Gentle Spirit Therapy

Myths of meditation Myth 6: : “If bad feelings come up when I meditate it means I am really nuts.” Actually, all sorts of emotions and experiences can come up when we meditate. If that scares you, I want you to change the way you judge emotions. Most people think they have “good” emotions or “bad” emotions. And want to stay away from the ones they think are bad. Instead, put emotions into these categories: “soothing”, or, “tension”. Now you don't have to avoid something

Myths of meditation Myth 5: “If I meditate I will feel refreshed and relaxed afterwards. It's a vacation without going on vacation!” We often do feel more relaxed following a time of meditation. When people are first meditating, it is actually helpful if they do experience some sense of relaxation and peace as they meditate or just after meditating. This is because we are much more likely to do something again if it gave us immediate pleasure or immediately reduced difficult

Myths of meditation Myth 4: “Meditation is a great way to fall asleep.” Oops. Nope. Meditation is not meant as a gate-way for sleep. That is not to say that sometimes we might fall asleep when we are meaning to be meditating. But meditation is not meant to be a sleep aid. If you are looking for a way to fall asleep, and find that you can do that easier when you “meditate”, then congratulations. Except you would want to call what you are doing to help you sleep, “mind and body

Myths of meditation Myth 3: “If my mind wanders during meditation, I am doing something wrong.” Minds wander. That's what they do. So you are definitely not doing something wrong when you notice your mind has wandered. In fact, when you notice your mind has wandered, you are actually in the process of doing a great job with your meditation. Noticing your mind has wandered and then bringing it back to your anchor, is the whole business of meditation. And the more times yo

Myths of meditation Myth 2: “It is better to meditate for 30-60 minutes a day or longer.” I get it. A part of you wants to be the guru at the top of the mountain where peace flows in and out like the waves on a beach. And you can't wait to get there. So you think you will meditate your brains out so you can have that peace because this non-peace you are experiencing is so *$!* lousy. Like going to the gym, starting a diet, or the beginning of a new semester, we can get rea

Myths of meditation Myth 1: "The goal of meditation is to have a blank mind." Of all the things people bring to me at the beginning of a mindful meditation workshop, this belief is the one mentioned the most and the one most often listed as why they felt they previously failed at meditation. Truth is, however, a blank mind is not a mindful mind. Mindfulness is actually attention paid to awareness. In that way it is the opposite of having a blank mind. Total attention on what