Chapter 2 Meditation – A Bridge to Self-Discovery

Transformation

What is meditation? Meditation is a practice, which allows you to become your own technology where you can feel at ease with negative emotions. Instead of going into a panic mode and feeling stressed (fight or flight), you can actually change how you feel in that moment by relaxing your energy and accessing clarity, insight, and wisdom; thus, you can make wise decisions (see the big picture, create benefits and do no harm). Meditation also allows you to access your higher consciousness, which operates based on non-judgment (discernment via inner peace), unconditional love, kindness, compassion, generosity, creativity, and inspiration. By practicing meditation you’re giving yourself permission to experience unconditional happiness. This is an elusive state for most people since they only know conditional happiness (If I get what I want, I feel good; if I don’t, I feel dissatisfied); therefore, unconditional happiness sounds absurd to the ego (fear and judgment). Hence, it is your duty to show your ego that it is possible. The reason that most people don’t experience inner joy is because it’s being covered up by stressful thoughts, unhappy feelings and limiting beliefs (lower vibrations). Thus, in your meditation practice you will begin to unravel these limitations and expand your awareness so that you start to feel true happiness from within (higher vibrations). When you do, your ego cannot deny it and you see how beneficial it is to operate in this manner and not just from fight or flight. It’s not that you’re neglecting your ego (fear, judgment, limiting beliefs, etc.), but you actually get intimate with it and transform fear into love; judgment into discernment by accessing inner peace; and expand each limiting belief into what is possible. Through your practice you will gain tremendous understanding/knowing and broaden your perspective.

Insight #8: The practice of meditation allows us to change our patterns; thus, unhappiness (a pattern of jagged energy) can be transmuted into pure joy (smooth energy). However, this must be done from within; hence, meditation comes in handy. It’s a tool that we can use to help us relax mentally and physically, which lets us experience inner peace.

What to Do in Meditation

1. Relax by focusing on one thing such as your breath. If your mind focuses on many different things, it will wander off into various thoughts (thinking about the past or future); thus, it takes you away from the present moment or your center (the ability to relax).

2. Be non-judgmental of what arises in your consciousness. If you criticize what comes up in your mind, you will start fighting with it or running away from it. You’re labeling it as “good” or “bad.” When you do that, your mind will fluctuate up and down; thus, you’re emotionally yo-yoing all over the place, and there is no sense of peace. By being non-judgmental you’re allowing your consciousness to relax without the need to label your thoughts. However, you’re not denying your thoughts either (ignoring what is showing up in your mind). You simply acknowledge/accept what shows up (thought, judgment, complaint, etc.), remain calm and feel non-judgmental about it (it’s neither good nor bad), and continue to focus on one thing such as your breath. This allows you to come back to the present moment and not getting caught up in your thinking or judging.

In doing so, your energy is relaxing and centering because it’s not moving up, down, left or right. This tranquility gives you the sense of inner peace and it revives, renews and refreshes your energy. Thus, you feel balanced and make decisions based on clarity (expanded consciousness). You’re able to let go of negativity and make peace with stressful emotions through acceptance and forgiveness. You recognize that you’re not your thoughts, but you’re a neutral observer of your thoughts and feelings. When these thoughts and emotions are fluctuating and going all over the place, you (as a neutral observer or non-judgment) can remain undisturbed like the eye of a hurricane. In the eye of the storm, the weather is actually calm; the sky is clear and the winds are just light breezes. Therefore, the peace within allows you to feel free, and the distressing thoughts and unhappy feelings will naturally subside because you’re not lowering your awareness to experience unhappiness, but remain non-judgmental, which allows you to feel at ease. When you face your unhappy emotions with non-judgment, it actually processes the negative energy; acknowledges the stressful thoughts and emotions with kindness; and allows you to come to terms with them. When you often let yourself do that, you begin to experience inner peace, so much so that it becomes your norm. It feels amazingly blissful since you’re not being weighed down by negative energy. Remember, you can never get bored with true happiness because it comes with clarity, insight, wisdom, balance, inspiration, and creativity; therefore, your consciousness will always expand when you operate in this manner. It’s the egoic mind (lower vibration) that gets bored and feels dissatisfied with things because it’s judgmental about everything and lacks contentment. It’s important to be aware of what mode you’re in (compressed or expanded state), practice non-judgment often and allow yourself to feel relaxed.

