Meditate from the Right…(Brain that is)

Last weekend the students in the latest Energy Awareness training engaged in a lengthy discussion about meditation and mental chatter.  It’s a frequent topic in the classroom, because we’re exploring energy and the exercises are internal and contemplative.

We shared some great laughs about meditation becoming the place to figure out the day’s logistics, the grocery list, which bills to pay, etc.  In other words – no meditation is taking place, the folks are just sitting still long enough that their ‘to do’ lists come to mind.  Literally.

We all know that we have a left and right brain.  Established fact.  The left brain is analytical and task-oriented, the right brain is creative, expressive.

So where do you suppose you’re resting your consciousness when you meditate?  (If you’re guessing the left brain, this post is written just for you!)

We live in a left brain dominant society.  Rewarded for endeavors that involve critical thinking, analytical assessment, process-driven solutions.  Tasks, products, solutions, deliverables, output.

And yet, the ideas for products, solutions, deliverables, solutions, output generate from the right brain – the source and center for creativity and flow.

There are lots of books and resources for cultivating flow state. Twenty three years ago I began meditating and here’s the main practices I used: drawing and writing with my non-dominant hand (that would be my left hand, controlled by the right side of my brain) and balancing on my left foot to anchor my awareness in the right brain.  When I’d been able to remain in balance for 2-3 minutes, I’d sit down and begin my meditation immediately.

But here’s the real truth: the biggest resource I used to cultivate flow state is meditation.  And it’s a practice, not an event.

The point I’m making is – meditation is easy, once you know how to do it.  And the only way you can know how to do it is to, um, do it.  Over time, I’ve noticed that people who are frustrated meditators (I try and it never happens.  I just end up restless, sorting out my day/bills/to do list/whatever), have very high expectations and quit too soon.

Learning to sit in meditation can be a lovely thing if practiced consistently and building muscle for the activity.  Begin with 5 minutes a day, not 30.  Do it three times a week, not seven.

Consider joining a beginner’s meditation class.  You can entrain to a state of awareness when you’re in a larger group of people.  Your vibration will match the group vibration and you’ll move yourself forward experientially.

The good news – as is always the case, by the end of the weekend, the EHI students were already experiencing deeper states of meditative awareness.  They were invited to practice and apply each skill taught during the two day training.  Yes, in the beginning they wrestled with the ability to attend to the energetic visualization.  By the end of the two days, they were reporting deeper insights and affirming that they had achieved different levels of consciousness awareness.

The choice to meditate, to be still within, to elevate consciousness is an act of supreme self-love and self-care.

It’s funny – I never knew what was going on when I was asked to pray.  I was raised a Christian Scientist and prayer felt flat, inaccessible and was nothing but an exercise that I practiced from my left brain.  No one ever told me that prayer took place in the right side of the brain.  The periods of prayer in sunday school and church were times when my thoughts wandered.  I’d think about kick ball, capture the flag, Red Rover and the other great games we played in the neighborhood on Sunday afternoons.  I didn’t get the God/prayer thing at all.

When I began meditating, I got it.  It brought me home.  To the God within.  And it’s when I realized that the God I was raised to believe in didn’t exist for me.  I left God behind and signed the roster of the Universe.  That’s what’s alive and empowering to me.

Whatever your choice, learning to sit in meditative stillness cultivates flow.  And since we’re forever told to ‘let go’ and ‘go with the flow,’ you’re on the right track to cultivate stillness.

And keep your vital energy, er, flowing!