BLISS MEDITATION

MAIN PRACTICE:

1. Abdominal Breathing
2. Relaxed Posture
3. Complete Darkness
4. Know Thyself

FINE-TUNE:

5. Meditate Daily
6. 20 Minutes Minimum
7. Soothing Music
8. Sitting Upright

COMMENTARY:

1. 1. Abdominal Breathing – I cannot emphasis more strongly the importance of proper breathing. This key practice should be your starting point. Forget everything else, just pay attention to breathing. Imagine breathing all the way into and out of the ground. At the beginning, you may find your breath short and shallow, in the chest area. Try breathing deeper and lower into the belly. Make this a daily practice. Practice until abdominal breathing feels natural and your body does it automatically. I spent three months forming the habit of abdominal breathing. I feel more relaxed and grounded, yet more energetic and passionate than ever!First you consciously regulate your breathing. Eventually you forget about it. Do not do the breathing. Let breathing do what it does on its own. Notice the sensation of your belly rising and falling with each air intake. A slight tension builds up as it rises. The tension dissipates into sensations of warmth and comfort. Often I involuntarily smile as my belly falls. Also become aware of the air drafting in and out of your nostrils. The intake makes a subtle high-pitched sound, whereas the outflow tends to create into a lower and more relaxed vibration.

1. 1. Relaxed Posture – Meditation is not about posture: it is about a state of being. I call it bliss. I believe meditation can be done anywhere, anytime and in any posture. However, just like any other practice, certain postures are better at getting us into the meditative groove! Your posture must be relaxed. You do not want excessive tension in your body, because it creates distraction. If your legs are too tight for Lotus Pose, do not force yourself. Just sit on a chair with your legs touching the floor.Guide your awareness along your entire body from the crown of your head to the bottom of your feet. Pay attention to your eye brows, jaws, tongue, neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back, hip, fingers and toes. Touch, move or tense your body parts to feel them, then let them relax. As you breathe out, let your body sink into the ground. You are one with your body. Your body one with the Earth.

1. 1. Complete Darkness – You must meditate in darkness. Meditation is an introspective practice. Shutting off eyesight eliminates the biggest source of external sensory input. Closing the eyes is second best, since this still allows some light to come through. Complete darkness is preferred. I recommend wearing an eye mask. If you want the cool look, put on a pair of sunglasses. For a year I meditated daily with a pair of sunnies, sitting on a street bench in Perth CBD during the busy lunch hour. Darkness promotes stillness and silence, which are the keys to deep meditative bliss.

1. 1. Know Thyself – Meditation is like having a date with yourself. Nowadays our lives are so busy that we rarely have the time just for ourselves. Even when we try to relax, we remain distracted by TV, social media, other people, etc. Many of us have become disconnected with ourselves. We do not know who we are. We are sleep walking through life. Meditation is my No.1 Bliss Ritual because I connect with myself through the practice!First, you sense your entire body through relaxed posture.

      Second, you observe your thoughts at a distance. Imagine you are at a cinema with only one seat, dedicated to yourself. As you breathe deeply in and out of your tummy, ideas and thoughts arise on the screen of your mind. Watch them, but stay in your seat, keep your distance, let them play out. Resist the temptation to react to your thoughts. Over time, they will fade away, replaced by some other thoughts. Stay in your seat, breathe, and enjoy the show.

      Third, feel your emotions. This is more subtle and difficult to do. But you will get better at it if you do this every day. This becomes easier once you have become adept at sensing your body and observing your thoughts. The areas to pay special attention to are your chest and abdomen. A lot of our emotions, such as anger, joy, sadness and fear, are stored in these areas. Feeling your emotion requires you to zero in on a body sensation, and then identify the associated emotion. For instance, you sense heaviness in your chest. When you feel into it, your heart sinks and you feel like crying. This is sadness. However, if you start to have shorter and heavier breaths, your chest and shoulders tense up, as if preparing to strike out. This is anger.
      Know yourself. Become the observer. Become your own best friend.

1. 1. Meditate Daily – Rituals are ongoing practices. Practice Bliss Meditation daily until it becomes an indispensable part of your routine. Pick a time and place to meditate every day, and stick with it. When I first started daily meditation, I did it during my lunch break. I would spend 30 minutes eating lunch, and then spend the next 30 minutes meditating. I now meditate 30 minutes in the morning straight out of bed, and 30 minutes just after lunch.Find a time and space that is most suitable for you and meditate daily. You are worth spending time with every day. You are an amazing person. You are just too busy to notice. Slow down, breathe, and get to know yourself. You will discover the wonderful microcosm that is you. You are full of contradictions, hidden secrets and wild dreams! It is an adventure. It is a pilgrimage. These are the worst and the best times. It is pure bliss!

1. 1. 20 Minutes Minimum – Your breath needs time to ground. Your body needs time to relax. Your mind needs time to settle. Your awareness needs time to be present. Yes, set your timer for at least 20 minutes. If you are new to meditation, there will be struggle at the beginning. You might feel restless. You might feel bored. Such a waste of your precious time! Do not give up. Just breathe, relax, and observe.There is nothing to do, nothing to think about. Just be. Over time you will enjoy meditation so much that you never want to stop. You are blissed out! You realise you save time by spending the time to meditate. You have more energy and mental clarity at work. Meditation gilds a golden lining to every aspect of your day, improving the overall quality of your life.

1. Soothing Music – If you are new to meditation, I highly recommend listening to soothing music. I listened to music during my first two years of daily meditation. Music helps my breath to slow down, and my body to loosen up. It is a pleasant distraction for my mind. Meditation needs not to be a struggle. It should be an enjoyable experience.Choose music that you love. Choose music that helps you to relax. You will find your musical preferences change as you evolve with your practice. I have changed from classical piano to deep meditation over the years. Now I meditate in silence. I have managed to quiet my mind so much that music becomes an unwanted distraction during meditation.

   However, occasionally when my mind is unsettled or the environment is noisy, I play music during meditation. This was my 30-minute playlist for meditation when I first started:

   1. Mélanie Laurent – Fin
   2. Yann Tiersen – Comptine d’Un Autre Été
   3. Yiruma – River Flows in You
   4. Yanni – Until the Last Moment
   5. Yanni – Reflections of Passion
   6. Ernesto Cortazar – Beethoven’s Silence
   7. Pachelbel – Canon In D Major

   This is what I listen to now:
   DEEP MEDITATION MUSIC | Expand Your Consciousness !!!

2. Sitting Upright – You can meditate in any posture. You could be sitting on a chair, lying in bed or in Lotus Pose on top of a mountain. Over the years I find sitting with a relaxed upright spine to be optimal. Sitting upright helps me to stay alert. Do not try to meditate when you are tired. If you are falling asleep, just lie down and take a nap, and then meditate once you have woken up.Sitting upright helps to direct the energy flow along the chakras from the base to the crown. I experience the most clarity and gain the most insight in this posture. Often in deep states of meditation, flashes of energy will rush up my spine. I will voluntarily bend my back and neck to flow with the energy. I am in bliss.