If you know yourself you will never be lost. You are not lost if you are here. If you are here then you are home.
Did you try looking in the mirror yesterday and saying, “I am a good person?” How did it feel? These next few days we’ll continue with the theme of being comfortable in your own skin… at all times. In order for us to extend ourselves in a helpful or compassionate way to others we need to come from a solid foundation of knowing we are compassionate with ourselves. And one way to build that foundation of self appreciation, self acceptance, and self compassion is through meditation. When our mind begin to settle, we have a better opportunity to see what is really in there… sometimes we really like what we see; sometimes we’d rather not take a look. But it is important to see and lean into those challenging areas. So as a starting point, when you dive into your meditation today, keep the above phrases in mind. Ultimately if you know yourself you are home.
New to meditation? Read on!
Let’s talk for a bit about how you sit. Are you in a chair, on a cushion, something else? The most important thing is to find a way to be comfortable. The next most important thing is to find a way to sit upright without slouching. Try this out… sit on a cushion or chair with nothing supporting your back. Tip your pelvis back and forth a little bit until you feel like you’re sitting on the “sit bones”, those little bony bits that meet the chair. Do you feel them? Then think about your spine. It should be primarily straight. Imagine the vertebrae stacking one by one on top of each other from your tail bone up to the base of your skull. If you allow your vertebrae to stack, they support your weight, so your muscles have to do less work, and ultimately you can sit in meditation for long periods of time without your back becoming sore or strained. This technique can be used anywhere at any time you’re sitting. It is simply a good postural habit. Sit up. Feel your “sit bones”, fine tune until you feel your vertebrae are stacking nicely. Voila… comfortable sitting.
Emotional Benefits of Meditation
Meditation, by its nature of turning inward with intentional focus, nourishes you from within and calms you whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down. As you deepen your meditation practice you will have better ability to regulate emotions as they come up. Being more fully present and less scattered helps reduce some of the external “noise” we often encounter, and helps to reduce the occasional feeling of overwhelm, as well as being able to empathize better with others.
