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Writer's picturePascale Bouchard

How to Meditate

Advice on how to meditate from Kamlesh D. Patel, a respected figure in the Heartfulness Tradition.



I read some beautiful words by Kamlesh D. Patel and Joshua Polluck while reading The Heartfulness Way: Heart-Based Meditations for Spiritual Transformation. The Heartfulness tradition was founded in India in the 20th century (very recently) and comprises of 3 components: Meditation on the heart, evening cleaning (of energies accomulated throughout the day), and prayer. This is a simple set of rituals that makes for profound transformation.


The Heartfulness Organization facilitates an easier introduction to meditation for you by pairing you with a “trainer” who performs what is referred to as a “yogic transmission”, wherein the meditator channels universal energy to assist you in accessing a deeper state of consciousness in your first few “sittings” (seated meditations in the trainer’s presence). From then on, you practice daily meditation on your own and meet with the trainer weekly (or at least a few times per month) to further encourage you to deepen your practice.


What sets the Heartfulness Organization apart from other Yogic traditions is indeed the offering of this paired sitting with a trainer. Without the trainer, new meditators can get easily discouraged by the process and become impatient. The yogic transmission motivates the meditator to continue their practice diligently by offering them an experience that will demonstrate to them how profound and beneficial meditation can be.


In my first few sittings with a trainer, I felt my inner and outer worlds change dramatically. I felt more open-hearted and generous and it became easier to connect with others more deeply. Any social anxiety that I had before was significantly reduced and I felt much more present and embodied during this period. I was so grateful to my trainer for making herself available to me three days in a row to give me such a beautiful experience and show me how life-changing meditation can be. I was most certainly motivated to continue meditating on my own, and it helped that she was available to me weekly. I had meditated regularly in the past and experienced the benefits, but I quickly forgot how profound the habit can be. My trainer gracefully re-introduced me to the practice and I am now meditating regularly again!


Having practiced the Heartfulness meditation for a couple months now, I can say that it has changed my life significantly. I know the transformation will only continue and I look forward to all the growth to come. I learned that meditation “reveals the authentic self”, and I have experienced precisely this. I feel more myself, more relaxed. I am preoccupied less by fear and I find myself with more clarity to make changes in my life as needed to introduce a sense of security and joy. And yet, I also feel at peace with where I am and trust that not only can joy be found now, but change is bound to come. I embrace life fully and I can access a higher perspective on my concerns more easily.


I can only imagine where years of this practice would leave me!


Heartfulness meditation

The Heartfulness meditation practice is rather simple. It begins with a relaxation exercise, enabling you to be “receptive” to what the experience has to offer. When we are feeling tense in our body, we tend to be feeling restless in our minds. Consciously relaxing the body helps us to relax the mind as well, which facilitates a better meditation session.


What follows the relaxation exercise is the intention of bringing your awareness to the “divine light within the heart” and meditating on the heartspace. Mediation is not a forced concentration, as many assume it to be, but rather an effortless awareness. For this reason, a gentle awareness of the heart is enough to lead to a state of “absorption”, which better describes a state of meditation.


New meditators often ask how to deal with thoughts that arise in their consciousness. The subconscious houses many thoughts that can be unpleasant for us, and so sitting in silence can be the perfect opportunity for such thoughts to surface. Daaji, the Heartfulness tradition’s guru and leader, reminds us that it is okay for these thoughts to come to our attention. He suggests we simply allow them to be. When we resist them with force, they will not leave. If we allow them to be, they will pass. A meditation session involving many thoughts can serve as a cleansing of sorts for this very reason: Thoughts surface, we allow them to be there, they pass, more thoughts come, we allow, they pass. Even if we do not achieve a “deep” state of consciousness, the session was not for nothing. We are cultivating awareness and coming closer to ourselves.


Daaji also speaks of expectation. He reminds us to not have expectation in the context of our meditation practice, but to allow our experience to be what it is. If we have expectations, then we are limiting our experience. When we surrender and allow, we can be pleasantly surprised. “Undesirable” experiences are inevitable whether we resist them or allow them, so we may as well allow them to be and trust that no experience is alike and everything is temporary!


So if you are new to the meditation practice, consider meeting with a Heartfulness trainer, who volunteers their time to support individuals like you to discover yourselves (a personal meditation practice to meditate on the light within you). If you initiate this quest on your own, try to adopt this attitude of “allowing”. The mind will do what the mind does: think. We do not need to “quiet” or “empty” the mind in meditation. We can instead set the intention to shift our attention from the activities of the mind (our thoughts and emotions) to the heartspace. When thoughts and emotions arise, allow them to just be. Try not to resist them by wanting them to leave. You will notice that they are bound to pass, and you can redirect your attention to the heartspace. A regular cleaning in the evening, as outlined here, will also help you to go deeper in your meditations.


Happy meditating!


……….


Pascale Bouchard is a regression hypnotist offering Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique (QHHT) and Beyond Quantum Healing (BQH) sessions both online and in person in Montreal. In addition to hypnosis, she provides reiki and private yoga sessions, available both virtually and in person. She also host healing circles and group hypnosis events, dedicated to fostering community and wellness. Connect her to explore your path to empowerment and authenticity. Visit her website at pascalebouchard.ca and on Instagram @yoga.avec.pascale.


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