Detox For The Soul

On The Diversity Of Meditation

The Ego Has To Open The Door

“Our soul waits for us. Our ego must be willing to let the light in.

Our ego has to open the door.”

Robert Holden

Like many other words, meditation is a hugely misunderstood word. It is an interesting word to describe the process we are practicing while meditating. The origin of the word “meditation” is formally defined as “contemplation, thinking over, reflect, consider” which is exactly the opposite of what we are trying to do during meditating. The word even means “prayer” which is not fitting either. I think it is funny how many words are still carrying traces of mind and thought in meditation when their actual meaning is totally different. This goes for the word “mindfulness” too which means “taking thought or care”. Yet, I believe that there is a reason that all these words are connected to the mind, as we wouldn't be able to consciously choose to use those practices, if it wasn’t for our mind. The ego has to open the door to our garden of growth. 

Doctor of Chiropractic, international speaker, and writer Dr. Joe Dispenza states that meditation means “to become familiar with”. He states that the process of meditation is to become conscious to not go unconscious.

Esther Hicks describes meditation as “to stop the thoughts”. Creating our future begins with our thoughts. We need to let go of all the limiting beliefs that we collected over time and carry in our backpack throughout our journey through life. 

How Do We Shift Beliefs?

Let’s say you are riding your bike at a fast pace, maybe even downhill. Everyone knows how it feels like being caught in the race of life, not being able to stop the automatic movement as we are so used to functioning. So if you steer your bike into the same direction all the time and suddenly have the wish to change directions, you wouldn’t be able to pull the handlebar 180 degrees so that you can go in the other direction immediately. You would stop, turn your bike around and then start picking up the pace again.

When we shift beliefs we can do it the same way. We stop. We relax. We reset. We redirect. What we know as meditation really is a reset of our system. The more we practice to tune into this space between thoughts, the more we will be able to create the thoughts we want to create. Then we can build our own reality.

Relaxation

“Sit quietly and listen for a voice that will say, be more silent.

As that happens your soul starts to revive.”

Rumi

I think the process of meditation has many benefits. The first and obvious one is that we are helping our body and nervous system to relax. We take the time to sit or lie in a quiet place, we focus on our breath and get calm. This alone makes a huge difference in our lives as we let our bodies know that we are safe and nothing is going wrong. In a state of survival we usually wouldn’t go into a meditative state. However, if we are in survival mode it could be really beneficial to practice telling our body that we can relax. 

Inspiration

Most people think that to meditate means to not think at all. Somehow the image we have when we think of meditation is a monk sitting in a garden, staring into the distance or closing their eyes for hours with a blank mind. The practice of meditation includes so much more. Like yoga, meditation isn’t just a practice, it is a lifestyle, a “being” and not so much a “doing”. I would say the real name of meditation would be “intention”. I am not a linguist but I love to look up the origins of words and so I did it with this word, too. Intention comes from the French word “entencion” which means as much as will, desire, purpose. This is the common understanding of the word. Yet, as always, there is more to it. It also derives from the Latin word “intendere” which means “to turn one’s attention” and “to stretch out”. In Middle English the word also meant “emotions, feelings and heart, mind understanding”. I think this describes it best. When we do something intentionally, we deliberately (which means “consciously unhurried”) focus on one thing. We stretch out our being, we turn our attention from the head to the heart. We connect with the present moment. We use our senses to feel our way into Being. In meditation we become more than our body. We stretch out. We move beyond the physical. We feel the oneness of the universe and connect to our spirit. We are in spirit - inspired.

Redirection

I guess the origin of the word “meditation” has its right to exist, as we use our minds more than we think during our practice. Joe Dispenza explains the process of meditation with the analogy of training a dog to sit. We train our conscious mind to focus on one thing over and over again, with intention, deliberation and determination. The most challenging part here is that we need to be kind to ourselves. If our mind wanders and we beat ourselves up about it or start to think “I am just not good at meditation. Why does everybody else manage and I can’t?”, the whole practice defeats the purpose. I think this is most essential as in meditation we practice to be kind and understanding with ourselves. That’s why meditation in my opinion is the biggest form of self-love. We need to take time for ourselves. We need to set boundaries to establish a good practice. We need to intentionally choose to sit with ourselves and get to know ourselves. In meditation we consciously redirect our thoughts to focus on just one thing. 

Exploration

During meditation we get to know our true selves. We get to explore who we really are, beyond all labels, all conditions, all layers of beliefs. We are guided to peek behind the veil and are diving into a whole new world. We experience unconditional love and bathe in the oneness of the universe. In meditation we see each other beyond our eyes, hear each other beyond our ears and feel each other beyond our skin. We are able to connect to the wisdom of ancestors and spirit guides, to weave a sacred bond with the divine. By elevating our thoughts we expand our souls and quieten our egos. We tune in into our own inner guidance and get more and more practiced to hear our own voice, even when the voices of others around us try to drown us. Meditation helps us to get intimate with our inner being. The more practiced we are to quieten our mind, the more we connect to our heart’s own wisdom which lets us flow with the divine guidance of the universe without resistance. 

