Beginning meditation? Hoping for a good intro to meditation?
Below is the link to a video I watched in the beginning of my meditation practice. I feel it is a good intro with some very good techniques to begin. It is Christ-Centered with good LDS scriptural references and quotes throughout.
Want to start practicing? Follow these steps from the video:
How Do You Meditate?
Having established the efficacy of meditation/mindfulness practice, I will now offer the Four “Bridle Meditations.” These four meditations act as anchors for meditation practice, with each meditation moving us toward Christ-centered mindfulness. [In the video he spends 3 minutes on each meditation but you can spend more if you desire.]
1. Be Still
Take some time out every day to be still—close to the same time—to sit in silence in a quiet place and just breathe gently for 5-30 minutes. Sit with good posture (but not too stiff) in a comfortable chair, with hands and arms and legs unfolded, feet on the floor (the lotus position is traditional and stereotypical, but not essential, or in my case with legs that don’t bend that way anymore, undesirable!).
Coming early to sacrament meeting or to temple sessions and sitting reverently is a meditative practice. For example, the time before sacrament meeting begins is reserved for “prayerful meditation.”48 Keep your eyes open or closed, depending on the context and what is most relaxing for you.
As I said earlier, don’t try to get rid of your thoughts, or “clear your mind,” but rather, just watch your thoughts/moods/feelings like a movie. Let them come and go without clinging judgment or attachment. Our thoughts are like horses, small ponies, sometimes rodeo horses, or race horses, or, as big as draft horses. Don’t saddle up the horses and ride them off. Don’t feed them or try to rope them, just let them come and go. You can even label them as good, bad, or neutral, but just don’t cling to them.
Focus on your breath—long, slow, deep, gentle. This first exercise is preparation for deepening your mindfulness. Try to avoid getting lost in your thoughts. When you start to drift from the present moment, come back to your breath. Stay there for as long as you can. You are not trying to eliminate your “thoughting,” but rather, your thinking about your thoughting! Once you get fairly relaxed or settled down, you can lightly focus—not losing track of your breath—on the next two “Bridle Meditations,” Remember and Serve.
2. Remember
A remembrance meditation directs your concentration to all blessings, tender mercies, kindnesses of others, and simple joys in your life. It is like an extended prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father. Start out with, “Heavenly Father I am grateful for”...then just let the thoughts of gratitude flow naturally. They will often be given to you through the Spirit. Inventory your lifetime of blessings anyway you want to divide them up—this hour, this week, this month, a certain time period, a location, etc. You could also just focus on people who have been deliberately kind to you. Be sure to direct your gratitude first to the Lord, and then to the people involved—but don’t lose focus on your breath. Also remember this great promise found in Doctrine and Covenants section 78:17-19.
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“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”
Once you have settled your thoughts and have remembered (Remember), you are ready for the next “Bridle Meditation” of Serve.
3. Serve
This is a meditation wherein you ponder or meditate on the welfare of others. This is like an extended prayer on behalf of others without losing track of your breath. Just start out the meditation thinking, “Dear Heavenly Father, please bless...,” and then let people come and go in your mind. Start first with the beloved people in your life. Then think of the “neutrals.” These are people you may not know, or, just nameless people who have served or helped you in some way—people in society that make things better for all of us. Finally, turn your meditative attention to what I call the “angsters,” or people who invite angst from us. Send love and best wishes to them—with the help of the Atonement—and ask Heavenly Father to bless them. The miracle is that if we do this, the Lord will often give us the desire and the words to offer in our minds during the meditation.
The 4th “Bridle Meditation” is Let Go.
4. Let Go
Leading to this point you have breathed and settled (Bridle 1), pondered your blessings (Bridle 2), and mentally served others (Bridle 3). Now you are more prepared for just resting in your awareness of awareness (Bridle 4). Your only “work” is to not cling to your concentrations. When you start to feel attachments, go back to your breath. Rest, Observe, Let go. Don’t cling to anything or try to figure out anything. Just rest in bare attention. Remember that you have dedicated this meditation to the Savior for making space for enlightenment—that may come in the moment or later, depending on His will.
These 4 “Bridle Meditations” help us to “Bridle all our Passions,” (Alma 38:12) and are strategies for making space for the Lord’s spirit to strengthen and enliven us. They help us to better center our thoughts in peaceful abiding.
Meditation takes time and effort and extended practice. Like preparing to run a marathon, with enough training we improve our meditative conditioning. It only works if we do it however! Don’t get discouraged or think you aren’t doing it right. Even if our success is fleeting—like roping the wind, we are still being meditative just trying to be more mindful. Meditation is just like scripture study, prayer, repentance, service, temple attendance, exercise, a healthy diet, and getting enough rest, all of these practices contribute to our well-being only if we do them regularly and consistently.
I also like to imagine Light coming down from heaven through the crown of my head. According to ancient tradition, the crown of the head is where light and inspiration enter. It is no surprise then that Joseph Smith's experience in the Sacred Grove speaks of Light descending in the form of a pillar of light "exactly over [his] head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon [him]." I then imagine the Light filling my body and flowing out of me. This Light of Christ can transform us and help us to comprehend all things.
D&C 88:67-68
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
President David O Mckay said that this is where meditation can lead us: to enter into the presence of Jesus Christ:
“Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord.”
Meditation has led me to have some beautiful experiences of my own with the Savior. In a future post I will share an audio recording of me sharing one of these visions (that came while meditating) with some women in my stake at a fireside.
Resources: Here is the link to the video mentioned above:
Here is his document with notes to follow along. I found this to be very helpful.