meditating...
where to start

Meditation is A LOT about finding what works for you. And, sometimes a technique will work for a long time and then it’s time to switch things up as it’s no longer serving you. So here are a few options to give a try!

First: set a timer so you’re not wondering or checking how long it’s been. 30 minutes is great, 5 is awesome if that’s what gets you started, or anywhere in between. I typically do 22 cause I like the number and it feels right to me.

Find a comfortable seat. Get your hips above your knees. I often sit back on an upturned bolster on my knees. If I’m sitting for very long it’s the only way I can sit without my feet falling asleep or experiencing back pain. I recommend it, but also try different things and see what works for you. Sit in a chair with your feet on the ground; if you can lay down without falling asleep that’s an option too. Keep an upright spine and soften from the top of your head to your pinky toes. Place your hands palms down on your thighs to invite grounding. Place them palms up on your legs or stacked in your lap to invite insight, downloads, wisdom from a place of receptivity.

Remember that it’s normal to have thoughts, you’re not trying to not think. You are simply choosing where to place your awareness. When you get caught up in thoughts which is going to happen, you simply notice and bring your attention back to your breath, or sounds, or emotional sensations; wherever you’ve chosen to anchor your attention, without judgement. It’s called a practice for a reason.

options

Breath. Maybe the most popular form of mediation. You simply sit and watch your breath... not controlling your breathing but just watching it, experiencing it. Every time your mind drifts to a thought about work or the laundry you just gently and without judgement bring your attention back to your breath. See if you can experience it as pure sensation; as the coolness that enters your nostrils travels through your respiratory system, expands your belly and exits with warmth. You can also focus on other things rather than your breath; like the way your feet feel connected to the floor, or your bum supported by the bolster, etc... any sensations in your body.

The Selves. Let your attention free float and just notice which of your ‘selves’ arises. Maybe it’s the angry self, joyful self, the sad self, or the self thats feeling lost or hopeless. Maybe it’s the self caught up in fear. Maybe it’s the fussy self or the self that really wants to just go about your day.

Can we simply observe these selves as they arise without becoming solid with any one of them. Knowing they are not who we really are. Knowing that our suffering comes when we believe one of these selves is us. When we identify with Not Self.

Instead practice offering them love and acceptance. Maybe even saying inside your mind, “I deeply and completely love and accept you”. 

Or visualizing yourself offering each self as it arises love and acceptance. Whatever that looks like to you. 

Sound + Mantra. There are loads of ways we can utilize sound as meditation and you may feel particular resonance with this if you have any acoustic definition in Human Design.

Mantra is when you repeat a phrase out loud or in your mind over and over, at an easy slow pace. It can be as simple as saying “Om" on repeat. You can easily look some up and hear pronunciations. Hindus believe not in many Gods but in many facets to God. These are represented by entities like Ganesh (the elephant god and the remover of obstacles). A mantra for Ganesh is “Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha". You can also just use the word Gum. The standard number you repeat a mantra is 108 which is why there are 108 beads on a Mala, for counting.

There are longer Gurmukhi mantras in Kundalini which you repeat 11 times. You can chant a mantra like these or something that feels right for you, like an affirmation or word like ‘Love’ or ‘Soften’.

You can use mantras for walking meditations as well. I do it sometimes when i'm walking my dog. When I step with my left foot I say inside “Sat" and my right foot “Nam". It translates as my true self. This may be an especially great option for Nervous Determinations.

Loving Kindness. The hearts magnetic field is 5000 times stronger than the brains. This is one of my favorites and one I used to lead often. It’s like a prayer. You can begin by getting yourself into a loving vibe. Maybe spend some time focusing on a place in your body that feels good. Add a visualization like a place in nature you love, your pet playing, you doing something you love, your partner, child, etc.. opening your heart. And then say each of the phrases internally visualizing a person starting with:

1. Yourself

2. Someone you love

3. Someone you feel indifferent about (i.e.; the kid that bags your groceries)

4. Someone you find it challenging to offer loving kindness to (for big or small reasons)

5. All sentient Beings

There are lots of options for phrases and you can also create your own but here’s a good place to start. You repeat these to yourself about #1-5, while feeling the good feelings:

May you be well
May you be truly happy and deeply peaceful
May you live your life with ease
May you accept yourself just as you are in this moment
May you be free
*for you obviously use ‘I’ and for all sentient beings ‘We’

This is also a great meditation to bring into your life off the ‘cushion’. You can wish the random person in the grocery store happiness (internally) or the person who cuts you off driving. It's amazing how quickly it can alter your mindset and watch how people respond to you throughout your day. It can be kind of magical at times; i've noticed I often randomly hear from, or better relationships, with the people I do it around. It’s a great one to try for 21 days and observe how your life shifts!

Sensations. This is often my go to for dealing with my emotions. It is said that suffering comes from trying not to feel something; avoiding anger, sadness, fear, anxiety etc... rather than diving (safely) into the energy of the emotion. All emotions are just vibration, different forms of energy. Anxiety can actually feel a lot like excitement if you take off all the labels & stories we tell around the physical sensations in the body or reframe them. With this meditation you are placing your awareness on the sensations: tightness in the chest, butterflies in the belly, tension in the throat and face, whatever you find; placing your attention there and breathing into it, taking all of the stories and labels off. Sometimes I sit and cry. Sometimes I sit in intense anger. Sometimes I yawn, a lot. (Yawning is often a way to release energy). It's amazing how diving into the sensations can really unwind and untangle them, how much suffering can be avoided by truly just being with ourselves. I always feel like a weights been lifted after i do this.

