Illuminating The Unconscious 

When we sit and "stop" we have the capacity to see the unseen, the hidden unconscious becomes conscious.  Have you ever been in a crowded noisy room and tried to hear what's going on around you, it's not easy. But if everyone in the room became silent you would begin to hear many sounds in the room that you were unaware of. It's the same with natural meditation. Because your stopping and allowing everything to be as it is, your mind and body begin to settle naturally and you begin to notice thoughts, feelings and stories that you were previously unaware of. This is truly seeing and has the power to illuminate the darkest parts of ourselves. The great thing is that all we need to do is stop and listen.

Meditation Misconceptions 

I'm sure you've seen or herd the cd's or courses that say; "learn to meditate in three easy steps" or "buy this course and learn to be calm and serene in 30 minutes or less." While calm and serenity happens, it's not what meditation is about. Calm and serenity are effects of meditation, not the rule. It wouldn't be honest or authentic if I told you that meditation is about being calm. If you believe that meditation is about being calm, then every time you sit down to meditate and you experience a restless mind or unpleasant feelings you might think; "this is not working" or "I'm doing this wrong" and if this continues you might just give up, thinking; "this meditation thing doesn't work for me, I can't do it".

In truth, when we meditate we are allowing everything to be as it is without the need to change or resist anything. It is this kind of surrender that creates the "effect" of calm and serenity. When we allow everything to be as it is, our thoughts begin to thin out and our emotions and feelings freely flow without interference. At the same time, we are able to see more clearly the nature of mind and experience as it moves through our awareness.

Another misconception is that meditation has to be difficult or structured. While it's true that some schools of meditation are tightly structured and take part in practices that can seem quite difficult, this is only one view of meditation. In its simplest form, meditation is a way of resting as awareness. It helps us to see more clearly the arising and passing away of experience and to come home to the present moment and ourselves. There are many forms of meditation, from just sitting in nature to sequestering yourself in a cave for a year, but the foundation is still the same - simply being.

One last misconception is the belief that meditation takes away life's difficulties - it doesn't. What meditation does offer us is the capacity to meet life's challenges with openness, patience and compassion without being overwhelmed. We learn to pause before we react and create the space to work with what arises. It's like being on the shore and watching the storms pass by without being lost in the storm itself. There will always be challenges in life, how we meet them is the key.

There are certainly more misconceptions we haven't talked about, but that's enough for now. If you have any others you can think of or questions about meditation let me know.

Trust
Trust has an expanded, open quality to it. Trust is that authentic quality of awareness we notice when we are in the present moment with an experience, in a non-judgmental way. It is surrender without boundaries, self or a need to receive anything in return. Trust is the opposite of doubt. Today explore these two experiences. With kindness.

Presence 

Its not that being present is better than being lost in the future or in the past, it's that the present moment is where life happens. If we are lost in thinking we are missing what is true and authentic, what's right in front of us. A sunset, the sound of waves crashing, your children, the sensations in your body and all the subtitles and nuances of life, all arising "now". We can even include thoughts in our awareness of what's happening now. What are we missing when we are not present?

Relationship

As embodied humans we are in relationships from birth till death, with parents, teachers, other humans, our environment and so on. If we shut ourselves off from all relationships, because we feel it is too difficult, we become isolated and alone. We may even have difficulty having a relationship with ourselves. This is where we start, with our own relationship, loving who we are. Eventually we can move beyond the boundaries we create between me and you or I and them; boundless, unconditioned love.

A Magical Space

We can replace the shadow of our over stimulated, conditioned mind and emotional system with an open space of wisdom, acceptance and curiosity; a magical space of expansion and mystery.  This is the way we once were as children; everything was new, vibrant and exciting. This was before we were told what to fear, what to believe and not to believe. At some point we began to believe the mind stories that now limit us from doing anything that remind us of a painful or scary experience. If we continue to live in this limited way we only re-enforce our conditioning and continue to condition those around us, especially the young ones.

This doesn't mean that we ignore the feeling of danger, become reckless and do things that might be dangerous or unsafe - that's where the clarity of wisdom comes in handy. We know what's safe without being driven by fear.

We can notice our conditioning if we are paying attention. We might go for a walk in the woods with our kids or grand kids and feel very uneasy, saying to them; "don't do that", "be careful", "we should go back". All the while, not being able to experience this time fully and joyfully.

In these moments we can do three simple things. One, be aware of what is happening in your mind and body. Two, if there is a thought that is limiting you, let it go, surrender that thought. Third, surf all the emotions that are arising without needing them to be different or judging them. 

When we can meet a moment in this way and allow the thoughts and emotions to dissolve, we will feel expanded and fully open to experience whatever new adventure awaits us.