3. In addition to being a neutral observer of your mind, thoughts, and emotions, you can add unconditional love, kindness and compassion to your meditation practice because these are part of your higher vibration. Whatever arises in your mind, you can unconditionally love it, be kind to it and feel compassion towards it. This way it’s difficult for lower vibration to drag you down since you’re reacting or responding to it in a loving fashion. Therefore, unconditional love, kindness, and compassion can transform negativity into balance because they exude gentleness, patience and acceptance (I love you as you are and that translates into inner peace). There is no fight or flight feeling about it.

4. Practice meditation without expectation. When you have expectations and things do not turn out as hoped, you will feel frustrated. Hence, you must practice meditation without trying to control the mind, thoughts, feelings or outcomes. It sounds counterintuitive because your ego wants to control the situation to get what it wants (conditional happiness). However, when you approach meditation through control and judgment, you will wrestle with your mind, thoughts, and emotions; therefore, it creates disturbances; internal conflicts; and there is no inner peace. Thus, what would be helpful is to relax, accept, surrender, forgive and make peace (have compassion and unconditional love) with whatever arises in your mind. This way you feel at ease and not fighting with your own consciousness. The tranquility and contentment (enjoying the present moment as is without judgment) will show you that it is possible to be unconditionally happy without expectation. True happiness (higher vibration) actually comes from within when you’re wholeheartedly at peace with yourself (non-judging, accepting yourself as you are without making any of it wrong).

5. Simply being. Now, this is the most difficult concept for our ego to grasp. We’re human being and not human doing, but the ego feels it must do and receive something good in order to feel elated because it’s addicted to conditional happiness – I can only feel good when I get what I want. If I don’t, I feel dissatisfied. Thus, simply being sounds lazy, crazy and not workable. However, by simply being (being at ease, joyful, loving, kind and have discernment through clarity in each present moment) it actually enhances your life experience because you’re seeing the big picture and expanding your perception; therefore, you make better decisions (do no harm and create benefits). Being doesn’t stop you from doing either. In fact, you will do things better because your mind is clearer, more focused, relaxed and in harmony with what you’re doing. You’re in the flow of life and have a flexible consciousness. If things do not go your way, you don’t feel frustrated, but can approach the situation differently with creativity. You do things without expectation and yet things are getting done because you know how to cooperate and adapt.

Now, let’s practice meditation. The first thing you need to learn is how to breathe.

How to Breathe Through Your Diaphragm or Stomach

Breathing is unconscious for us; therefore, it’s good to become aware of it and use it as a tool to help us come back to the present moment. Not only that, but your breathing indicates your emotional state. For example:

Panic – Short, fast, shallow breaths

Anger – Long forced breaths

Calmness – Slow steady breaths

Happiness – Long inhalations, long exhalations

Thus, when you’re conscious of how you’re breathing, you can also change your emotion. We recommend you breathe deeply from your diaphragm or stomach.

Place your hand on your stomach. As you inhale deeply, push your stomach out and feel your stomach expand. As you exhale slowly, your stomach goes back in. Make it a habit to breathe from your abdomen and you will feel calmer.

How to Observe Your Thoughts

This sounds like a simple thing to do, but it’s actually quite tricky because we tend to be inside our thoughts and get lost or caught up in them; hence, we’re not a neutral observer of the action of thinking. Most people are identified with their thinking (I am my thoughts or my thoughts are me); thus, they cannot differentiate that thoughts are just activities in the mind, and they don’t need to get caught up in them, but can objectively observe what is going on in consciousness without fluctuating with their thoughts or emotions. Therefore, it does take practice to become skillful at being an impartial witness to one’s own thoughts.

