As my loyal readers know, meditation has been a struggle for me.
I’ve posted about it a lot, but especially here:
Meditation Has Annoyed Me
and here:
Practical Meditation…Not
Pretty easy to get the picture, even from the titles, right?
In the post above, a year ago, I wrote about reading How to Mediate by Lawrence LeShan, followed by The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist. These were some big, powerful reads for me, and both books inspired me to learn more. After waiting a year, last week, I traveled to Connecticut to attend the 5 day LeShan Healing Seminar, to learn this little-known method of psychic healing that Dr. LeShan trained himself to do and talks about in his book The Medium, the Mystic and the Physicist.
The lessons from the week were many, but most of all, I learned something about myself:
I’ve been copping out on meditation.
Yes, it’s true. I’ve given myself excuses by the dozen – This kind of meditation isn’t “my thing.” I’m not the kind of person who can – or needs to – quiet down in there. I’ll get it, or I won’t, and it doesn’t matter really…blahblahblah. Anything to avoid the work of actually struggling through the noise to find the silence and just BE here.
On the second day of the seminar, I even blurted out to the entire group of thirteen people, “I SUCK at this!!” And, I meant it. My meditations for the first two days were like trying to tame a wild horse. I’d be quietly breathing for a bit. Then I’d comment in my head how nice and quiet my thoughts are. Then I’d mentally tell myself to stop commenting. Then I’d comment that telling myself to stop was still commenting. Then, a little while later, the pizza guy showed up in my head with a couple pizzas, and I looked to see what kind they were, and started to thank him, and then WHAM! I realized that I was supposed to be meditating, and the pizza guy was a big distraction (though a pleasant one) by my thoughts, and I’d have to start again.
But, meditation is a BIG, IMPORTANT part of learning this healing method, and I was VERY motivated to learn it. So, it was time. I had to sit my butt in the chair, close my eyes, and MAKE myself make the effort to meditate. This was the sole activity for two days and I had to do it. No excuses, nothing else to be running off to do. Just this – the “calisthenics” that would build our intuitive muscles to be able to do the healing work, which we’d learn on the third day. I’m doing the work, so I can do the real work.
I guess it’s about time, right?
By the start of day three, I was calmer. I wasn’t beating myself up anymore. I was just bringing my mind back to the meditation at hand, observing and noticing which methods (visualization, contemplation, breath counting, etc.) were a little easier for me to stay focused doing. I was seeing myself as more of an observer than a critic. And that’s progress.
The healing method is very interesting and profound. I am looking forward to working more with it now that I’m home.
On the last morning, we did one more meditation together. It was contemplation of a three part quotation, as it pertains to ourselves. I had a very different experience here. As I sat, thinking about my life, my path, the way I relate to myself, others, and the world, I found I was smiling – hugely. I felt so much happiness fill me. Gratitude, maybe joy too. Just so completely happy about being where I am in this journey – knowing why I’m here, knowing that the work I do is meaningful, and feeling supremely grateful for the ability to connect with and help others.
This seminar was very beneficial to me, because learning to meditate (finally) is going to help my entire life – my healing work, my parenting, my focus…all of it. And, the healing method is one that I can work to further develop, now that I have the tools and the means to actually practice without being in my own way.
If you need some help with meditation, don’t ask me. Hahaha! Read LeShan’s book, How to Meditate. All of the explanations of how the brain works, and the different methods we learned can be found in there.
If you’d like to experience a healing with the method I learned, please send me an email. I will offer a free distance session to the first 12 people who ask, in exchange for feedback afterward, to let me know how your experience was. Just shoot me an email.
Thanks for reading. Your comments are so welcome, always.