My Favorite Way To Begin Meditation

I’ve had some beautiful, life-altering shit happen to me in meditation, and I attribute the depth of my practice in part to the intentionality with which I create my meditative space. In some of these trips, I’ve picked up more tools to create and hold my space, which has helped my practice grow stronger. It’s really my husband I have to ultimately thank, as he first gave me a few simple tools to sit and hold my chi energy. I’ve built on them and made them my own – and that, I think, is the point of the entire exercise.

With the value of individual experience in mind, I’m sure many who are beginning their journeys in meditation may find a few of the techniques I’ve discovered useful – so here’s a basic version of my process.

SEE ALSO: 5 Tips For Meditating With Your Children

I Make My Physical Body Relaxed and Pain-Free

For me, this means doing a good 30 to 90 minutes of vinyasa yoga, which is my primary source of both cardio and strength training, and on which I rely to maintain the health of my back, which suffers from pretty severe scoliosis. If I don’t do some kind of yoga which stretches out my lower back and hips, I feel it within one day, and simply holding the lotus position can be excruciatingly painful. So for me, and my specific body, getting my physical body relaxed and pain-free means doing a good flow – the longer and slower, the better.

I may also imbibe some of the medical marijuana which my family doctor prescribed me, to ease lingering back pain and calm my often high-strung nerves.

The point is, I do what my body needs to feel good. Everyone has a different body, with different needs, and different challenges. Many of us may work our entire lives to find out what makes our bodies feel good and healthy. Maybe it’s snagging that first moment in the morning when you wake up and are still groggy. Maybe it’s a good breakfast and a run, or a simple walk around the block with your dogs; maybe it’s a tumbler of brandy and a cigar after everyone else in the house has gone to bed; maybe it’s a stolen walk through the park during lunch hour.

Whatever it is, find the thing that makes your body feel good, and beautiful, and receptive. That’s the moment you want to capture.

I Remove Something

Taking off my rings is a trick my husband taught me – something about energy flow and metal hindering it, but he later pointed out, after my ceremony had evolved, how important the simple act of removing something really is.

Now, I’ll often take my hair tie out, too, and, like the Druid I am, I usually place my four rings along the four directional quadrants, one ring each for one of the four elements and directions, and trace their druidic symbol above each ring to open the circle. These little ceremonies can get more elaborate, but I really believe that ultimately they don’t matter – the point is that I’m removing something, which is symbolic of breaking down my identity in preparation for receiving higher truth.

Hair ties; rings; sweaty tank tops; beliefs about identity – find whatever symbolic thing you can easily ditch.

I Zip Up My Chakras

This sounds fancy, but it isn’t. In a comfy position (I like to sit hero style on a block, my husband likes to lay down) I touch the part of my body associated with each of the seven main chakras, starting at my sacrum, or butt bone – my root chakra. I sometimes think about that chakra’s specific qualities, and light, and envision it as a ball, but mostly I just touch those areas and sense to feel them awaken before gently moving on to the next one.

Sacral, or root; reproductive core; belly button; heart; throat; third eye; crown. They invoke your primal power, sensuality, strength, love, communication, wisdom, and divinity, in corresponding order. Sometimes some chakras feel dormant, and sometimes they all feel alive, but it’s the practice of going through and sensing each one, intentionally, which has developed a greater awareness – and therefore control – of my core energy centers.

Most of the time, once I hit my throat chakra, my ears start to pop and ring.

I Envision a Bubble Around Me

In a meditative vision, I once saw/felt my energy being pulled up through my chakras and out of my crown, then around me in 360 degrees in a perfect sphere, coming back in to connect with my root chakra. The bubble of my own energy was perfectly protecting, and I proceeded to rocket out into outer space. But that’s another story for another time.

Once my chakras are zipped up, it’s easy enough to envision energy pulling up through my crown, around me, and back into my root chakra. I like to take my fingers and skim the edges of the bubble, to see if I can feel the energy. In this state, I feel protected, disconnected, and ready to travel.

In Conclusion

Maybe these techniques work for you, maybe they don’t; maybe certain parts of this post become useful to you. Regardless, remember that the most important guide is your intuition – so listen to it.