stronger and stronger aid to meditation. Make the place somewhere you want to go to – decorate it with flowers, candles, or objects that have a pleasant association. It is better if that place has a free flow of fresh air – by a window or even outside.

Sitting posture: Many meditators prefer to sit cross-legged – although this is a good sitting posture it is not necessary. The benefit of the cross-legged posture is that it keeps the spine upright and encourages subtle energy flow to recycle through the body. But it is also fine to sit upright in a chair, with the legs on the floor. For some people this will be a better starting position, because otherwise the first months of practice will be all about putting up with the pain in the body that comes from developing the cross-legged position. With the normal sitting position, on the other hand, the first months of practice will be more about deepening the meditative experience. If you do choose the chair sitting posture, you may find it comfortable to cross your ankles. Although not strictly necessary as a beginner, this does work to provide a recycling of subtle energy within the body, which in deeper states of mediation is helpful to steadily increase the energy in the body. Laying down is not a good idea as a position of meditation, because you are most likely to fall asleep instead of reaching deeper and deeper states of inner awareness. Our bodies are conditioned to sleep when we are laying down, and so if you lay down to meditate, then it is likely that with the first bit of relaxation that takes place, you will drop into the unconsciousness of sleep. Meditation, on the other hand, is a fully conscious activity. If you meditate with your spine upright then you will be conditioning your body to another mode of relaxation – one which becomes progressively deeper, but without falling into the unconsciousness of sleep. In this way, you begin to cultivate a state of the conscious mind which is between waking and sleeping – this is a very fruitful state of mind. It is not only very relaxing (it can be even more relaxing than sleep), but it is extremely creative; in this state we open ourselves up to experiencing other realms of our existence, and other beings in those realms with which to interact with and learn from.

Keep a notebook: This is a very good way to keep track of your progress, as well as providing a place for keeping your insights that you have had during the meditation practice. Keeping a record of your meditation experiences is something that you will look back on with much gratitude in the future. It will help you to remember and re-integrate states of mind you have experienced and lessons you have learned.​

Anchor

There are thousands of meditation techniques, and not all will be suitable for everyone. One of the most powerfu land significant things you can do in your life is to find the meditation technique that works for you - the one you naturaly resonate with, taking you to a deep, mesmerising and energising place within your being.

Below are some techniques that I have found work with many people, and are excellent starting points on your meditation

journey of discovery.

(a) “Catch Your Breath” - This technique will take you to a deep place within your being.

               

The meditation is as follows: Place your attention on your outbreath… let the outbreath go to its very end… follow your outbreath all the way to its end… and wait… wait there for the impulse to breathe… and then when the impulse comes, let it rise within you, your mind like a kite on the wind of the breath… follow the breath all the way up to its top, do not control it, just watch how it wavers on the top for a moment, and then falls down… stay with the mind like a kite on the wind of the breath, all the way down to the very bottom… to the end of the outbreath… and wait there… wait for the breath to come. Do not hold your breath – when the impulse to breathe comes, go with it, following it all the way up, your mind like a kite on the wind of the breath.

Stay with this exercise for at least 5 minutes. That’s all it should take to fall into a very relaxed place… once at that relaxed place you might want to stay with this exercise, or move to another meditation.

The essence of this exercise is that we do not “take” a breath, we “receive” the breath. It is something given – gifted – to us, and we receive it gently and humbly, as opposed to “taking” the breath, which implies forcefulness. When you get to the end of the outbreath, and wait there for the inbreath, it is natural that some time should pass where there is no breathing at all. This is good; it is good if this is a long time. Do not fear! The body WILL ALWAYS breathe at the optimal moment. This is important to mention because some people will fear death at this moment of waiting, and that fear will force them to “take” a breath. But be reassured that here is no way to die during this exercise – there is no need to “take” a breath at all. The body will always breathe. If you think about it, the proof of this is in the way that people drown – in the case where a person has fallen into a body of water, that person will hold their breath as long as possible, and then at some moment, they will gasp for air, swallow water (as they are submerged), and then drown. The fact that this how drowning occurs is the proof that the body will always breathe – in the case of the drowning person, that last gasp for breathe makes them swallow water and drown. So it is possible to go the end of the outbreath, and wait there, wait for a long time if necessary, until the new inbreath comes.

This meditation provides an energised calmness in the body. The basic idea is to absorb your attention within your body by smiling to different parts of your body on the in-breath, and then on the outbreath to feel those parts smiling back at you. A possible way to get into this meditation is provided below:

Close your eyes, and smile gently inwards… feel the smile on your lips… delve your fullest concentration on the feeling of the smile in your lips… move your mind from side to side in the lips, focusing on the feeling of the smile in your lips… breathe in, smile to your lips, breath out, feel the smiling energy in the lips. Now take your attention sideways from the lips out to the cheeks… feel the smiling energy in the cheeks, breathe in, smile to the cheeks, breathe out, feel the smiling energy in the cheeks… for a few breaths… then feel your smiling energy in your eyes… breathe in, feel the smile in your eyes, feel its sparkling quality there, for a few breaths… then feel the smile through your whole face… breathe in, feel how the smile radiates in the face, breath out, feel the smiling energy in your face… do this for a few breaths… then move your smile down into your heart… breathe in, smile to the heart , breath out, feel the heart smiling back at you… do this for a few breaths…until you can feel your smiling energy saturating the heart… then smile to your small intestines, breath in, smile to the small intestines, and breathe out, feel them smiling back at you… then the large intestines, then the lungs, then the liver, pancreas/spleen/stomach, then the kidneys. Then you can continue smiling to whatever other parts of the body you like.

