4 April 2014

Dhyana is simple. Why meditation scares us.

                                                           #A to Z challenge Follow me @whitefielder

When the word, 'Meditation' is mentioned I have found that most of us find it scary. It seems like a strange unattainable state to which a select few are privy.

Friends have expressed the inability to control, stop or suppress thoughts. So the thinking is that essentially a thought-free state is meditation. This is not wrong but the way we go about trying to get there is what stops us. Also the effort we make at suppression releases tension in us and so a forceful control is surely not the way with something that is natural gentle and flowing.
                   
Being aware of what is happening in the entire body takes us out of the head and allows us to stay with NOW. This is Dhyana and to me it is just awareness. When thoughts come, it is okay let us watch them come and go. The act of watching separates us thus keeping us from getting entangled in the thought process.
 
Vipassana meditation which has come to us from Buddhism is particularly valuable to understanding awareness. In vipassana we watch our whole body-inside and outside, first inch by inch and then pinch by pinch, fine tuning this watching to such an extent that we are doing that and nothing else.

               Finally everything that comes out of such learning is made more precious when applied to everyday life because that is where we live most of the time :) With practice we are then able to every now and then draw our-self out of the head, simply watching whatever it is we are up to in that segment of time.

Here is a picture of giant amazonian lily pads in the Adelaide botanical garden taken by me about 6 yrs back. Draws out the meditator in anyone that looks at the focal lily pad methinks :)

A quick mention of the Diaphragms in our body. There are three-the vocal, the second one is right under the lungs, the third is the pelvic diaphragm. All three are of great value in breathing and elimination. If you would like to know more you could check this  link from a yoga blog.
http://doczyoga.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/three-diaphragms-and-their-uses-in-yoga-practice/


The link below will take you to all the other blogs participating in the April blog challenge. There is a huge variety of theme and the bloggers have worked with great interest to bring you well written, interesting posts.

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

21 comments:

Srikanth said...

Thanks a for sharing these insights. Dhyana is indeed the perceived bottleneck for most people not to endeavour forthright into meditation. The inside out awareness approach gives something to start with!

Anonymous said...

I should do this often!!! After reading this I felt like taking a break and doing dhyana!!

~S(t)ri
Participant|AtoZ Challenge 2014
Smile, it makes (y)our day!

Beloo Mehra said...

Beautiful picture to go with beautiful explanation of something that can really put us in touch the beauty of NOW.
"The act of watching separates us thus keeping us from getting entangled in the thought process." - A truth told simply and so clearly.

Nabanita said...

Loving your insights .... I have shared everything with my sister...she is more into these :)

Random Thoughts Naba

Jayanta said...

Am not scared about meditation and realized the benefits...It has helped to a great extent in everyday stressful life.

Mina Menon said...

sadly, am one of those who is scared by meditation. My mind has a mind of its own :-/

Swathi Shenoy said...

I plan on doing it everytime and I end up failing!! Its very difficult to control my train of thoughts!!

Swathi

Shailaja V said...

Love the picture of the lily pads. Makes me want to meditate right now!

I love the way you equate Dhyana with awareness. Perfectly said.

Shailaja

A to Z Challenge, 2014
Introspection in Shades of 11

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Sunila. Another great one after the post on breathing.
I'm always on the look out for tip to improve my yoga practice and the link to the yoga blog is very useful.
Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Sunila. Another great one after the post on breathing.
I'm always on the look out for tip to improve my yoga practice and the link to the yoga blog is very useful.
Cheers!

Sunila said...

Thanks Kent, Beloo, Ovengoodies, Sri, Naba, Jayanta, Sri, Swati, Mina, Shailaja for your read and thoughtful comments and sharing :D

Shesha Chaturvedi said...

Meditation I have heard refines our inner thoughts, strengthens our body and mind... Because most of the body ailments are related to our weak mind.
I have tried yoga nidra where they asked to concentrate on various parts of our body to relax them.

I focused on the lotus leaf picture for a while and it is soothing and more details were visible.

Unknown said...

I have learned so much about meditation in India, and now I am happy to know even more from you. Very well written and informative piece today. Thank you! I am so addicted to meditation ....

Sitara said...

Informative post....
Thanks for writing this...

Unknown said...

I should do this... I tend to be lazy at the last moment :D

Sunila said...

Shesha tks for the sweet comment, ur so right abt its benefits :)
Tks Eli, what an absolutely smashing addiction to have :D

Loni Townsend said...

Dhyana sounds like a great state of being. I spend most of my time feeling frazzled.

M said...

Nice post. With all the technology and other stuff bombarding us we need to meditate...especially children who have no idea what it is like to do nothing.
Happy A-Z- April!

Padma Hari said...

Very good post. will go through the link.

sreeja saju said...

suni...'meditation' appealed to my heart,for the first time ever!!And a perfect illustration!

Sreeja Praveen said...

Something I should take note of :) I can't sit still and control my thoughts. I would be a healthier person if I could do that !! :) Thanks, Sunila :)