Teaching Grounded Meditation

Some form of meditation practice should be introduced into your class. Meditation encourages students to apply the strength and balance generated during asana practice to learn how to manage their minds

By Dr. Swami Shankardev Saraswati

The mind can be our greatest friend or our greatest enemy, the source of many of our problems or the solution to our problems. Helping students form positive, conscious relationships with their minds is a great gift. This positive relationship with the mind is the basis of true health and happiness.

If we neglect the mind, we are disconnected from our creative potential and can easily fall prey to anxiety and depression. This is because the mind is a powerful force that requires training and maturity if we are to handle it well. Unfortunately, many people shy away from meditation. Asana practice gives a wonderfully immediate sense of physical well-being, leaving us feeling refreshed and energized. This is one of the reasons that asanas are so popular. Meditation, on the other hand, is a more daunting discipline, because it asks us to face and train our minds.

There are many different forms of meditation, but all lead to the same goal: greater self-awareness. A positive side effect is a state of both physical and psychological health. Meditation also helps us study the mysteries of life and existence, helping us access deeper fulfilment. Ultimately, meditation leads to a grounded, centered, focused state that many describe as enlightened.

Stages of Meditation
Meditation encompasses three distinct stages. The first is self-regulation, in which we teach our students to consciously alter their body-mind functioning and feelings. For example, teach your students breath awareness with the stated aim of inducing relaxation.

Having taught self-regulation, the second stage involves methods of self-exploration, which consist mainly of concentration combined with self-awareness. This allows us to become aware of parts of ourselves that were previously unconscious. Self-exploration techniques develop inner strength and stability.

Ultimately, self-exploration techniques open the door to the pursuit of self-liberation and spiritual growth, the linking of our awareness to higher consciousness. This third stage is called self-mastery, which leads to self-realization.

Facing the Mind
Most people do not want to do the work required to develop meditative awareness, because it is challenging to face the mind. It has areas that we like and are comfortable with and areas that we dislike and want to get rid of. It is quite natural to want to avoid facing difficulties, and most people come to meditation because they want to be free from problems, anxiety, and pain. They hope that meditation will allow them to get rid of their problems.

However, meditation teaches us that we cannot get rid of our problems, that life is inherently problematic and challenging. Meditation teaches us instead how to handle problems with greater strength, poise, and courage, and how to use problems as stepping-stones to higher consciousness.

It is essential to remember that the aim of meditation is self-awareness, not a state of bliss that is free from problems and obstacles. If we simply seek ecstasy, and hope to avoid sorrow and suffering, then we are actually seeking the loss of ourselves. The ultimate aim of meditation is to remain grounded in self-awareness under all conditions of joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, gain and loss.

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