Meditation

Life by very nature is fluid, even the days that feel stuck and static. By nature of living things change. And through meditation, we can figure out who we are. That quiet, protected space to quieten the noise, even if somedays all we do is breathe. Some days, we may follow thoughts on their random, frenetic bounce.. Some days, we may feel our body from the inside out. Some days, maybe we drop down deep into yoga nidra. Some days, I do it all. Some days, I just breathe.

I love meditation. It gives me a sense of space, I feel more open and less restricted (for the most part), I feel my breath deeply, widely, unbounded and free. Life has a habit of getting in the way of our living. Minds get cluttered all too easily. Meditation helps us know who we are, even when we doubt our very nature and gifts. Meditation isn’t a magical answer to all the stuff, but it does give us the space for insight, awareness, maybe offers up a moment of peace, brings back some balance and lets the jagged edges feel less sharp. That all being said, it isn't always pleasant and fluffy, there aren't always silver linings to the clouds, and it can feel, well, a bit rubbish. What's the good of insight if you feel immobile to deal with it. But, giving yourself space, time and holding onto compassion can allow the trickier* emotions to flow. With that, you're letting all the noise and overwhelm to abate and opening space to presence.

* for the record, I don't believe any emotions are good or bad, they just are. it's what we learn and understand from them that is the real point.

So why meditation?

Life is incessant and it can be relentless. Sometimes we are so busy doing life that we forget to experience life, to know us and our place in it all. I believe meditation gives us a better understanding of who we really are beyond all the crap and nonsense that can up all the time and space. It's not just the connection to the self; by simply breathing properly, we are getting full, oxygenating breaths, we're quelling our vagus nerve (the nerve responsible for the fight/flight/freeze response). We are also improving our sleep, boosting our immune function and generally feeling better when we’re not numb, or dulled, or scrabbling around trying to figure out the unreachable. From this, what we find is strength & vulnerability, centredness, balance & resilience. For something so simple, its effect is profound.

I don't belong to any school, religion, philosophy or organised whatever when it comes to meditation. Meditation is such an individual, unique and organic practice. I love the way that it can flourish and grow naturally. My own practice and teachings have been shaped and influenced by Daoism and Buddhism, though I am neither. I see the benefits that come from scientific study and evaluation of meditation and share those. But lets get one thing clear from the get-go. You can read as much as you like about meditation, whether it is the latest scientific journal or another ‘expert’* giving you their authoritative assurance of what meditation is. And that's wonderful, but all this means nowt unless you drop into your own personal practice and experience it for yourself.

The foundations of my practice are breath based, so that's where we'll start. The breath is the bridge between our thoughts and the rest of us. Guiding us back into our whole selves is a profound practice in and of itself. Then we'll go wherever we will go. There are so many different practices, from loving kindness, compassion, gratitude, body awareness, visualisation, heart-space, Nidra, silence - the beauty of going with the flow will have you submerged in a wonderful world of you.

* none of us are experts. Doesn’t matter how often your meditate or for how long. Some folks are simply more seasoned or practiced at meditation than others.

My approach

Interested?

From March 2024, I will be returning back to running group meditation for the lovely folk at the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre. This will be a Monday afternoon at 2pm, all welcome. The meditation sessions will let us drop into ourselves in a safe and supported enviornment using a variety of different guided techniques to help us deepen our own practice. The meditations are intended to give more of an awareness and insight to ourselves, for when we know ourselves then we are limitless.