Have you ever been presented with an idea that just keeps appearing, until all at once you've been mulling it over for days? The latest such idea for me first appeared in a Yoga Journal article called "The Essense of Life". Its author was talking about how the palette of human emotions can be likened to the palette of flavors we use in cooking -- all of them serve a unique purpose, and all of them can ruin a dish if they are used too much. The revolutionary part of the idea for me was the suggestion that not only is no emotion inherently bad and another always necessarily good, but that we have it as much within our control which emotions flavor our days as which seasonings flavor our soups!
Then, just on the heals of reading about that idea, I came to the section of "Eat, Pray, Love" (I'm reading it with friends, and recommend it heartily...) in which Elizabeth Gilbert describes the blue pearl of consciousness. The blue pearl is the still concentration of mental activity in the center of the mind that yogis have been describing for years, and that modern brain imaging has just been able to observe as an actual glow of blue in the center of an otherwise calm brain. It happens when meditation is finally able to still the chattering activity of the mind and just allow for still, non-judgmental, recipient observation, non-reactive, peaceful. She describes that perspective as the one that is always aware, but exists behind our personality... the awareness that can watch us dream and report back to us what we dreamed about. It is also the awareness that can elect which emotions to deploy at which moments, rather than letting whichever leaps from the water first dictate both the moment and our prevailing mental state. It is also our most essential, lasting, universally connected self.
So, fascinated with the prospect of being so calmly in control of emotions that have the potential to toss me around like a raft on an ocean, I have started letting emotions be the focus of my meditation: Emotions as ingredients... flavors... tools to be used when what a circumstance really needs is a touch of anger tempered by compassion, or full-body laughter and gratitude, or silent receptiveness. I still love meditation that only quiets the mind, and concentrates attentiveness to the silent center where we become spacious. But without the guidance of a formal guru, I'm not ashamed to admit that I approach that space with a little timidity. And meditations that teach me to be calm and non-reactive in order to train and remain in control of my reactions has been so very fruitful! So, for the moment, here I am.
And so, I'll end this post by sharing the formula that has been shaping my meditations, and my hope that it is as much a blessing to you as it has been to me:
1. Begin with a few Sun Salutations, just to warm and lubricate everything, flush and oxygenate your soft parts, and properly align the hard ones, in order that you may have a comfortable body to sit in.
2. Find a seated position you expect to be able to keep for at least 10 minutes, supporting knees or back or whatever you imagine will be the first parts to complain about sitting.
3. Establish your breath, inhaling deeply into your diaphragm, and exhaling for at least as long as your inhale took to complete itself, if not a few counts longer. Lengthening the exhale lowers blood pressure, and signals to your parasympathetic nervous system to release subconscious tension. Shoulders, neck, face all relax, and breath deepens.
4. Once you have arrived in this quiet part of your brain, start watching your thoughts. Non-reactively at first, until you find one that is repetitive, or sets the theme for the dialogue that runs repeatedly in your head. Without judging it as right or wrong, just ask yourself: Is this thought positive or nagative -- edifying or destructive? If it is positive, sit in gratitude, and apply that smiling, grateful awareness to every part of your body (like the Indonesian man tells Elizabeth Gilbert, "Smile in your liver").
If it is negative, just observe the way your body reacts to it: where are you holding? what aches? does your breathing change when you stay with that thought? Then, carefully and attentively, replace that negative mantra (because even our most firmly held beliefs about what makes us suffer are often either lies we just keep repeating to ourselves, or a careful ignoring of a truth that would serve our psyches much better... but for better or worse, the phrases that get the most mental air time are our mantras) with a healthy mantra that will encourage and rebuild what the old, negative mantra has eaten away at.
5. Then, sitting with your deep breath and your new mantra, watch your body. Let the chemistry of your smiling mind wash over every part of you, and picture it healing, cleansing, soothing, relaxing every little corner of your body and mind. Let this part of the meditation last a least a few minutes longer than you spent in searching. Soak in it.
It is a place to start in the quest to live peacefully in a human body and mind, as we learn to establish the mental rooms in which we can exist calmly in tumultuous circumstances. Enjoy! ...And Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!
p.s. Links to the Yoga Journal articles that I've been mulling over:
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2516?utm_source=DailyInsight&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=DailyInsight
http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/2544