Resurrection

When we come out of meditation, we are changed. Every meditation changes our vibration and elevates our frequency. We are being transformed and come out with a deeper understanding of ourselves. In meditation we are letting go of resistance. A lot of spiritual teachings center around the idea of “raising our vibration”. I don’t think we need to do anything to raise our vibration. I think we need to do less. I always think of a hot air balloon when thinking about frequency. The balloon is able to stay in the air, yet, when we are clinging on to too much baggage, it weighs us down. When we let go of the things that we are carrying with us, we automatically rise with ease. No effort needed. When we transform our inner world we magically ascend. Thus, keeping up a meditation practice should feel easy and not hard. For a long time I used to cringe when hearing the word practice. I was used to practicing the piano, practicing for class tests, for exams and stagings. Practice and effort were deeply intertwined for me, especially regarding sports. When I started yoga it was the first time that I had a feeling of ease while “practicing”. The origin of the word practice means to put into action. Nothing more. It is not connected to hard work, to consistency, to achieve a goal. It is simply just be-ing in action. My life truly shifted when I let myself be more. When I let myself be “more” I became (original meaning) great. I became an expansion of my inner being, floating in the oneness of the universe. 

Elation

Meditation can bring us utter bliss. We can feel light, weightless and carefree. We can feel like we are flying, can cross realms and time, anything is possible. Through meditation we can practice to let these feelings rise up in us, as they are always present at any time - we only learned to block them so much. Living happily is daring, as it involves surrender, getting comfortable with uncomfortable feelings and the unknown. In meditation we drop the guard and let our bodies experience this feeling of utter joy. To experience elation we need to open our hearts, thus when we are joyful we usually don’t have our armour on. While our hearts are beating in ecstasy we are very vulnerable. We are embracing life with open arms. If we wait for the other shoe to drop, we can’t really be in this state of bliss. Meditation helps us practice feeling safe in the good feelings. It helps trusting that the universe has always got our back and that we are being taken care of. Through meditation we practice the shift from fear back home to love.

Celebration

Meditation is a celebration of the magical powers of the universe. It is a celebration of life. In meditation we are approaching the wonders of the cosmos with reverence. We practice gratitude, awe and surrender. We visualize and dream our world into reality. Paired with ritual we are honouring the divine nature and let our inner being dance with the mystery of distant worlds. We appreciate our bodies and learn to tune in into the love that we already are. 

Co-Creation

Through meditation we practice to quiet our egos and to learn how to steer our feelings that then create our own reality. In meditation we acknowledge that there is a greater force that keeps us safe at all times. We let ourselves receive help by the mysterious power of the universe, letting synchronicities and signs show us the way while we are living into the questions of life. We start to co-create with divinity instead of forcing outcomes, controlling circumstances and making plans. We start to flow with the natural pace of life.

Having written all these descriptions one can imagine that there is more to meditation than just sitting on a yoga cushion, staring into space. There are so many ways to meditate. Most meditation challenges focus on guided meditations, navigating different topics like self-love, gratitude and forgiveness. I want to help you to find your own unique way of meditating. I invite you to learn alongside me as I step further into the creation of Love-Eyes Spiritual Development: While I am expanding this creation I am happy to guide you towards your own unique style of meditation, I am excited to announce the course:

“Listen To Your Heart - 30 days of exploration to find your unique way of meditation”

In this enchanting and transformational course, I will take you on a tour through the various possibilities of meditation practices. You will weave your very own tapestry of methods to craft your very own unique meditation practice.

You will learn how to establish a consistent meditation habit that can easily be implemented in your unique lifestyle. Learn how to transform your life, create new healthy habits and a strong positive mindset through the power of meditation.

If you want to know more about the free course, click here to get to my website with the information! The course will be mostly on Substack, on the profile of Love-Eyes Spiritual Development. If you are interested you can subscribe to the course just by clicking this link.

In confluence with Cuoreosity I am also hosting the course “The Poetry Way — How to use poetry as a spiritual path to transform your life.” You can find out more about it here. There is an early bird ticket option until the end of the month.

If you are unsure about if the courses are for you, join me next Wednesday in The Love Café, where we connect in soulful conversations. There you’ll also get the opportunity to as questions about the courses. You can sign up for the free session here. If you want to read more about the Love Café, click here.

Lots of love,

Nicole

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Head over to my website to get more information.