Question: If I practice this, will I lose the ability to think and feel?

Answer: No, you will not lose the capacity to think and feel. In fact, you will think clearer and feel more at ease because by relaxing and staying neutral, you’re able to discern and make peace with thoughts and emotions that are stressful; hence, you will find your center, balance, and inner joy.

A Simple Exercise to Practice Watching Your Thoughts

Have a pen and paper. In the next 5 minutes, practice observing your thoughts. Don’t help your mind to think, but remain neutral and wait for a thought to show up in your consciousness. What is the next thought going to be and wait for it? Be an observer without conjuring up a thought. When a thought appears, just write it down of what it is and wait for the next thought. This way you can remain neutral and don’t get caught up in the thought, but witness it without getting involved with it.

Observe Thoughts

You will find this practice very interesting because it’s showing you that you can be a bystander of your mental activity; therefore, you’re not your thoughts, but just a neutral observer (awareness) that is relaxing and non-judgmental. In doing this, it allows you to discern through inner peace (relaxing energy) and have clarity on which thoughts are beneficial or not useful. Naturally, when your mind is at ease, it will drop the negative emotions and unbeneficial thoughts because if you keep holding on to them you will suffer. Thus, inner peace (higher vibration) will guide you to choose thoughts and emotions that are harmonious, coherent and inspirational.

Insight #9: Step outside your mind and be a neutral observer. Observe your mind as if you’re observing another person without judgment. It’s very relaxing when you’re not caught up in the mental chatter.

Sitting Meditation

Find a quiet environment. Sit comfortably in a chair with your back straight and put your hands on your lap. Breathe in deeply through your stomach and breathe out slowly through your mouth a few times to relax your body. Once you’re relaxed, close your eyes (continue to breathe deeply from your abdomen – long inhalations, long exhalations) and simply pay attention to your breathing. Just notice the breath going in and out of your diaphragm or notice the rising and falling of your stomach. By noticing and relaxing, the mind is able to keep focus on the present moment and become alert. Should a thought arise, just pull your attention back to noticing the breath. Breathe fully from your stomach, relax and enjoy noticing the movement of your breath. Feel the joy that arises in your mind while you’re being at peace with yourself.

The Reminding Technique (Non-Judging Practice)

Since the mind is so quick to judge and wants to fluctuate (it gets caught up in its own thinking), we use this technique to help the mind come back to the present moment when we’re interacting with our 6 senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and mind).

When you see something, mentally tell yourself “eyes” so you’re aware that it’s just the function of seeing. Then pull your focus back to noticing your abdominal breathing.

When you hear something, mentally tell yourself “ears” so you’re aware that it’s just the function of hearing. Then pull your attention back to noticing your abdominal breathing.

When you smell something, mentally tell yourself “nose” so you’re aware that it’s just the function of smell. Then pull your focus back to noticing your abdominal breathing.

When you taste something, mentally tell yourself “tongue or mouth” so you’re aware that it’s just the function of taste buds. Then pull your attention back to noticing your abdominal breathing.

When you feel something on your body, mentally tell yourself “skin or body” so you’re aware that it’s just the function of the sensory cells. Then pull your focus back to your abdominal breathing.

When you notice your mind is thinking, mentally tell yourself “mind” so you’re aware it’s just an activity in your consciousness. Then pull your focus back to your abdominal breathing.

By doing this exercise, it temporarily interrupts your egoic mind (fear & judgment) from its judging process so you can stay longer in the present moment (relax). At the same time, you are creating awareness and noticing what is going on in consciousness without getting caught up in your thoughts so you can remain as a neutral observer and let yourself feel at ease in the present.

Caution: When you do this exercise, make sure you’re not harming yourself in any way. If something bad is happening to you, you must tend to it and keep yourself free from harm.

