One of the most common predicaments a yoga practitioner has is “I am unable to do meditation! "

A lot of people get frustrated with meditation to the point of giving up on it. Also since the benefits of meditation have more to do with the inner world, unlike asanas and pranayama, it would seem like the easiest option to skip it and rather spend more time practicing asanas.

To all those who feel this way about meditation, we have all been there. Literally every yoga practitioner began their meditation journey by having a love-hate relationship with it.

The only reason why one can’t do meditation is because they are trying to ‘do’ it. And trying really hard at that!

Meditation is not about doing. It is about being.

One cannot “do” meditation. One can only ‘be’ in a meditative state.

A better way of understanding this comes with what we define meditation as. At this moment if you are asked “What is meditation?” what would be your answer? You would probably go about thinking in terms of controlling thoughts or focussing on the breath or body parts or saying affirmations or something of the like. Of course these are the various aspects one can practice in a meditative state. But what exactly is a meditative state?

The easiest way to describe a meditative state is simply being in the PRESENT MOMENT!

The human mind is a powerful device. As powerful as it gets, it can be easily distracted as well. In a split of a second, it can move from one thought to the other. With this movement, most of the times we find ourselves either dwelling in the past or thinking about the future. The past is over and the future is yet to come. When we do this, we end up missing out on enjoying the truth that is in front of us- the present moment!

Meditation teaches us exactly that! To be in the present and enjoy the gift of the present that is tangible.

Now how does one meditate?

By releasing the thought that you have to ‘do’ meditation and being in a meditative state instead! Be in the present moment with your mind and body, no matter what you are doing.

One can be in a meditative state while doing other activities also. Remember the time when you were watching an interesting movie and were totally engrossed in the plot? Or when you went on top of a mountain and were too captivated by the beauty of the sight around? At that instance, you weren’t thinking about anything else. Isn’t it? That is what being in a meditative state is.

You can be practicing meditation while doing any activity. It just demands you to give your entire attention to what you are doing. What happens when you do this? You end up giving your 100% to the task on hand.

The current fast-paced world has made all of us susceptible to multi-tasking and rushing through our chores. This not only creates an anxiety in ourselves, it also transforms into stress leading to many physical illnesses.

This is why meditation has proven to be an effective solution for stress relief. Continuous practice of meditation makes us focussed on the present and trains our mind to give its 100%. Everyday practice of meditation has many benefits which are deeper and profound. It paves a way for you to discover and understand yourself better. It helps you to uncover your deepest emotions and helps you to deal with these emotions in an effective manner.

One common experience one has while practicing meditation is the flood of thoughts that creep up in the mind. How do we control these thoughts?

It is simple.

We DON’T!

The more you resist something, the more it persists.The more you try to control your thoughts, the more thoughts you get. The best way to deal with our thoughts during meditation is to let them flow in and out of the mind, like a beautiful river. No matter how many thoughts there are, let them flow. And constant remind yourself to be in the meditative state, i.e. present moment.

The more you try to be in the present moment, the lesser and lesser your thoughts get. There is a wonderful concept in philosophy, “Focus on what you want and not on what you don’t want”

The same is to be applied to meditation as well. A lot of practitioners focus on the thoughts instead of the present. When the attention goes to the thoughts, the mind gets distracted. And thus begins the resistance towards meditation.

But if you focus more on the present moment instead of the thoughts that creep in, slowly you descend in the meditative state.

How long does it take to do proper meditation?

It all depends on the practitioner!

It can take a week, a month, years or even a lifetime!

The mind is a very powerful device. And it takes immense practice to condition the mind to be in the present.

All it needs is practice, patience and persistence!