Monday Meditations Part 1: Breath Meditation
April 27, 2009 by dr. lam · 11 Comments
I have now included a daily meditation into my ritual, and I thought I would share it with you. We will explore each Monday a new meditation to start the week and which would be great for those who are interested to continue that meditation forward throughout the week. As you can see, I have not put a total number of parts as I usually would do because I simply do not know how many meditations I will create. We’ll let that be an organic process.
Perhaps before we start we have to establish what is meditation and why do it. Meditation is not what you do when you are asleep. Instead, you are fully awake, preferably in a seated position where your mind is intensely focused but also at ease. Your eyes may be closed or open depending on the exercise but for most of these, they will be shut. Meditation is a combination of concentration (focus) and mindfulness (awareness and presence). The question is why bother? Is it just a waste of time? I truly believe not.
Meditation can calm one’s jittered nerves, lower blood pressure, aid in digestion, and clear the mind. It can set the intention for the day and the week so that you begin your day in such a way that you are setting your mind forward in the right direction. You guide your unconscious thoughts in a direction that you want to take them. That is a rather appropriate comment considering that we will be exploring the unconscious over the next 2 months only punctuated by these Monday Meditations. This week we will do a short series that I think all of you need to know about, but you will see what it is tomorrow.
The best way to meditate is to find the same time each day (many prefer the morning to set their intention for the entire day but also many prefer late afternoon or evening or bedtime. It does not matter) that way it becomes integrated into your ritual. I prefer morning before I go to work. In an ideal world, it is recommended to meditate 45 minutes to an hour. For me, that is simply not feasible. I only meditate about 10 minutes a day. It is also recommended that you find the same place, preferably an area that you will not be easily disturbed. You can even set a timer so that you fulfill your time obligation without peeking at how much time you have already spent.
I will try to accompany most of these meditation exercises with a video in which I help guide you in your meditation. Today’s video and exercise involves the most fundamental of all meditation exercises which is a focus on your breath and breathing. You should be only mindful of your breathing, both the inhalation and the exhalation. I have used this fundamental exercise to calm my nervous patients before procedures, after procedures, as well as whenever I can sense that life has gotten them in a wrangled knot. Try to set a time aside to engage in meditation, maybe even 3 times a week. It will help you in your personal growth and desire to achieve a deeper sense of inner peace. Namaste.