Walking Meditation

Walk normally as you do while being aware of your breath. If you find it difficult to observe or feel your breathing while walking, you can feel the movement of your body as your focus point. Should a thought arise, just acknowledge it and accept it; then pull your attention back to noticing the movement of your body or breathing (present moment). Therefore, you don’t get caught up in your thoughts. Enjoy walking and relaxing.

Standing or Lying Down Meditation

You can meditate by standing or lying down on the floor. Use your abdominal breathing as the focus point while you’re in either position. Enjoy breathing and relax. Don’t fall asleep while you’re lying down. If you feel sleepy, get up and do walking meditation.

Visualization

Imagine a peaceful scene like a beach or waterfall (pick your favorite place that is soothing to you). Feel the sensation of how beautiful and calming it is to be in this spot. Let yourself feel joyful and engulf in bliss. Stay in this feeling as long as you can.

Using the Spot between your Eyebrows

Focus on the area between your eyebrows and use it as your focal point. Relax (breathe deeply) and just be with this one point and feel the joy that arises in your heart and mind while you’re being at peace with the present moment.

Meditation on Unconditional Love (Focus on Your Heart)

Think of love, not romantic love, but love that is unconditional. This love doesn’t fluctuate up or down due to circumstances, but it expands and engulfs you with pure joy. It accepts you as you are, and you are this unconditional love. There is no separation between you and this pure energy of lovingness. You are one with it. Feel the warmth and bathe your whole body in this amazing energy. Feel the tingling sensation of ecstasy and the contentment of your heart (focus on your heart and feel it). Stay with this feeling of infinite joy.

Meditation on Gratitude

Make a list of people, things and situations that you appreciate in your life. Write down 10 to 20 items (the more the better). When you look at the list, it makes you feel thankful and happy. Now, go deeper into these feelings of thankfulness, appreciation & gratitude and really take a deep breath and breathe in these wonderful feelings. Focus on how grateful you feel in your heart and keep breathing in these feelings of joy.

Meditate in Nature

Find a park that has many trees. You can sit under or near a tree and take a look at the beautiful nature surrounding you. Appreciate this exquisite and peaceful moment. Trees are great examples of being non-judgmental. They simply grow; give us oxygen; remove pollution from the air; provide a home for wildlife; control erosion and runoff; provide shade; and offer so many other benefits.

Let yourself get inspired by the trees. Sit in silence and appreciate their existence. Relax and be non-judgmental like the trees. Expand the feeling of gratitude by appreciating ALL THINGS in existence. Everything has its place, and the world is perfect as it is. Access the feeling of acceptance and you will find contentment when you offer no resistance to inner peace (surrender to the present, which means everything is good enough as is). There is no need to find fault with anything.

As you can see there are many ways to meditate. Therefore, you can choose any method you like and do it often because you become what you practice (repetition is key). When you’re skillful, unconditional happiness will be your norm. Unfortunately, most of us have practiced ourselves into feeling stressed, but now we can do something about it and liberate. We no longer need to be a victim of negative emotions, fears or judgments, but wake up into clarity, insight, and wisdom where we experience pure joy in the present.

Insight #10: Repetition is key in changing your mental habits. Release the negative emotions through non-judgment and forgiveness, and establish positive feelings by appreciating everything in life.

Mindfulness in Everyday Life

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is simply being aware of each moment of what is going on in your consciousness. By being conscious you can change how you feel or respond to things. You don’t need to fall into distress or unhappiness every time you dislike something, but you can choose to relax and access your higher mind, which allows you to see the bigger picture of what is useful or not practical. Your inner peace will suggest to you to harmonize and do something beneficial in each situation. If that is not possible, then your inner peace will ask you to walk away from the circumstance (take the higher road), and you can still feel at ease and joyful because you’re operating through clarity. Therefore, mindfulness is giving you a reminder for you to come back into balance and access a wider perspective so that you know what to do without harming yourself or others.

