Thomas Leigh Diary

How I meditate #2: the very basics which gave Me success

Thinking about My meditation practice I came to a conclusion that there is one particular element which helped Me a lot in achieving deeper level of relaxation, concentration, and so on. The element I refer to is a special attitude towards the body. Let Me explain.

When You start meditating, usually You relax first. In order to do that You use some relaxation techniques. Whatever technique You use - its goal is always the same: to move Your attention away from Your body, as far as possible. It is usually achieved by relieving tensions, slowing down Your breath and relaxing every area of the body. The goal is the situation when nothing could be distracting for You (whatever sensation originated in the body). That's why even so simple thing as Your body position - can be crucial - because in the long run (I mean: while meditating) You will feel Your body differently. So let's stop for a while and look at choosing of the most proper position.

The most proper position

This is the very first thing You do when You are going to meditate: You take the right position. What the position should be? For Me it is only one rule: the more relaxed You feel with Your position - the more proper it is, and it will be working more effectively for You. But "feeling relaxed" sounds a little bit abstract for Me so I prefer that form:

the less You feel Your body in the particular position - the better it is. When You are wondering what position to take - consider how much You feel Your body in particular positions. For example: if Your legs are one on another - You can feel them more than in the situation in which both legs are lying freely. Or another example: if Your body touches some hard surface or edge - You can have more feelings from that particular area of Your body than in the situation in which You don't touch anything hard or unpleasant. So the goal is: to feel Your body as little as possible.

There is one more thing about choosing right position: You shouldn't choose the position You're used to take when You go to bed for sleep - because that position is highly linked with falling-asleep-habit (Your body got used to it as a tool to fall asleep). As we don't want to sleep while meditating it is recommended to choose other position :) .

Similarly You should consider physical state of Your body as another factor. If the body is very tired - it could be an obstacle in terms of meditating because tiredness serves sleep. So the best imaginable condition is that when You feel fresh and full of energy. However it is an extreme - what is important is not to be much tired or sleepy.

Relaxation is not everything

All right, so now You know how to take right position and care about proper body condition. But regardless of the relaxation during the meditation Your body will be delivering some sensations to You. There will be less of them (because of right preparation as I described before) - but still there will be some. And now the point is: what will You do with them?

For example: what will You do if You are feeling some itching? Or how will You react if the fly land on Your arm? I'd like to tell You how I handle this - but please don't consider it as an universal, objective method. I don't recommend it to everybody because I think it won't work for every person. But it works for Me - and it works as a perfect "lift" to deeper states - so I'd like to share this with You.

When I begin meditating I take a particular attitude towards My body: I decide not to identify with it for the time of meditating. And by that I mean: no sensation originated in My body refers to Me while meditating. What does it mean? It means that when I meditate - I treat My body like "a second person", a stranger whose voice - for example - I can pick up and overhear unintentionally. But it is not My voice and I'm not interested in listening to another person while meditating - so I don't do that, I don't listen. Like a radio hearable from the distance - it is not My goal to listen to it while meditating so I just ignore it. It is possible to treat any sensation originated in the body the same way: like it would have its source outside, somewhere else - not within You. And by no means it is referring to You - so You can easily ignore it and keep going Your practice.

I discovered it is possible to be independent and free of any possible rooted-in-the-body distraction. In order to succeed in that attitude I needed strong willpower and determination - but over the time it was easier and turned into the habit. Some part of Me got used to that approach of literally not identifying with My own body in the sake of meditation and today it is quite easy and also interesting thing to observe if I would like to (Your own body as a body of another person for example - with no links attached to You).

So, for example, if I am aware of some itching - I ignore it. If I am aware of some fly or mosquito nearby - I ignore it. If some part of My body doesn't feel pleasant - I ignore it. As a result I learned not to be attached to My body while the practice - although that attitude may be a little controversial, for Me every reaction linked with the body would be only an obstacle: being a reminder I have that body and "I have to be aware of it all the time". For Me it turned out to be easier to do the opposite. Furthermore it turned out it has a significant impact on the depth of My relaxation and on the amount of time needed to reach particular depths. In other words: with the help of that attitude I can be deeply relaxed - and I can reach that level very quickly. It has similar impact on the level of concentration / focusing My attention in the context of "mind noise".