If you have been following this series, then you have already covered 29 incredible tips to improve your meditation…
In the first part (101 Proven Tips for Powerful Meditation!), I spoke about the importance of formal practice and gave a variety of tips for super-charging it
…and in 101 Proven Tips for Powerful Meditation (Part 2) I spoke about informal practice, and offered several tips on how to use it to improve your formal practice, and to have incredible meditative experiences in your day-to-day life.
If you haven’t already read those posts, then feel free to take a moment and read over them right now…
Throughout this series, I will continue to discuss the value of meditation as a tool for inducing higher states of consciousness… as well as give you tips on how to use it to experience energy oneness… that powerfully deep sense of connection with all that is.
Onward.
Today, we are going to talk about an important principle in developing any skill, understanding, or change in self.
Meditation Master Key 3:
Find What Works, and Keep Doing It!
This is powerful for anything, but it is also exceptionally powerful in your practice of meditation. When you do something repeatedly, you get better at it. When you do something repeatedly that you’re already good at… then you can get incredible results very quickly!
Meditation Tip 30: Remember to Keep Going! This permeates the whole thing. Often when you get a good practice going, you occasionally hit a wall where it seems you can’t be bothered to keep doing it. This is a sign it is working! This is the last layer of resistance… as if some part of you is tugging you by the arm and saying “But wait… don’t you just want to go back to the way things were?” At this point, just accept it… and know that as you let go of that final resistance and keep going, you will have developed a habit that can help you for the rest of your life. There is also a level beyond this… a slightly more insidious challenge that comes up. When it seems that you are really reaping the benefits, feeling very mindful and relaxed virtually all the time, and really being able to see the power of meditation in your life… you might happen across a space where it seems like it doesn’t matter if you keep practicing. At this point… Keep Going! Continue your practice… there is always another level you can take it to… there is always another mystery to unravel… and if you don’t Keep Going… some of you previous results might begin to fade.
Meditation Tip 31: Notice where and when you feel really good. Feeling good is important. We are inclined to do things that feel good again and again. In meditation, it tends to have another meaning, as well… when you feel good… you are probably doing something well! This isn’t the only criteria for a useful meditation (the primary criteria is that you did the meditation), but it is still a highly useful one. If you find a great posture or position… if you find the perfect incense… if you find just the right mantra that makes you feel amazing… then use them, play with them, and see how far you can take them.
Meditation Tip 32: Notice where and when you feel really relaxed. Similar to the last tip… notice when and where you develop the deepest relaxation in your meditation. Remember what phrases, focuses, positions, sounds, etc. lead to the strongest sense of relaxation in your mind-body. Always be sure to bring some of these most relaxing elements into your meditation, particularly if you ever have a difficult sitting session, or if there are large emotional events elsewhere in your life. Continue to search and find the best ways to continually deepen your effortless relaxation!
Meditation Tip 33: Notice where and when you feel really focused. Also very similar to the last two… find what activity or object of meditation seems to allow you to bring yourself into the highest degree of focus. Notice where and when your concentration seems the most laser-like. There is an interesting interplay between focus and relaxation which should be mentioned. You want to experience both focus and relaxation. You want to deeply relax, but not to the point where you are on the edge of sleep and you can no longer focus. You want to focus and be aware… but not to the point where you begin to tighten up around the object of focus. Find a comfortable medium of focus and relaxation, and as you play in that zone, you will begin to notice that you can continually increase focus and relaxation together, without ever sacrificing the benefits of one or the other.
Meditation Tip 34: Develop Consistency of Practice! Consistency is the most important aspect of your practice. Even if you don’t immediately recognize the benefits that arise in each session… if you maintain consistency of practice, you will get more and more fascinating results in subtle and obvious ways. Play with numerous brief sessions of meditation throughout the day. Even if/when they are brief, you will get incredible benefits from going into a meditative state several times a day (each time helps you deepen the meditation and makes it easier to access the state). Always do at least one session, but you can also strive for at least a few sessions of 1 minute or more throughout the day.