Laugh Often

Practice laughter yoga. There are many videos on YouTube on this technique, and it’s worthwhile for you to practice. Look it up and follow along. Why does laughter work? It works because it allows you to let go of tension, worry, and anxiety. When you genuinely laugh, you’re accessing your inner joy; thus, you’re able to drop the lower vibration of what is bothering you and look at a problem from a different angle. Instead of going into a negative mode, you become creative and inspired. Hence, laughter helps you to change your perception, and you let yourself feel good. It’s not about laughing at something (feeling superior or inferior), but laughing with yourself and others. Therefore, you look for beneficial solutions (win-win). First, feel in harmony with yourself, which laughter helps because it lets you feel at ease when you laugh (not attached to or offended by negativity). Once you’re tranquil on the inside, then you’re more likely to feel at peace with the outside world since you’re viewing reality through the lens of inner joy. Here, you can access solutions from your inner guidance (higher consciousness) and know what to do.

Smile Often

An authentic smile brings joy because it comes from your appreciation and thankfulness. A smile signals friendliness and encourages positive interactions. Of course, sometimes you can do a fake smile or pretend to be happy, but that kind of expression does not work since it’s not congruent to how you truly feel (smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside). Thus, you should work on your inner smile where you feel light-hearted. Appreciation can come from the little things in life such as the ability to breathe. Thank your lungs right now and feel grateful for your body so you don’t take it for granted. By being appreciative it makes it easier for you to genuinely smile because you feel a sense of joy and lightness in your heart.

Forgiveness Meditation

Forgiveness is powerful. It’s a way to heal all your emotional wounds, stress and unhappiness. Therefore, allow yourself to forgive and feel utterly at peace with yourself, and the sense of inner peace will also let you be at ease with others and all your negative memories.

Now, the ego (fear and judgment) may want to get in the way of this process because it thinks:

Forgiveness shows weakness. If you forgive what others did to you, then you’re inferior. Therefore, it’s better to hold on to grudges and seek revenge.
If you forgive others for what they’ve done, then others will keep doing bad things to you. Thus, you must not forgive, fight them and keep holding on to your anger.
If you forgive yourself for all the bad things that you did, then you’re an irresponsible person. Hence, you must not forgive yourself and realize that deep inside you’re a bad individual.
If you forgive yourself for your past indiscretions, then you’re giving yourself excuses to do harmful things again. It’s better not to forgive.
If you forgive, your ego thinks you’re stupid and a loser. Therefore, you must never forgive. Never! The ego creates the feelings of guilt and shame around forgiveness to encourage you not to do it.

Let’s address the ego’s concerns:
1. Forgiveness actually shows strength and not weakness. It doesn’t make you inferior or superior, but it allows you to feel at peace with your fears and negative emotions. Therefore, you’re clear-minded and unconditionally happy. You no longer need to hold on to your grudges or seek revenge. Forgiveness liberates you from the lower vibrations and lets you experience emotional balance and higher consciousness (clarity, insight, and wisdom). You may have heard the phrase “Not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die”. Therefore, it’s much better to forgive and stop holding on to your unhappiness.

2. If you forgive others for what they’ve done, then others will keep doing bad things to you. This is not true. When you forgive, it doesn’t make you a doormat for others to step on because you forgive with wisdom. You become wiser in how you engage with people who have done you harm in the past. You don’t rely on fear or judgment when you interact with them, but access your higher consciousness so you will know what to do. When you exude peace, joyfulness, and contentment, it’s very difficult for others to pick on you because your energy is oscillating at a higher spectrum, which allows you to see the big picture and solutions. It’s as if you can read other people’s intentions. This happens because you’re more aware and your energy is much more heightened through inner peace. Negative people will have a hard time with this because you don’t vibrate at the same level as them. They simply think you’re too weird and don’t want to engage with you. Like attracts like so they prefer to interact with people who also have a lot of fear. Thus, you’re not part of their reality.