Flame Gazing. I mention this mainly for the reason that it is done with your eyes open whereas most meditation is focused on turning your gaze inward. I think it can be really beneficial to do some formal practice with eyes open as we want to be able to bring the awareness and calm many of us can cultivate with eyes closed to our eyes open reality. Alternatively it can be helpful for those who have trouble closing their eyes, observing a busy mind, or turning inward, as this gives you something to focus on outside of yourself. It is referred to as Trataka meditation and can improve memory, focus + concentration as well as cultivate greater awareness. You simply light a candle and focus your soft gaze on the dancing flame. After whatever time you have decided on, allow yourself a few minutes laying down with eyes closed to come back to yourself.

Relaxation. One of the first ways i offer loving kindness, especially to myself is by softening, knowing that my softening has ripples. It affects how I am with those around me. It’s also a great way to feel a bit better no matter what is going on. Sometimes it is all we really need to see whatever is going on for what it really is;  a rising and passing in our awareness. It doesn’t mean getting rid of the problem, or getting our way, or not experiencing pain; it just means softening a bit, relaxing a bit around whatever it is. Taking a breath, softening the shoulders, releasing the jaw… loosening our grip. We don’t often realize how much tension we walk around with all day until we take a moment to soften.

We can actually begin all meditation with a quick check in and invitation to soften, release what we are holding and settle in. This can also be the entirety of your practice. There are many other practices to cultivate relaxation in the body and mind like “tense + relax” meditations and Yoga Nidra (which we also utilize in The Collective to reprogram default settings).

Breathwork. Pretty much the opposite of calming + relaxing, this type of three part Breathwork is meant to shake things up + create transformation; deeply detoxing your mental, physical + emotional bodies. The breath functions to get the ‘gunk” out and to move us beyond current limitations, change emotional default settings, negative thought patterns and limiting beliefs. It can help us get clear when we’re feeling confused or stuck.

It is a chance to actually let go; an opportunity to release strong emotions and connect to our own unique life force energy and intuition as well as open our heart to more creativity, gratitude and self love.

It’s a chance to get out of our mind and somatically get into our body to feel, process and release. As we breathe into the lower chakras we clear what’s clinging there. The things that don’t serve us. The old. So that we can make space for the new. We wash it through the heart and let the breath fall out on the exhale knowing there is no need to push. It leaves us feeling softer, less burdened, more connected. It supports us to come into contact with our authentic whole self and shed what doesn’t serve that. 

Kundalini Meditations. There are SO MANY amazing Kundalini meditations. While many can seem crazy with arms flailing or holding them in a specific position, one cannot argue with all of the tangible results I’ve personally experienced in my life and seen others experience. If you have something in your life you want to work on there is most likely a meditation, kriya and mantra for that. Committing to a 40 day practice can create big changes + transformation in your life. Members can find some of my favorites in Prosperity + Deconditioning + Rewiring.

Visualization. Not just for Manifesting Generators this is a powerful meditative tool for manifestation. I really love much of Joe Dispenza’s work around this, matching your intention with heart coherence (essentially an elevated emotion). We want to cultivate the high vibe resonance while we visualize what we want to create for ourself in our health, abundance, home, relationship, career, community, etc.. In Human Design we co-create from our emotions and dedicated practice helps us to connect to this energy more regularly in our day to day. You can also use mantra with visualization to amplify your intentions. You can do this as a seated practice, watching your desires like a move in your mind that is ‘happening’, or while you move about your day, or go for a walk. It is an essential tool in my toolbox.

By Determination. There are plenty of places we can look in our charts to see what will benefit our particular blueprint + constitution and the Primary Health System in your Bodygraph is a great place to begin experimenting.

Appetite includes Alternating + Consecutive
Taste includes Open + Closed
Thirst includes Hot + Cold
Touch includes Nervous + Calm
Sound includes High + Low
Light includes Direct + Indirect

Mindfulness can and should be taken off the ‘cushion’. Real transformation comes from all the moments that add up; all of the cumulative practice. To do this we need to make space in our lives for practice, for intentionality.

Find ways to make it so. :) Be an active listener in conversations. Bring it in to your daily chores. Wash the dishes as a meditation. Quiet your mind and focus just on the act of washing the dishes. Involve all of your senses. The temperature of the water, how it feels on your skin, how it sounds. The heaviness of the dish. The motion of washing, etc...

Set a timer throughout the day to go off to just remind yourself to Be Here Now. To be present, rather than replaying past conversations or worrying about the future, actually experience all of the beauty and awe and joy and tenderness of the current moment. Anchor your awareness into habits + actions you take everyday. For example, every time you get in the car and put on your seatbelt take a moment to notice your breath, your feet on the floor, your bum in the seat, the feel of your hands on the wheel, what you see outside, how you are feeling.

Space. Take space for yourself. Time to gather yourself. Center yourself. To amplify stillness. Take 20 minutes, or two. Waiting in line or for the doctor don’t reach for the magazine or the phone. Just take that time. The minutes where you can get them. Notice the space between words when you are listening. It will make you a better listener. Notice the space between objects it will make you feel more expansive.

When you feel like you never have enough time to practice - set an intention at the beginning of your day. Intend to have the space for yourself. And then be more generous with your time even though it feels the opposite of what you think you should do. Studies show helping someone decreases the feeling of time scarcity + results in a feeling of being more capable. You prime your body and brain to take positive action and to experience courage, hope and connection. Small acts can be just as good as grand gestures. Be creative. Give appreciation, your full attention, or even the benefit of the doubt. A small thing can have unexpectedly large effects on how you experience awareness + life as a whole.

You can find lots of other meditations peppered throughout membership.

Wishing you all the best on your commitment to (W)holistic well-BE-ing. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be free. <3, B