i love meditation and it is my best friend. i would say my savior in most situations. i don’t know how i would have dealt with this harsh life without the aid of meditation.
personally, i don’t follow the practice of sitting for meditation at a fix time everyday. it is a good practice for beginners to meditate at the same time everyday. but after few years of meditation one should bring meditation into day to day acts. that is what i try to do.
so how i use meditation in daily living:
1. moments of restlessness – when something troubles me or make me restless or worried. then i simply sit and start watching my thoughts and the gap between two thoughts. slowly my mind slows down and the cloud of restlessness starts disappearing. meditation for few minutes makes me relaxed, centered and at ease.
2. when i need clarity – many times it happens that i don’t have clarity over a issue. so to disperse the cloud of confusion, i again take the help of meditation. in this case, i close my eyes and put my focus on the concerned issue. i don’t think about the issue. because thinking involves mind and mind is the cause of confusion. i just look at the issue and don’t think about it. after some time of looking at the issue (without thinking), i get clarity about the situation.
3. understanding others problem – when any of my friend ask my opinion on their problems. then again i use meditation to find the solution. what i does is to listen their problem without any judgement. while listening, i don’t make my opinion about what is right or what is wrong. i just listen without bring my mind in between. this way my mind is not able to interfere with my listening. thus i am able to hear with a detached attitude and i can have a much clear look at the issue. this pure listening helps in finding the solution.
4. doing things consciously – i try to bring awareness in each of my acts like walking, talking, eating etc. when walking, i try to walk with awareness. while speaking, i try to speak with awareness. one part of my consciousness is also listening what i am saying. doing thing consciously slows down the acts but it brings a lot of grace in the actions.
5. healing body-mind – when there is pain in any part of my body then it means body is asking for my attention. its needs energy to heal itself. so i bring my total attention to the pain. i witness the pain with a relaxed attitude. doing this first makes the pain more heightened. then the pain become more localized (attention is at the center of pain) and after that it start reducing. after few minutes of meditation the pain is over. many problems of body-mind can be healed with the help of meditation. if you witness your emotions then you will get much clarity and direction.
thus meditation is one of the greatest help in right living.