3. If you forgive yourself for all the bad things that you did, then you’re an irresponsible person. This is not true either because forgiveness helps you to become more responsible by reminding you not to do harm to others and yourself. When you forgive yourself, it frees you from all the negative feelings that have been weighing you down. Thus, you realize you’re good enough and feel satisfied with who you are and have a sense of well-being. Therefore, you’re not interested in sabotaging yourself or others.

4. If you forgive yourself for your past indiscretions, then you’re giving yourself excuses to do awful things again. This is false because you gain wisdom through forgiveness. As a result, you’re no longer interested in doing harm but become kinder, more compassionate and loving towards all.

5. If you forgive, your ego thinks you’re stupid and a loser. The ego creates the feelings of guilt and shame around forgiveness. If you listen and believe the ego (fear & judgment), then you’re not likely to forgive. Hence, it’s even more imperative to let go and forgive because if you don’t, you just keep carrying a heavy heart and feeling more stressed. You will be haunted by your negative memories, unhappy reactions and traumatic events from your past. Therefore, when you forgive, you’re able to change your perspective about them and stop holding on to your rigid patterns. The “letting go” or “forgiveness” actually heals you so you feel emotionally content and satisfied. When you view your negative memories, unhappy reactions and traumatic events from your past, you don’t get stressed out by them, but you feel grateful because you have learned great lessons from life’s challenges; hence, you’re now wiser and no longer engage in conflict, but always look to create benefits and win-win situations.

How to Forgive

First, be in a meditative state where you feel relaxed and peaceful. The easiest way is to pay attention to your breath and breathe deeply (long breaths in and out). Keep practicing until you feel totally calm and joyful and your body also feels at ease. Once you feel at peace, allow yourself to look at the negative memories and stay neutral. You may even feel anxious because your mind is replaying how you reacted to these traumatic events that took place. Again, stay non-judgmental. Do not blame others or yourself for what happened. Allow yourself to view and feel whatever shows up in your mind and body and have no judgment about it. It’s neither good nor bad. Observe it from a relaxing state. By staying neutral the negativity will have a hard time pulling you down to its lower vibrations such as fear, anger, and so on. Now your body may even cry because it’s going through the process of reliving the dreadful events. Again, allow yourself to observe the crying without judgment. Crying is not a bad thing. However, you don’t participate in judging, complaining or blaming. Since you’re neutral about it and able to love it unconditionally (forgiveness through non-judgment), the anxiety will start to dissipate. Why does it dissipate? It’s because you didn’t join in with the lower vibrations. You see, in order to feel bad you must lock into a negative state (judging, complaining or blaming), but since you didn’t, it allows you to feel free and change how you view these unhappy events. The memories are still there, but you now feel differently because you’re not tied to the stressful reactions, fears, and negative emotions. The neutrality or inner peace through non-judgment lets you untie yourself from unhappiness. Finally, you release the emotional baggage because you no longer blame yourself or others for what happened; thus, you now feel light, joyful and vibrant. However, you forgive with wisdom (spiritual growth), which means you no longer engage in “drama”. You don’t repeat your negative behaviors. If you do, you will tend to attract difficult circumstances to your life (aligning with lower vibrations). Therefore, always look to create betterment; harmony; win-win situations; and never do harm.

Problems that May Arise When You Meditate

Question: I cannot stop thinking when I meditate. I cannot sit still. My mind is all over the place.

Answer: Thinking is allowed, and when you notice it, you simply shift your focus back to the present moment (back to neutral such as noticing your abdominal breathing). It doesn’t mean you’re encouraging your mind to think and be all over the place while you practice. You want to remain neutral, relax and just observe. Whatever comes up in your mind is okay; acknowledge/accept it and then pull your attention back to noticing your breath so you don’t get caught up in the thinking, but you’re at peace with it. It’s as if you’re observing your mind like you’re observing another person without blame or judgment. You feel at ease because you’re not getting involved with your thoughts, and this (the act of observing through neutrality) allows you to let go since you’re not attached to whatever comes up in your mind. The non-judgment will lead you into calmness. If you find sitting meditation difficult, then please try walking meditation or other methods.

