Years ago, if you told people you were a meditation teacher, many would have laughed. Pictures of long flowing robes and hippies and Indian ashrams would have flooded their minds. Meditation is a lot more accepted now across the board, as individual seek out ways of decreasing stress and companies begin to offer classes to their staff to increase health and productivity. Still many people believe that meditation is not for them – that it’s too hard, they have to clear the mind, sit still for hours… the lists go on.
I thought some of these things too, before I learnt Vedic Meditation from a trained teacher, then I realised that meditation is for everyone and anyone can do it.
Here are some common myths about meditation:
1. You have to stop your mind from thinking
Many people believe they have a monkey mind that can’t be tamed. We don’t view the mind that way in Vedic Meditation. Thoughts are a part of meditation. Yes you read that right, they are. You can’t stop your mind from thinking. Thoughts are actually a legitimate outcome and symptomatic of a correct practice. Yes, you will go deep in Vedic meditation – to that place beyond thought, but then thoughts will also come and that’s ok, because we can go back to that deep state over and over again.
2. You have to sit still, legs crossed with hands in funny positions.
With Vedic Meditation, you don’t have to do any of these, in fact you should be entirely comfortable, back supported, head upright with hands and legs in any position that feels good for you. You don’t have to sit on the floor in fact sitting on a chair is how you will be taught. You can move to adjust your position if you need to. The idea is we don’t want to be uncomfortable because that keeps our mind on the surface layer and we begin to engage in thinking.
3. You have to sit for hours
There is no need to sit for hours during meditation. Those meditations that require people to meditate for long periods were actually designed for monastics. Vedic Meditation is designed for householders- people like you and me who have jobs and families and limited time. It is done 20 mins a day twice a day. 20 mins is what the body needs to rest deeply in this technique. Any longer and the body begins to want to move.
4. You have to focus
There are many styles of meditation. You can put them into 3 categories. Your concentration techniques, your contemplation techniques and your transcending techniques. The first 2 require some degree of focus therefore keeping the mind on or near the active layer. Vedic meditation is a transcending technique and does not require any focus. We effortlessly think a mantra during Vedic Meditation that allows the mind to dive deep and then transcend thought. It’s easy and extremely beneficial especially for us busy people who already spend most of our day focusing and concentrating on difficult tasks.
5. It takes a long time to become a meditator and get good at it.
The mind knows how to meditate and go into a quiet place. A course in Vedic Meditation simply retrains the mind to do what is natural. Stress is not natural and stress keeps the mind and body from displaying it’s true nature… BLISS. You will be a self-sufficient meditator by the end of the 4 x 90min course.
6. It only works in a quiet peaceful place
Noise is not a barrier to meditation. With Vedic meditation you are able to adapt to noise, body sensations, interruptions, anything. In doing so you can then meditate anywhere – on a train, bus, plane, in the middle of a noisy city, park or even with the kids running around. You are the quiet place and you can create the quiet place and meditate anywhere.
7. Exercise gives you the same result
When we meditate we are de-exiting the mind and the body. We are going deep with Vedic Meditation, deeper than sleep, but completely alert (the state of restful alertness.)
Exercise does not provide the same levels of rest. The mind also, if we studied it with an EEG scan, would not have the same benefits or results as a 20 min meditation does.
You can however be better at sport as meditation gives you more energy and helps reaction times as well as bring greater ability and enjoyment to any type of physical activity.
8. It’s indulgent
Meditation is a systematic approach to relieving stress. It helps us in every way – physically mentally and emotionally. The purpose of meditation is to help us live better, to get better at solving problems, at seeing the bigger picture, staying calm in the face of chaos. This will impact everyone in our lives, everyone we come into contact with, it will open our awareness and expand our abilities. It’s a practice to help us live better, it’s not indulgent, it’s necessary and a beautiful and natural act of service to ourselves and others.
9. You will lose your edge and/or become lazy
Meditation, does the opposite. By reaching the profound levels of rest during Vedic Meditation, you are able to do so much more and work so much more productively. Many of the top thought leaders in the world have a non-negotiable meditation practice because it helps them be so much better at what they do.
10. You have to change your lifestyle or beliefs
Vedic Meditation is not a philosophy, it’s not a religion and you are not required to change anything about your beliefs or lifestyle. Meditation is universal. Thousands of years ago everyone knew how to meditate and it was natural for people to do so.
For more information on my Vedic Meditation course, please reach out to me on +61 413 077 575 or email at hello@angelalyosmeditation.com Courses run regularly.
