How to Meditate with Crystals 101 – Part 3

After you have established your seated meditation posture, and have cleansed the breath with deep breathing and Nadi Shuddhi, it is time to practice meditation. The first part of your meditation practice will be simply maintaining your seated posture in stillness and relaxation with attention and patience. You will gently guide the breath and become absorbed in it with complete awareness, while slowly shifting away from the thought process. Complexity becomes simplicity, divisions become singular and attention becomes pure.

1. Mentally check all the points mentioned earlier to re-establish your seated meditation posture (see previous explanation)
2. Once again, begin the deep breathing practice above
3. Quietly focus on your deep breathing in and out, for as long as you can comfortably sit in stillness. In the beginning, good concentration is from 3 to 5 minutes, but as you gain skill, it will naturally become more comfortable and natural to increase the time spent sitting in meditation. A 20-minute meditation session is a good basic goal at first. Aim to reach that in gentle, gradual steps with consistent daily practice. There is no rush to achieve long stretches of meditation, as these should only be done when they can be accomplished with naturally acquired skill in a state of ease.
4. During your meditation, let the activity of the mind say whatever it wants, but pay no attention to it. Each time your attention gets led away from your breath by the thought process, always gently direct your attention back to your breath. Keep breathing deeply in and out, in and out, in and out…
5. For those that find it difficult to concentrate on the breath, count the number of breaths you complete. One deep inhale and exhale, is one breath. Just continue deep breathing and counting the breaths.
6. With each inhale, be aware of any tension you notice in the body or mind, and with each exhale release and relax that tension. Use each breath to consciously bring you into a slightly deeper and deeper state of relaxation and stillness.
7. Maintain your seated meditation body posture in stillness, and try not to move at all unless really necessary. Only the breath keeps moving in and out, everything else goes deeper and deeper into stillness and relaxation.

Notes to keep in mind:

• If you cannot sit on the floor, then you may temporarily use a chair, but slowly work towards being able to sit on the floor.

• Once you choose to sit and start your meditation practice, and your eyes have closed, do not open them, nor react to any external stimuli for the whole duration of your practice. Once your eyes have closed, you become unavailable to both the world, and to the chatter of your own mind and emotions. A major aspect of your meditation is learning to abide in pure awareness. This state needs to be cultivated.

• Do not force yourself to sit for long stretches of time in seated meditation, unless it can be done comfortably and with ease.

• Keep in mind that stillness does not mean tension, rigidity or strain of any kind. True stillness arises from a foundation of calm relaxation. Use the breath to dissolve all tension, rigidity and straining that you become aware of in your body and mind during your meditation session.

• For those who have unusual difficulty or resistance to the practice of sitting meditation, it is advised to start by practicing forms of moving meditation such as Yoga and Taichi Chuan. Through moving meditation, internal stillness will naturally develop, and you can choose to practice seated meditation in the future if you so desire.