Meditation as self transcendence.

Meditation is one of the foundations of yogic practice. However, what most of us call meditation, would be defined as concentration in the 8 limbs of yoga.

In the 8 limbs, meditation (dhyana) comes after concentration (dharana) and is the last element before samadhi (enlightenment, self realisation). Under this system, meditation is a state of temporary absorption, a loss of the individual self into a state of union with the object of meditation and all around. Essentially, it is a practice of transcendence of the individual self, so true meditation begins where "I" end.

Concentration is the gateway to this. Through continuous one pointed focus on something, the boundaries that make up our individual self begin to blur. If you sit long enough with a relaxed focus on your breath, eventually, you become the breath. If you sit gazing into the eyes of another, you will eventually feel at one with this other. If you meditate on all around you, you will soon feel your sense of separateness dissolve.

So how do we practice this? There's a golden middle with concentration, you don't want to concentrate so much that you are so involved in this idea of "doing" that the whole thing becomes stressful and you fix on this idea of "me who is concentrating on that", this furthers the illusion of separateness. I was once so determined to stay completely present during a body scan meditation that I tried way too hard & stressed myself out - "Now bring your attention to your foot" ... "okay, my foot, I'm in my foot, bringing all my attention to my foot, FOCUS ON THE FOOT CECILIA!" - as you can imagine, no transcendental experience occurred that day.

Conversely, you also don't want to be so relaxed your mind wanders off in a thousand different directions. Instead, you want to sit in the middle of this, keeping a focus on the object of meditation while allowing the flow of the meditation to unfold, without trying to force it.

It's the same during your yoga practice, you must put in effort to go through your practice and focus on what you are doing but if you focus too much on the action of doing, you try too hard to muscle through, you lose the breath & flow of the practice. Equally, not enough concentration, you lose your focus & the monkey mind returns.

It is only with a relaxed concentration on your practice that you can move into a meditation & flow state, a state of absorption where you cease to be 'the doer' and instead move into a state of complete being, where the action and the doer become one. This is when your practice starts to have an effortless quality to it & you enter into a state of active meditation. In this state, the ego softens, the attachment to attainment of postures or achievement in meditation begins to fade & time seems to slow down, leaving you dissolving into a vast, expansive space.

This is how yoga & meditation can reveal to us our true nature, the unbounded expansive nature of our true self (or no self) & the union between us.

To practice reaching this state is very simple but requires a few elements. Personally, I prefer to focus on the breath as I have found this to have its own expansive quality of creating space within both the mind and body, but if you prefer something else, feel free to follow whatever feels most natural to you.

To start, spend a few minutes just watching the mind, let it wander & note where it goes, without following the thoughts. After a few minutes, start watching the breath, watch the sensations of the breath, without trying to alter it in any way. With each inhale, watching the rise of the belly or the chest, simply noting "rising". With each exhale, watching the fall & release of the belly or chest & simply noting "falling". Whenever your mind starts to wander, gently bring it back, note where you went (e.g. "future thinking") and gently, without judgement, bring yourself back to the breath. You can do this for how long you'd like, anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes. Initially, the mind will likely wander many times, before coming to a quieter place & eventually releasing habitual thoughts.

This kind of practice is super simple & encourages you to both be completely in the body & sensations, while taking the place of the observer, observing your inner landscape of changing sensation, thoughts & emotions; from this place, dualities start to melt away & the observer & the observed become one.

What experiences have you had with meditation? Let me know if you try this out!