When it comes to which meditation one should do, it is a lot like which diet one should use: whichever one works for you. The truth is that different individuals have specific diets that work for them, and a lot that do not. Which ones work and which don't change from person to person.
It's the same with meditation: everybody who mediates is trying to reach theta brain waves, but certain methods of mediation will work better for different individuals, and certain meditations may begin to work, or stop working for individuals as they evolve in their meditation practice.
The goal of all meditation is to be able, by will, to reach the theta brain waves, and over time, to stay in that stage for long periods of time. And even later, to reside there. The difference between staying in theta waves and residing in theta waves.
There are endless meditation methods you can use to achieve the theta brain waves, and I will talk about them next.
FIRST STEP – STANDING OR SITTING MEDITATION
The first thing we need to recognize when talking about meditation is that we are dealing with and training the brain. Because of that fact, the recommended posture for beginners to start with is staying still. “When being still be as still as a mountain." Choose either sitting or standing. Sitting was my first choice when I started at 16 years old.
When reaching theta brain waves, positive hormone production is activated for certain endorphins, and the production of adrenaline and other hormones is brought to a halt. Your heart rate and pulse slows down, you increase your oxygen intake, you experience less or no anxiety while reaching a total deep relaxation of all the senses, your pain threshold will increase and sometimes you may experience a special experience of total physical transparency. When reaching this place: “you become time,” you may sit for 45 minutes, but your experience will be as if you had only spent a few minutes there.
Here is a visualization-based Taoist meditation that can be done either sitting or standing:
Cooling the Energetic Baton - visualize both the upper and lower energy centers, and then connect those visualizations with the energetic baton and pull the energy from the upper center, seated in the pituitary gland, to the lower center. This strengthens the "guardian energy," or what I call the energetic bubble. This movement of energy through the body is very important for both the philosophies of Tai Chi and Chi Kung. To see a great animation of cooling the energetic baton and the energetic bubble, check out the preview for my Sunrise Tai Chi Video here.
Controlling the Fluctuation of Brain Waves
The constant work our brain is under when leading a modern lifestyle needs to be alleviated regularly to achieve a sense of calm and emotional balance. It would be great is, at a young age, children were taught how to meditate and understand when they have an imbalance in their brain states: not enough theta waves due to a bad night of sleep, too much stress, etc.
But not every kind of meditation works for everyone. Next Friday, I'll talk about the different levels of meditation that you can move through at your own pace, finding what works for you and what doesn't. Remember, it is all about discipline at first. Give all these kinds of meditation a few tried before you decide to switch to a different one. "You are your greatest enemy: if you can conquer yourself, you can conquer anything."