Today is for those of you who think you’re not good at meditation, or “can’t” meditate. It is a sort of intermediary exercise; a baby step towards meditation, if you will. I was given this exercise very early in my Pagan studies, on a handout with a note that it was adapted from What Witches Do. I have further adapted it.
Pick something to meditate on. It should be something you can picture clearly, and something that will be pleasurable to spend your meditation time with. Here are some examples: A tree, a flower, a bonfire, fresh bread, a stream. (For the instructions, I’ll use a tree.)
In a comfortable position, ground and center.
Visualize the tree. Don’t concentrate on it, just see it. Engage all of your senses with the tree. Can you hear the wind rustling in its leaves? Can you feel the roughness of the bark? Can you smell the scent of woods?
You don’t have stay with any one part of the tree. You can visualize the tree in a forest. You can visualize bark. You can imagine yourself picnicking in its shade. Your thoughts can wander anywhere they wish to, as long as they stay with the tree. When non-tree thoughts arise, gently set them aside and stay with your tree focus.
By giving your mind permission to wander, you may find meditation much easier. Note that you are still going to eliminate off-focus thoughts, but you may find that in “wandering” mode, wandering back is easier.
The first time you do this exercise, your goal is to maintain this diffuse focus for five minutes. Continue practicing with your tree (bread/stream/flower/fire) until you can stay with it for fifteen minutes.
[…] Continuing from where we left off last week. […]