soft meditation

by gavin mcnaught

What I call “soft” meditation, can provide rest, rejuvenation, and calm. This way of meditating is not about building mental strength and discipline. Instead, it’s about centering yourself from the weights of the world.

To prepare, grab a nice beverage. Turn your phone notii cations on silent. Music can sometimes be used, but I recommend music of a spiritual nature. Set an alarm if necessary. Candles and incense are optional additions.

Once you are ready, sit in a comfortable position. For this style, I recommend a nice chair or couch. Meditation often recommends a straight back. I will stress comfort over perfection. Resting your back against the couch or chair is perfectly okay.

Now, rest your hands in a position that feels right for you. I may do a separate article on Buddhist and Taoist meditation hand positions. For now, the hands may rest comfortably on your knees with the palms face up.

Finally, the meaty part. Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Notice anything you are thinking about, any conversations you are having with yourself in your head. As you notice you are having these conversations, try to disengage with them. You are likely to re-engage with them, likely very soon. This is normal, especially in the beginning. The goal should not be not to think. The goal should be not to think hard. Aim to not think about anything stressful. Often, we are using our brains at a high capacity. This requires a lot of energy and can be stressful. The goal of this style of meditation is to give yourself a break. Don’t think about things you don’t want to do but have to. Try not to have difi cult or stressful conversations with yourself. Don’t try to solve problems in your life.

Another component is centering your energy. This is more difi cult to describe. This element is more of “magic” and less of meditation. Practices such as qigong (tai chi), can help in learning to manipulate your own energy. I will describe the basics of energy work at another time.

For now, imagine your body is made of l owing water. Take a moment to see and feel the water l owing throughout you. Now, imagine it all l owing into one place. Imagine it l owing to your hands. Do you feel anything, perhaps a tingling of the hands? This takes time and practice to learn.

Continue dropping stressful-though dialogues, and try to focus your energy into a solid location, in order to ground yourself. Once you are ready, get up and resume your day. Feel free to come back to the practice whenever you are stressed or need rejuvenation.