The Meditation Revolution

Meditation is often viewed as more of a mental obstacle than a cushion; a challenging practice that you never seem to have time or patience for, instead of an exercise that helps you relax and center yourself. As I said in my first Reading List post, a decent selection of the books I have been reading deal mostly with the mind (specifically the ego), and its inherent aversions to simplicity, acceptance, and presence in your life, moment by moment, breath by breath. The ego thrives on stories, validating itself through its memory-based knowledge and the judgements it has accumulated that seem to form the idea of "You". This person that the ego shapes, thought after thought, can be vastly different from person to person, and forfeiting your actual, calm self to these prejudices acts as a valve which limits your capacity for happiness. Meditation, in turn, works as a means to open that valve up, through self-analysis, and understand what prevents you from accessing this happiness.

That being said, I have two recommendations for you kind folks. First off, Yoga Journal has started a 28 day program called The Meditation Revolution. Each day, you are sent an email with links to both videos of short asana sequences designed to help open your hips and calm your mind, and to guided meditations given by Sally Kempton (the designer of the program, who also has a lovely, calming voice). Its a great way to get you into the habit of meditating daily, and I definitely recommend signing up and getting on board.

Next, theres a great book called One Moment Meditation by Martin Boroson, which is not only a great introduction to meditation for beginners, but also explains a breathing technique that, over time and practice, helps you to center and relax yourself whenever your mind takes control of your emotions (in good or bad ways). Heres a nice little video that sums up One Moment Meditation, narrated by the author himself: