How to Meditate
A Tao Approach
How to meditate the Tao way?
I consider meditation a physical exercise, and include it as a form of Tao sports.
While Tao meditation appears to be nothing but sitting still; underlying the tranquility is hustle and bustle of activities; from regulation of chi energy and cleansing of body system to boosting of vitality.
It is, in a nutshell, a physical exercise for our inner system.
There are many forms of Tao meditation, so many that it is confusing. The principles they employ however are similar.
I picked up a conventional form of Tao meditation more than 20 years ago. It gave me good grounding on how to meditation. Over the years, although I have learned from other teachers and practitioners, I read and experimented avidly; and much of what I do today in meditation is acquired through self-taught.
Meditation is an inner experience. It is difficult to see what others are doing, and equally difficult for others to see what you're doing. It is therefore not unusual to see people give up before seeing any result. A most common complaint that I have heard is not being able to stay focused.
In my case, while I also had to overcome the challenge of staying focused, what I have realized is that the most effective way to meditate is one that requires the least efforts.
We all have chi energy in our body. It is laden, and can be better exploited for our health if we can regulate it. A problem is that the most effective means of control the chi energy in our body is through our sub-conscious mind, and the sub-conscious mind is beyond our conscious control. The first question how to meditate is therefore how to make the sub-conscious work for us.
This explains why the most effective way to meditate is to let go. By letting ourselves go, we allow our body system to do the work without us controlling. This will result in the subconscious mind taking over to regulate the chi energy in its own ways -- which is many times more effective than having our conscious mind doing the work.
The following is a simple sequence that helps you to experience how to meditate.
How to Meditate
A Daily Meditation Approach
The session takes about 20 minutes. Extend it if you prefer. You may want to take it as a way to experience how to meditate.
Wear something comfortable. If you wear glasses, take them off.
1. Sit on a stool with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Rest your palms lightly on the thighs, just above your knees.
2. Sit upright, with spine erect. Breathe naturally.
3. Stay calm. Close your eyes; or leave them mildly open.
4. Loosen up your whole body. You may do this sequentially from your head. Beginning from the tip of your head, go down to your eyes, ears, cheeks, shoulder, chest, adornment and the lower parts of your body. There is no rigid order for doing this. It is more important to relax than following any specific sequence.
5. Sit still, as if you are a tree.
6. If you your mind keeps wandering away. Do not worry! This is very normal. Do not resist any thought. Acknowledge the thought, but don't cling to it. Look at it as if you are a passive bystander.
7. You may count your breathing to help you stay focused. Breathe only very slowly. Let the air goes right to your abdomen, rather than your lungs, when breathing in. Your abdomen inflates when you inhale, and contracts when you exhale. This is described as abdomen breathing.
8. It is important to understand that the act of counting your breathing is meant to help you focus, not inhaling the chi energy. The chi energy is already in you for you to tap into, and the chi that flows to you from external does not flow through breathing.
9. Having repeated the exercise for some time, you may come to a stage when your body produces heat from within. This shows that the qi energy in you is working. You may also feel the qi energy moving around the body, resulting in your body making some uncontrolled movements. Stay calm, do not be bothered.
10. In the process, insights and inspirations arise spontaneously. Do not get excited. Stay calm.
11. When you feel that you’d like to stop, bring your mind back. Slowly open your eyes, and calmly return to your normal self. Rest the two palms horizontally before you chest, with the palms up. Turn the palms down, press the air of qi below your palms down, with palms moving downward and stop at the abdomen level, as if storing the qi energy to your stomach. Repeat the movements twice. Rub your palms to activate the qi in your palm, and massage your face with the qi. End the session.
Having found out the basics of how to meditate, read more about other Tao health tips
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