This meditation energises, calms and also creates a better mind/body connection. Ultimately, our aim is to be 100% aware of every cell of our whole bodies at all times. With this kind of awareness, we can never get sick.

The smile is a very special kind of energy – its effect on us is unparalleled. When we walk down the street and see a friend, and exchange smiles with them, it uplifts us straight away, energising us and making us feel happy. This is a very special power we have. This mediation takes this special power and turns it inwards. We literally light up our insides by the power of the smile. When placed on our organs, bones and tissue, this energy strengthens them, which turn makes us feel even better – and so an inner ‘feedback-loop’ is created – a self-feeing circuit. We smile inwardly, we feel good a result, as a result of feeling good, we smile more… and so… this self-feeding loop expands; the result is lightness, happiness and a feeling of well-being.

When shining this inner smile on the organs, we must be careful not to engage in negative, recriminating self talk – borne out of shame for not having looked after our bodies in the past. Realise that our bodies are always doing the very best that they can do to make us healthy and well. Our bodies are the best examples that we have of unconditional love: no matter what we do to them, they always respond to make things better for us. Pain is the body’s way of shouting out for attention, but it is not a punishment; the body is always seeking to heal itself. So when meditating on the inner body, with the inner smile for example, do so with utter gratitude for everything that the body is. Cultivate feelings of gratitude and optimism in the body – this too is a self-feeding feedback loop – it is a cycle that keeps getting bigger.

(c) Inner Alchemy: working with imagined light - This meditation is a very powerful self-healing tool

Breathe in, smiling to the lungs, breath out, feel the lungs smiling back at you. Then with the next in-breath, breathe white light into the lungs. Let the breath fill the lungs with white light, the colour of lightning. With each new breath, feel the colour becoming more brilliant inside. Do this until the lungs are shiny and white and happy. Then move your attention to your kidneys… smile to the kidneys, and breath blue light into the kidneys… with each breath, feel blue light filling the kidneys, becoming more brilliant with each breath. Feel how this is changing how your kidneys feel. Let that colour saturate the kidneys. Do this until the kidneys are bright blue and radiant. Then move your attention to the liver (just underneath your right rib cage), smiling to the liver, breath green light into the liver, and as you breathe out, feel the green light saturating the liver. With each

breath, feel the light becoming more brilliant. Keep breathing green light into the liver, until it is saturated with the light. Then move your attention to the spleen/pancreas (just underneath the left rib cage), smile there, and breathe in bright yellow light. With each breath, feel the yellow light becoming more brilliant in the spleen/pancreas area. Keep pouring yellow light into the area, until it is beaming with light like the sun. Then move your attention to the heart, smiling to the heart, and breathing beautiful red light into it. With each breath, feel the light becoming more brilliant. And keep pouring the red light into the heart, until it is shiny, joyful and proud. Then begin to fill all your bones with golden light, imagine them filling up, with each breath. Fill one bone at a time, or if you can work with the whole skeleton at once, then all the bones at once – fill them with brilliant golden light, until the whole skeleton is brimming and radiating like a sun. Then let a soft pink light fill each cell of your skin, breathing in, fill the skin with the colour, breathing out, letting that colour intensify and shine brighter. Continue with that until the whole skin feels alive with colour.

As you do this exercise, you should try to make it cumulative, in the sense that after each part of the body is filled with a colour, a little part of the attention remains on it while the rest of the attention moves on to the other parts… so that the colour doesn’t fade when you move on to a different part of the body. After the exercise you should feel like a bright rainbow, beaming out colour from all the different parts of the body that you have worked on.

Why does it work? Ultimately all matter is in a state of vibration… and the different states of vibration result in different wavelengths being broadcast out into space at different times. Different colours of light have different wavelengths, and when we imagine different colours in our bodies, the energy of attention takes on that wavelength, which then mixes in with the wavelengths of the vibrations of our bodies… by visualising light, we are actually engaging with ourselves at an atomic level! This gives us the opportunity to make significant changes to our cells… simply through the colours we imagine. A diseased cell will have a certain rate of vibration, and by making that part of the body vibrate to a different frequency, we can actually change the rate of vibration of the cell, and take it out of its disease vibration into a healthy one.

Which colours should one visualise? The colours used above are those that are recommended/used in the Taoist system. Ultimately, however, this is something we must all feel out within ourselves, as there are no set rules. Visualising white light is simple and a general tonic, because it contains all the colours within it; visualising the specific colours can have more specific results at different parts of the body. My suggestion is to place your mind at different parts of the body, then imagine a colour wheel spinning slowly through that area, and work out which colour feels best. Then apply that colour until you feel that another colour is needed, and go back to the colour wheel.​