Meditation is about being completely present. In that sense, there is no journey. There is no one to make a journey. There just… is. But to come to that realisation – even superficially, takes effort sometimes.

Meditation is a really simple, but fairly difficult process – it involves witnessing your thoughts, but not getting pulled into the drama.

This can be especially hard in the beginning, if you are stuck in a tough situation in life, being pulled apart in various directions as your mind goes crazy. I have found that a little bit of work on the emotions, a little bit of work to reduce the baggage we are carrying, and a little bit of work on mental stability go a long way in helping one meditate more effectively.

Navigating Turbulent Times

The first step in a meditative journey is to take complete responsibility for one’s own emotions. If your map includes a requirement that others change for your peace of mind ( even if it seems like the most reasonable thing to ask for) it means you are giving power away. It is like saying that you refuse to be peaceful until the other person or situation changes. If you feel justified in continuing to feel the way you do, you are going to continue feeling the way you do.

OR you can decide to take responsibility for your own feelings, embrace the other person, warts and all – along with all their egoic, insane, idiotic tendencies. Every label you use for other people is nothing but a figment of your imagination. What may be a monster to you may be an angel to someone else. Let the labels go.

Writing about your feelings helps a lot in the beginning as it helps to sort out the mind. It helps to write exactly what is going on in the mind, and burn the paper afterward. It is important to ensure that we are writing about our feelings and not about what we think others should be doing.

For example, writing ‘why can’t she just stop saying that to me when she knows it hurts me‘ is not very useful. Instead, ‘every time she says that, I feel hurt and insulted and I have no idea if she will ever stop saying these things to me. That is very scary‘. Is very useful because you identify three emotions here – hurt, insult, fear. You don’t have to do anything about these emotions. Just know they are there.

Deep Listening is a very important tool in this process. I recommend it to so many people, and I don’t think I talk about it enough. Unless you learn to listen properly, you cannot really do anything – meditate, heal yourself, be in an honest relationship, be good at your work,.. or even ask for help – because you have no idea (or the wrong idea) what is really wrong.

Breathing is also very powerful. Whenever you feel like your emotions are sweeping you off your feet, lie on your back, or sit up straight and breathe powerfully, without breaks for about 10 minutes. For added effect, join your fingertips together.

You could also breathe into your pain/ emotion. Close your eyes, become deeply aware of the pain and the breath at the same time. Just stay with it, and it will fade away on it’s own.

Grounding is essential. Some really slow yogasanas, gardening, household chores performed with awareness, spending time in nature, all improve grounding. So does meditating on the root.

Many people today are very sensitive. While this means they can pick up psychic information easily, it also means they can easily be traumatised by other people’s energies. This leads to further separation from the universe, because one tends to live in fear instead of love. Grounding balances and strengthens the energies.

Chanting is another very powerful tool.  I have found the Gayatri mantra to be very healing, especially during emotional upheavals. Ganesh mantras are good for grounding. Suryanamaskar, sun mantras and sun gazing are all wonderful for those trying to stand up for themselves and draw boundaries.