If you’re a regular meditation practitioner, there may be a time when you hit a ceiling in your meditation practice, as you may be unaware of methods of improving your experience; or you may be a beginner, and may be looking at means of maximizing the effects of your practice.
Here, we discuss 7 ways which can help you have a deeper and more intense meditation experience.
1. Eating Right – The most obvious, yet simplest way to meditate better. It is commonly understood that one must not meditate on a full stomach. The reason is straightforward – right after eating a proper meal, the body’s energy is concentrated on the digestive process. Meditating during this time not only hinders our meditation, but also the digestion. Ideally, we should wait for around 1 hour after a heavy meal or the time till we feel lighter in the tummy.
It is also recommended to avoid food which makes one feel heavy. One does not need to get fanatical about this. Any food that makes us feel energetic, alert and feels light on our body after consumption is good enough.
Tip: Partial Fasting may help some people meditate better, as the energy within our body is completely focussed on meditation. Fasting also helps us develop our will power and the ability to withdraw our mind from the senses, which can prove beneficial as a meditator in the long run. If you have health issues or feel uneasy or unwell after fasting, you may skip this, or consult a nutritionist or medical doctor.
2. Physical Exercises – This may seem unusual to some people, but it helps! When we exercise, apart from the obvious health benefits, there are energetic benefits too. Whenever we exercise any part of the body, it helps in opening up energetic blockages in and around that part, thereby increasing the circulation of energy in the body. This is vital to enable the practitioner to properly absorb the energy generated during the meditation, and allow it to flow throughout the body with minimal obstruction.
We may do any form of simple exercise for 5 – 10 minutes before and after the meditation, which exercises most parts of the body. The preparatory exercises for Twin Hearts Meditation as taught by Master Choa Kok Sui can be used to exercise and cleanse the whole body.
Tip: During the exercise, be aware of the body and the part which you are exercising. This will help in better cleansing effects and will also gradually bring you to a state of greater awareness, which is beneficial before beginning the meditation.
3. Breathing Exercises – Breathing exercises are a great way to calm the mind before meditation, and to cleanse the energy body to facilitate better energy flow.
About 5 minutes of Pranic Breathing, which is taught in the Basic Pranic Healing Workshop, is one of the simplest and most effective breathing techniques to practice before meditation.
If you have not learnt Pranic Breathing, you may just do any simple breathing exercise which you know, or practice deep abdominal breathing for a few minutes.
4. Superbrain Yoga – Superbrain Yoga is a simple, 2-minute exercise to energize your brain. Though it can be practiced independently, doing it before meditation greatly enhances the meditation experience. This is due to the fact that this exercise helps in energizing the upper chakras, which is essential for meditating effectively. The correct technique for practising Superbrain Yoga is explained in the Superbrain Yoga book written by Master Choa Kok Sui.
5. Forgiveness – Master Choa Kok Sui has often repeated that meditating while being filled with anger and hatred is akin to a balloon being tied down with weights i.e. you get pulled down – psychologically and spiritually. Taking a few minutes to forgive people who have hurt you can greatly help in having a fantastic meditation!
6. Self-Healing – It is always a good idea to do some self-healing to cleanse your chakras, before sitting down to meditate. Cleaner chakras = Greater absorption of energy!
Pranic Psychotherapy is an ideal self-healing practice before meditation, though any technique to cleanse your chakras is good.
7. Time & Place – Though it is all right to meditate at any place which is energetically clean (avoid places that are contaminated, like a washroom, garbage dump, septic tank or any place which is physically dirty), meditating at the same spot as much as possible has it’s benefits. That is why most great yogis have known to have had a fixed place for meditation (of course, this does not apply when you’re travelling!). This is because when you meditate at a certain spot regularly, the place becomes impregnated with spiritual energy from the meditation. This makes it more conducive for meditation. The moment you sit down to meditate, you can ease into a meditative state due to the spiritual energy of the place.
If it is your wish, you may create a calm, positive ambience in the meditation room by adding natural fragrances, beautiful photographs and holy objects, to enhance your experience. This is completely a personal choice, and by no means a necessity.
It is also advisable to meditate at the same time daily as much as possible. This is to build a mental discipline, which will tune your mind to effortlessly flow into a meditative state. It’s similar to the body feeling hungry at a particular time of the day because it is used to being fed at the same time almost everyday. Of course, one must be vigilant to not become rigid in this matter, and also be open to meditating at other times when the need arises.
Choose a time of the day which is most practical and suitable for you to meditate. Though certain times of the day are said to be more conducive to meditation, it is far better to meditate at a time that suits you, than being idealistic and not meditating at all! What is important though, is to fix a time; unless you do that, there is a tendency to procrastinate and end up skipping it altogether.
You may follow some or all of the above suggestions, depending on what kind of meditation you practice and how much time and inclination you have.
All the best for your meditation practice!