Meditation Advice

AA said: Ah perfekt! Monkey Mind ist genau mein Zustand heute. Eigentlich ist heute YogaTag und ich der würde mir gut tun, aber ich muß dringend arbeiten, drum gehe ich Mittwoch zum Yoga und mache heute die schöne, von Dir vorgeschlagene, Meditation! Danke dafür, Sabina!

Meditation Advice

When you meditate, let your awareness be seated in the tender warmth you feel in your body.

Tara Brach

Many people find it difficult to meditate. Not only because it requires sitting still for a longer time than we’re used to, but most of all because it’s so hard to relax the “monkey mind”. That’s what Buddhists call our busy minds, jumping from one thought to another; wandering, planning, or worrying. In meditation, we want to drop thinking and focus on awareness itself.

If you find it too hard to sit still you can always practice walking meditation and if the monkey mind is your challenge there are ways to calm it down. You can focus on a mantra (a syllable, word, or phrase that is repeated during meditation), on a mandala (a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe), or on your breath, repeatedly counting to ten in your mind.

I normally use another technique: I focus on my body. Here, you can either do a body scan, “feeling through” the different parts of your body from feet to head, or concentrate on the vibrating energy in your whole body. This is where Tara Brach’s quote comes in. When I’ve been sitting for 20 minutes following the tender warmth flowing through my body, I completely inhabit my body. I feel refreshed, grounded and – very much alive.