MyLifeYoga

There are four main roadblocks to meditation:

1. Sleep

This is one of the most common obstacles. We lead busy lives and sleep deprivation is common. It is natural to fall asleep in such circumstances. You must make sure that you are well rested with adequate sleep. Also meditate at least 3 hours after a meal. Meditate after a bath or wash your hands, feet, and face with cold water. Do not meditate when excessively tired. Start initially with a short meditation session of 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Distraction

It is not unusual to feel distracted with a constant flow of thoughts. One feels difficult to sit still and focus the mind. If this happens the best course is to do a round of relaxing yoga practice followed by 10 minutes of breathing exercise to elongate your breath. This should allow you to feel relaxed and centered and allow you to focus your mind. Avoid stimulants like tea or coffee, and excessive spicy or sugary food.

3. Dullness

In some instances the mind does not feel sleepy or distracted but instead it feels dull. A round of energetic yoga practice before meditation should help in such circumstances. Sometimes dullness may be a result of suppressed feelings and you may have to persist with your meditation practice to allow it to work itself out. It may also help to share your feelings with somebody or write them on paper. Devotion and submission to a Divine power also helps.

4. Tasting Tranquility

This is a very subtle form of obstacle to achieving deeper meditation. Sometimes we get a taste of tranquility or some higher conscious experience. We then either remained trapped at this level or we want to try and replicate this experience. The best way to meditate is to do it with complete and total submission and free yourself from all expectations. Treat all experiences as gifts or blessings and avoid forming any kind of mental model to frame your experience into words.

Wayne Dyer once said, “I am a human being, not a human doing.” Meditation is something that allows us to go from doing to being. This article shows how to remove roadblocks to meditation and return to become human beings.

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Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah. This is based on an article by Swāmi Paramārthānanda and has been modified and adapted by the author.

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The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama’s Instructions For Life:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:
   • Respect for self.
   • Respect for others.
   • Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
20. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

Credit: You can find these instructions here.

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