28 Feb The Gift of Meditation

There is a lot of talk about meditation these days.  Articles and interviews about the benefits of meditation…the power of meditation to help with anxiety and stress…“How to Meditate” Apps, workshops and retreats.  Meditation is going mainstream. This is wonderful and it is about time!!

 

Meditation is such a Gift! Truly, with a capital “G”.  And still, it is not so easy to make it part of your everyday life.  How to do that? How to choose to make time for meditation?  How to be open to the Gift of Meditation?

 

I spoke the other day with a young woman who knows that meditation is good for her, but who has been (like many of us) struggling to make it a daily practice. She said, “I sit down, and the suffering begins! I am feeling pain in my body, heart, and mind. I keep telling myself this is how it should be, that it is okay this way. No pain no gain!  And that once I have done this for many months and years, and have suffered long enough, I will finally be feeling calm and fulfilled inside.”

 

I responded, “What if you don’t have to suffer for so long or not at all? What if meditation itself could be fun and joyful?”

 

She respondeded, “OMG, no one has ever suggested this before!”

 

So how would it be for you if you actually enjoyed meditating, rather than dreading it? If you looked forward to it…to this luxury of time to be with yourself, to notice your body, to be with your body, notice your breath, be present to yourself. And what would it be like, if you actually loved and enjoyed it? Realizing the preciousness of this moment, here and now. Getting some distance from the chatter of the mind, seeing and appreciating what a beautiful planet you live on!

 

It is important to find a way to enjoy your meditation. If you don’t, it won’t be long before you forget about it all together.

 

It is essential to find a technique that will work for you, that will actually draw you toward meditation. A technique that is exciting and not boring! That will be more interesting to you then the TV series, the shopping trip, or the endless worry about what happened in the past or what will happen in the future.

 

In my experience, most of us have too much energy in our heads, bodies, and minds. What if we prepare for meditation by using all that energy first, expressing it out in some way, before we sit down to be still and watch our breath?

 

It can be very helpful and enjoyable to move the body through dancing, walking or jogging, or to use the voice through singing or catharsis, in order to make room inside and unburden the mind. When this movement happens before “non movement”, we can more easily sit in stillness and encounter who we actually are. It becomes easier to be with ourselves, our breath, our stillness, and the energy of being alive. And this can happen without struggle and suffering. Not that we won’t encounter misery, pain, worry and darkness, but we will have more room to be with it all, the darkness as well as the light.

 

This is the Gift of Meditation.

 

Meditation has been in my life for over 40 years. It has had many different incarnations and a great impact for me personally. I am passionate about it and love to share it.

 

Punitama is offering the “Inner Journey – Meditation Mentoring Program” through Path Retreats.

 

Punitama has been on the spiritual journey for over 35 years as a meditator, meditation leader, and spiritual explorer. Punitama has dedicated her life to the spiritual inquiry process and is the Executive Diirector of the Osho Leela Meditation center in Boulder, Colorado, as well as a founding member of the Sattva Institute. She brings a passion, love and commitment to supporting people in finding their highest potential and to discovering connection, joy and deep fulfillment in their lives, through the sessions, groups and seminars she offers in person or via zoom.

 

She has been trained in Somatic Experience Trauma Training – Dr. Peter Levine, SEP, No Mind Intensive, Awakening of Love Facilitator Training, Life Coaching Certificate, Osho Multiversity Meditation Leaders Training, Breath Energy Work, Dare Attachment System of Relational Dynamics, Inner Womens Work, and Reiki Master – Level 3

 

She is well versed in Essence work and is a student of the Diamond Heart process. In addition, she is a Senior Staff Coordinator for the Path of Love in the Americas.  Punitama is also a Meditation Mentor and Mindfulness Teacher.  Punitama works with individuals and couples and is especially passionate in supporting women in their life journey and the challenges in bringing a fuller, and healthier expression of the Feminine presence to the earth.