Meditation Lesson 2: Void Meditation

[A_Citrus]

Meditation Lesson 2 Void Meditation Lesson Plan Welcome to Meditation Lesson 2: Void Meditation. In this lesson, void meditation will be recapped and covered in greater detail. Its advantages will be described, and the void meditation technique will be explained in a step-by-step tutorial. Additionally, frequently asked questions about void meditation will be answered. At the end, there will be a practical workbook entry to complete. This will involve getting experience with void meditation and paying attention to feelings and sensations while meditating. What is Void Meditation Lesson 1 covered the basics of meditation - what meditation is, and the advantages of meditation - and two specific types of meditation were introduced; void meditation and focal meditation. In this lesson, I'm going to cover void meditation. Void meditation is one of the main types of meditation used, and it basically involves clearing the mind of all thoughts. This doesn't mean that you don't have any thoughts, but that you're subconsciously ignoring any thoughts which enter your mind. As your mind becomes clearer, you build up focus and awareness and find a sense of peace in your own mind. Advantages of Void Meditation In general, void meditation helps improve awareness, concentration and focus. Deeper states of void meditation provide a calmness to the mind, and bring peace to the storm that is caused by our stray thoughts. Once in this peaceful state, much can be done. You may want to find out what it is you really want in life, or you might want to focus on something clearly that you can't remember well because of stressful issues in life. While I can't guarantee that you will find your answers, deep void meditation is sure to help, and a lot of people have found it easy to think over things while meditating. Disadvantages of Void Meditation As with all meditation, void meditation doesn't have any actual disadvantages. However, although void meditation has great benefits in certain areas, focal meditation is better for other areas. In void meditation the main area of improvement is awareness, and concentration and focus improve a bit as a result of the meditation in general. However, focal meditation improves more on focus, and improves concentration and awareness less. Void Meditation Technique And now, the part everyone's been waiting (im)patiently for. Position. Before meditating, you should get into a comfortable position, one in which you won't feel strained if you stay like that for a long period. However, you should try to avoid positions like lying down, as you may fall asleep during meditation. For example, I sit cross-legged either on the floor or on my bed, and I rest my hands on my knees and allow the weight on my shoulders to be taken off. Breathing. Sit for a minute or two, just taking time to cool down and allow your breathing to slow right down, and you will begin to feel more relaxed. I do this with my eyes closed because I wear glasses, and having my eyes closed relieves the strain caused by the power of the lenses I wear. However, this step can be done with your eyes closed or open, and for people experiencing the same problem as me who want to keep their eyes open, removing the glasses and placing on a desk or something would work too. The point of this step is just to let yourself relax, and relieve some stress that you may have had during the day. Meditation. After one or two minutes, you will feel ready to start the meditation. I can't really describe this, but you will feel relaxed and calm and know that the time is right. You should close your eyes at this point, because since void meditation is the clearing of the mind, having your eyes open will make you think of what you're seeing. Now you should try to sit still and clear your mind. It's hard to describe, but think of when you go to sleep; you sort through all the thoughts in your head, whether consciously or subconsciously, and then your mind is clear of all your thoughts. Try to do the same in void meditation, in other words, dismiss anything you think about. The one thing you should be concentrating on is not focusing on anything, but try not to actively try to do this, as this will make you focus on doing it. You should continue meditating until either you need to get out of meditation, or you feel sufficiently relaxed to stop. However, I wouldn't recommend meditating for long periods of time if you haven't been meditating long, as it's good to build up from shorter periods to longer periods rather than going straight to longer periods. Also, don't worry about what to expect during the third step. Most likely you will feel more and more relaxed as you keep meditating, and a sense of calmness will start to run through you (body and mind). Meditation Workbook Optional homework is given at the end of each lesson to be completed in your meditation workbook. If you don't have a workbook yet, create a new thread in the Meditation sub-forum with an appropriate thread name. For example, if your forum username is zebrah, your workbook might be called "zebrah's Meditation Workbook". Particularly vague workbook names will be corrected, and workbooks with inappropriate names may be corrected or removed. This week, it's a practical exercise. To get some hands-on experience with void meditation, I'd like you to try meditating a few times using the technique covered in this lesson, and to record three of your attempts throughout the week in your workbook. For beginners, I would recommend a maximum of 30 minutes of meditation total per day, as you need to build up your concentration through practice before going for longer periods of meditation. If you have any questions about the lesson or the course, or if you need something clarified, feel free to send me a private message, or post your question in your meditation workbook. I won't claim to know everything there is to know about meditation, but I'll try my best to answer questions. ShockWave.