Meditation all about concentration
By Kavita Maharaj - Nanaimo News Bulletin - November 17, 2008
One of the eight limbs of the yogic path is dhyana or meditation. And although it is a limb that many believe they practice, it is less a practice, and more a state of being.
The limb that proceeds meditation is dharana, which means concentration. And it is this limb that is actually being practiced when one sits down to meditate.
Each and every meditation technique is a practice of concentration. These techniques are simply a means to an end. And often the simpler they are, the more effective they are.
An effective meditation technique I teach to my students is sometimes called the flower power technique. To practice this, sit comfortably tall upon your sit bones. Allow your shoulders to relax wide and down your back. Feel your ribcage move into a level position with the pelvis and breathe deeply and slowly.
Picture a closed golden lotus flower in the earth beneath you. Breathe into it and see it unfurl. Exhale from the lotus and see it close again, the energy pulsing within it. Do this three times.
Then inhale the lotus flower up to the base of your tailbone.
See it turn red. Breathe into the closed, red lotus and see it unfurl.
Exhale from the lotus and see it close. Feel the energy pulse within it. As before, repeat this three times.
Continue this up the chakra system. Draw the lotus next to just beneath the bellybutton and see the flower turn orange. Breathe in and out of the lotus flower three times.
Once three breaths are completed, draw the lotus to the solar plexus. See the flower turn yellow. Breathe in and out three times.
Then draw the lotus to the centre of the chest (the heart chakra). See the flower turn green. Breathe in and out three times.
Then draw the lotus to the throat. See the flower turn sky-blue. Breathe in and out of the lotus three times. Next draw the lotus to just above the brow line (the third eye). See the flower turn indigo. Breathe in and out of the lotus three times.
Then draw the lotus to just above the crown of the head. See the flower turn violet. Breathe in and out of the lotus three times.
Lastly, draw the lotus to six inches above the crown of the head. See the flower become diamond white light. Breathe in and out of the lotus three times.
Continue to breathe and feel the energy being drawn from the earth (the golden lotus) up through each proceeding chakra centre - changing colours, the lotus moves through each centre within a breath. Feel the openness of the energy pathways and the movement of the prana (energy) within.
