There are so many myths around meditation and it can put many people off taking up this life changing activity. Here are five of the most common debunked.
Myth 1: Meditation Is Difficult
When practiced in the right way, mediation is often the most enjoyable and easiest thing you can do. When something is difficult, then it will require stress, stamina, struggle, and effort.
When it comes to meditation it actually requires the opposite. In fact, there is no effort as it involves practicing to actually do nothing. There are also no struggles as it does not involve forcing anything. There should not be any stress as you there is no resistance involved and there is also no stamina as the primary purpose involved in meditation is focused on relaxing.
Myth 2: My Mind Has To Be Still
” I am unable to meditate because I am unable to stop my thoughts” is a very common reason that I hear from many people that have tried meditation and end up quitting. However, thoughts happen to be a necessary as well as natural part involved in the process of meditation.
When meditating, the body obtains rest, When your body is resting it starts to heal. Healing is the active part of the process where stress releases and healing is undertaken. In association with our mind-body connection, activities in our bodies are reflected by our activities that occur in our minds, in thought form.
Thoughts, for this reason, are the signals that healing takes place in the body. One of the fantastic by-products of mediation is healing that occurs in the nervous system. It is not helpful to resist your thoughts when you meditate. Resisting your thoughts means you are resisting healing.
For this reason, it is important to allow the process of healing to occur in the most natural way possible in the way of not resisting your thoughts.
Allow your thoughts to come-and-go, by being at peace with the thoughts that occur while meditating.
Myth 3: If Thoughts Are Ok, Then Thinking Is Also Good
Even though thoughts that occur are okay, I do not recommend that you think intentionally through your meditations. It is very different to think and to have thoughts.
When meditating, you should rather focus on allowing thoughts to flow without actually engaging in each thought in the way of thinking.
Thinking starts to happen when stop observing the thoughts you are having and you begin to be these thoughts.
When thinking, you enter into a thought stream. This can include being in a dream, engaged in a story that is inside your mind, having a conversation that is imaginary with a friend, or planning what you are going to make for dinner that night.
Thinking is similar to when you are just about to fall asleep. When you think, you are lost inside your mind. This means you are not present, nor are you consciously aware about your real-self. Thinking is the habit that you will learn to start doing less when you start to practice meditation more regularly.
Be gentle with yourself when you start thinking during a meditation. It is in fact just a type of habit. When you start noticing that you are thinking, all you need to do is come back and be present and alert.
Myth 4: My Meditation Stops As Soon As I Open My Eyes
You will spend most of your time with eyes that are open, so those skin flaps known as eyelids, should no impact on your inner peace.
You experience peace when you are able to focus your attention on a silent and still place within your own conscious awareness. This attention can be directed regardless of whether your eyes are closed or open.
One of the goals of meditation involves developing this habit of easily having a bit of your constant attention looking inside to a still and silent presence all the time. This has nothing to do with open or closed eyes.
Myth 5: It Takes Too Long To Enjoy The Benefits
You will start to benefit from your meditations from the instant that you start. It is usual to not experience immediate joy or peace, yet your body is offered with the chance to release stored up stress, heal and to rest.
This particular myth makes me think about a story. A 70-year old man was interested in learning how to play the piano. His son asked him what the point would be, as it would take too long to learn. Yet, this did not persuade the piano-playing pensioner to quit. Instead, he let his son know that he would become a far better player when he reached the age of 75 than he would if he decided not to start playing at all.