February Meditation

Hello,

Thanks to everyone who came last month. This month's meditation is Wed 1st February. Hope to see you there!

Meditation Group - Week 2

Thanks to everyone who came to the first meditation session, and to those who have told me it they found it helpful despite the cheesy carols blasting from the Grotto! The next session is on Wednesday 4th January 2012.

Please contact me on katiemoudry@hotmail.com or through facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/296791890354854/

Hope to see you then!

Katie

Location of St Pancras Church

St Pancras Church and Nave

Map of the Location

Some FAQ

Where and When?

Every 1st Wednesday of the Month at St Pancras church, Exeter (in the Guildhall shopping center (near Sainsbury's) 5.30pm - 6.30 pm. The session will be split into three fifteen minute sessions with five minutes gap between. You are welcome to come for as many or as few as you would like.

What is silent meditation?

Types of meditation can be roughly split into 3 different sorts. There is guided meditation, where one person leads you through your meditative experience. This might be getting you to imagine being somewhere relaxing or enjoyable, or it might be like Ignatian meditation where you are guided through a chapter or story in the Bible so you can experience it more vividly.

Then there is the type of silent meditation where you focus on the particular mantra or words or phrase which you repeat over and over, which clears the mind of thought and allows you to concentrate on the words you are speaking in your head.

The 3rd sort is a form of meditation that has become most associated in the West with Zen meditation where you don't focus on a particular word or sentence, you just allow your mind to drift trying to maintain an awareness of your sensory and emotional experience. Although this is seen as a form of Eastern meditation, it is something that is present in many cultures and religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, and in many indigenous peoples around the world.

How does it help?

We often live very busy lives in which our minds are taken up with thoughts of what we doing, or what we have to do, or thoughts about how we feel, and thoughts about the thoughts we have! We are constantly making assessments and judgement of ourselves, our feelings, other people and the world without consciously recognising it. Silent meditation allows you to learn how to bring these things into conscious awareness, so that you move from doing into being.

How does it work?

One of the most important thing is to recognise about learning this form of meditation, is that it can be quite hard to start off with because it's not something most of us are used to or feels natural to us. If you are a beginner to meditation, you'll probably find that your mind fills with thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and experiences. The important thing is not to try and “clear" your mind by suppressing these experiences, but to just watch them as they happen without judgement or trying to change them.

Eventually you will come to have “gaps" in your thoughts where your conscious mind stills, and although these feelings, physical sensations and experiences may still be there you become aware of a peaceful and still centre within yourself.

Learning to meditate can be difficult, and it may take a long time of learning to sit before before you start to find these gaps. So if you find that on your 1st, 3rd or even 10th meditation session that you have not been able to experience them don't worry, it is only a question of practice. But when you start to have these gaps, you will find that over time they will become longer, and you will be able to step into them more easily.

Is meditation suitable for me?

Yes! Meditation is suitable for everyone regardless of their experience of it, their age, for people of all faiths and none. Some people find that meditation is an intensely spiritual experience, and a way to have a greater connection to their God (or gods!) And their faith. But it can also just be incredibly relaxing, and allow you the stillness and self-awareness and peace that helps you have a more positive experience of yourself, the world, and your relationships.

On a purely physical level this form of meditation has been found to calm the nervous system, increase the levels of theta and Delta waves in your brain (the 2 wavelengths usually found in sleep or half sleep), to decrease the amount of cortisol in your body, and to increase people's pain thresholds. So whether you use meditation as part of your spiritual practice, or as a tool to help you physically and emotionally, it can bring benefits to your life.