Question: How long should I meditate?

Answer: Well, this is up to you. We suggest you start with a short meditation around 5 to 10 minutes. In fact, you shouldn’t think about time when you meditate because time is simply now. By not worrying about time (just be in the present without judging), it frees you and allows you to enjoy your meditation more because you’re relaxing, renewing and refreshing your energy instead of thinking about other things (fluctuating with your thoughts – up, down, left or right).

up-down-left-right When you feel peaceful or centered, you can access clearer ideas because inner peace (being non-judgmental) removes biases/prejudices from your consciousness. Thus, you’re able to gain insight about life problems and see reality from a new perspective, which doesn’t bog you down. Now that your mind is relaxed, uplifted and unburdened from negative emotions, you will feel immensely innovative on how to deal with challenges without doing harm.

Question: Although meditation helps, I still have stress and negative thoughts.

Answer: That is okay. Don’t hate the stress and negative thoughts. When you feel like that, allow yourself to calm down (breathe deeply) and embrace what you’re feeling in the moment. It’s not about fighting with your mind and trying to suppress your thoughts or emotions. It may feel uncomfortable at first to embrace stress because your mind doesn’t want to face or accept it. However, continue to relax (breathe deeply) and just be with the feeling as is. Now, when your mind is at ease (relaxing, not judging and accepting what is), the negative feeling will subside by itself because your calmness releases the tension and not holding on to the lower vibrations. Let this happen naturally and don’t try to force the bad feelings or negative thoughts to go away because when you try to control it, you will start fighting with it, which will create more disturbances in your energetic field. Just relax, be with it and recognize that this moment is good enough. Begin to appreciate and have gratitude towards stress and negative thoughts such as “oh you guys are giving me a reminder to be at ease. Thank you, I appreciate your message. I will now breathe deeply to loosen up and unwind.”

Question: I feel I don’t have time to meditate because I’m far too busy with many other things.

Answer: Your fear & judgment are clever at making excuses for not practicing meditation, which actually will bring you a lot of benefits. The truth is you have all the time in the world to meditate, but you choose not to do it. Therefore, it would be tremendously advantageous for you to make meditation a part of your life since the practice helps you to alleviate stress; balance your emotions; rejuvenate your energy, and gain insight into your unhappiness so that you no longer dwell in the lower vibrations, but start to experience unconditional joy.

Question: If I practice letting go of my thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, won’t I lose my sense of self or identity?

Answer: No, you don’t lose your sense of self. Instead, you will become more of your true self, where you feel unconditionally happy; experience pure joy; have clarity and higher intelligence; able to forgive and make peace with all things; feel kinder and more compassionate; have access to wisdom; feel creative and more inspired; therefore, you live a satisfying life with no regrets. The things you lose are your harmful intentions, unhappy thoughts, stressful emotions, prejudices, fears, the need to control, the need to blame, the need to be right and your limited awareness. You forgo chaos and choose to return to harmony and move with the flow of existence.

Question: How long will it take for me to master this?

Answer: Again, don’t worry about time or how long it will take because if you do, you will feel frustrated or defeated. Don’t judge yourself on how well or how bad you are at practicing meditation because the judgment will push or pull your mind and take you away from your center (the ability to relax). Therefore, just practice meditation and mindfulness as often as you can so that it becomes a habit. Allow yourself to enjoy the practice. Make it into a fun game. Whenever you feel agitated, remind yourself that you know how to relax. Let yourself experience inner peace by focusing only on your breath (be with only one thing). Breathe deeply and slowly and give yourself permission to feel at ease. Stick with simplicity.

Insight #11: Simplicity is key in meditation. Don’t use the “thinking mind” or the “analyzing mind” to do meditation, but use non-judgment and be a neutral observer of your mind to step outside of thinking and analyzing. When you do that, it helps you to relax; rejuvenate your energy and feel at peace (this moment is good enough). Once you’re at ease, your thinking will be clearer and can discern much better with wisdom.

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