Cart is emptyToday we posted a new page to this side for the Third Episode of The Shaman Podcast. The Podcast is introduces a shortened style of Meditation anyone can practice anywhere.
Speaker – Mark A. Ashford
Usui Tibetan Reiki Master and Teacher and
Shaman
What this is – Hello and welcome to the “The Shaman Podcast”
In this Podcast we talk about –
- Shamanism
- Reiki – Reiki energy healing, especially the lineage I follow originated in Tibet
- And everything else that is related
Media –
- This Podcast is one of several media available to you to help you understand and develop your awareness of energy healing practices, history, and traditions.
The other sources are:
- YouTube videos – “Reiki with Candice, Mark, and Opame” – Candice and Opame are two of my guides.
- Books – eBooks and Paperback books – in full color available on Amazon.ca
- Online courses at Teachable.com
- A blog at ThePracticalShaman.ca
Today we are talking about: Meditation
This is the age of the Coronavirus. There is a feeling of uncertainty, about the present as well as future. Simply put, our lives are not as we wanted or planned to be either today, this week, or this month.
Change is a constant in our lives but usually it happens to one thing at a time and we have learned to adapt to these types of events but this affects all parts of our lives, and it has been imposed on us. People I know tell me they have fits of sleeplessness because they cannot see an end to this or what their lives will be like afterwards.
This is where meditation can help, but not in the way it is often described or enacted in videos.
Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. Scholars have found meditation difficult to define, as practices vary both between traditions, and within them.[1],[2]
Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in numerous religious traditions, often as part of the path towards enlightenment and self-realization. Some of the earliest written records of meditation come from the Hindu traditions of Vedantism. Since the 19th century, Asian meditative techniques have spread to other cultures where they have also found application in non-spiritual contexts, such as business, sport, and health.[3]
So, lets simplify this so that we can use it at any day or time, in any place, for a few minutes or much longer period of time.
This is how I do it. sit in a straight-backed chair that is comfortable. This can be at home, in my car, on the train, or a park bench. I slow my mind down and stop it from racing. I stop it from trolling over and over about what happened, what didn’t happen and what I feel should have happened – anything over which I have no control.
I consciously let go of all that is driving the restlessness in my mind.
I continue until my mind is clear and I can sense my breathing. I am not trying breathing exercises as practised in more advanced levels. With some practice, the mind, and the ego that drives, it can be made to stop. The more practice, the quicker and more in control of your mind you will be.
As I said, this only takes a few minutes – maybe 5, or 10. Sometimes less.
I have come out of an acrimonious meeting and sat at my desk and in just a few minutes I have quietened my mind, my feelings, and my desire to resist and fight over what took place. I am now calm and collected and free of stress, anger, and the other emotionally and spiritually draining feelings the meeting brought to the surface.
Meditation helps us understand and practice mindfulness and being in the present, and not where the busy mind wants to take us.
The most common tool in meditation and mindfulness is concentration on breathing. It is the simplest tool that comes with our physical bodies and that is why it is always part of more advanced meditation techniques.
Breathing in and out, and then graduating to being able to breath in through one nostril and out through the other takes practice, but like any skill, what we practice becomes natural and easier until we do it without thinking.
I want you to take away the practice of just sitting quietly, and using the stillness and quiet time to practice slowing down and stopping your busy, worrying mind.
Breathing exercises and other advanced techniques will come in a later podcast.
What we need now is to keep it simple!
Stay well, stay relaxed and stress free. See you in the next episode.
[1] Wikipedia, “Meditation.”
[2] dictionary.com/browse/shaman, “Meditation – Definition of Meditation.Com.”
[3] Wikipedia, “Meditation.”