Meditation Tip 35: Play with intensity of practice. Once you have established your consistency… you can play around with different varieties of more intense practice. The most common way of increasing intensity in meditation is to lengthen the session. You can do 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, or more. This can be very interesting, and I encourage you to notice in yourself the different effects you get from longer sessions. But always remember, you don’t have to do long sessions. Just remain consistent… you can always fall back on several 1 minute sessions per day. Intensity is a way to make it more interesting… it is never a requirement. There are a variety of other ways to increase intensity as well (face seriously challenging emotions during meditation, intentionally choose an uncomfortable position, play with a meditation you don’t care for, etc.).
Meditation Tip 36: Learn to Keep Playing! The concept of play, makes all this much more fun. I like the idea of “Do the drills, get the skills”… but I also love the idea of just having fun with it, and then noticing how well you are still developing the skills. Looking within yourself is one of the most fun games I can think of. Ultimately we are all doing it, but if we aren’t consciously doing it… it can take a lot longer. Learn to enjoy all the different layers and contours of your personality… your sense of self… your experience of life. Express joy and gratitude at all the reflections you find ‘outside’ yourself. Laugh! Have a great time with it! Absolutely loving your practice and loving your life is a wonderful way to step into Energy Oneness… and possibly bring those around you along for the ride!
Meditation Tip 37: Let go of the concept of failure. This is an expansion on one-half of a classical NLP expression. There is no failure. It doesn’t matter if you sat for 1 minute thinking “This is stupid… why am I doing this?” the whole time. That is still a successful step along the path. Recognize where you need to improve, but always recognize what you did well first. When you practice at all, you are doing well. When you practice consistency, You Are Successful! And that’s all there is to it.
Meditation Tip 38: Notice and Follow Your Feedback! This is the other half of the NLP expression. Recognize your consistent practice as a success, but also notice where there is room for improvement. Find ways to make the practice more easy until it is a part of you. Change it as necessary. Once it is a part of you, find ways the make it a bit more challenging. Listen to your body. If your legs or back are a bit uncomfortable during or after the practice… that kind of goes with the territory… but it you have a hard time walking after… you should probably find another position. Pay attention to and follow the feedback you are getting from your meditation, and/or from your instructor. (The classic NLP presupposition is: There is no failure, only feedback)
Meditation Tip 39: Deepen your skill at what works. Remember to keep coming back to what you did well and continue to refine and improve your skill. When you do it well, do it a little bit better next time… eventually it is useful to learn to apply your skills learned in meditation to every aspect of your life and your being… but it the meantime, there is nothing wrong with playing to your strengths… come back to the things you’re good at, and get even better at them. When you continually do this, you continue inducing and developing ever deeper and more powerful states of consciousness. Seeing this strong improvement is another powerful way to keep you inspired with your practice of meditation.
Meditation Tip 40: Always Keep Smiling! This brings in elements of many other tips, but it stands strong on its on right. Life can really be magical when you have a smile on your face more often than not. This applies to formal practice as well as informal. You can focus on smiling (the sensations in and around the muscles on your face), or some of the sensations that arise in your body when you smile… but be sure to bring that smiling energy into and through your meditation. This also has a lot of great secondary benefits… People tend to like people who smile! So smile along the whole path… challenging times may arise… but when they are faced with a smile… they will quickly pass as well.
Keep coming back to what works.
Find a basic you love, and do it again and again.
This works with anything in your life.
I spoke with a former High School State Wrestling champion from Texas. He said to be great at wrestling, all you needed was to be really good at 5-8 pinning combinations… out of all the 100’s (or 1000’s) of moves in wrestling, and 10’s of thousands of combinations and variations… all you need to be great is 5-8 pinning combinations.
How can we apply this?
Find your own few ideal meditations… and master them!
Find your quickest and easiest way to step into just a bit of energy oneness… and then keep coming back until it is second nature!
You’ll be happy you did…
keep smiling,
Ben
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