The Meditation Way of Life

Recently, I’ve taken a different approach to integrating my day-to-day living with meditation, and it’s been refreshingly satisfying. Different in that it’s not traditionally the way most people think about how meditation/prayer is used, but when put into practice, actually makes a ton of sense.

Two things that hang people up on meditation: (1) the actual act of meditating (of reflecting inward, separating yourself from your thoughts, implementing visualizations, etc.) and (2) finding the time to dedicate to it. Let’s face it, the society we live in this modern era is busy. It’s been structured that way purposefully, to keep us from moving slow, reflecting, thinking with our hearts, and all that lovely goodness that keeps us grounded and sane in a complex material world.

When the average person thinks of meditation (or prayer) I bet they imagine themselves tucked away in a quiet corner for hours on end, denying themselves thoughts and getting frustrated when their focus keeps slipping away. I know plenty of people that say things like, “I would like to meditate, but I can’t turn my thoughts off,” OR “I can’t focus and sit still long enough to meditate.” If that sounds like you, then these integral meditations may be the stepping stones that make longer meditations not only possible, but desirable! And of course, even though there is absolutely a lot of greatness that comes from doing formal, hour(s) long meditations in quiet spaces, with closed eyes and no interruptions, realistically that may not be something your schedule can afford on a daily basis.

I know some days mine can’t.

So how does one upkeep a spiritual practice in spite of this?

If you can’t structure your life to accommodate longer, daily meditations, or you need help cultivating the right mindset to be able to do so, then the answer is to alter meditation to accommodate your current lifestyle.

Proper integration of meditative techniques and rituals during regular, everyday activities can be as spiritually healing and profound as traditional methods. You’ll use these techniques to ground yourself in the present moment and present activity, or to step away for only five or ten minutes and return your focus inward, producing elevated emotions, before re-immersing yourself into the physical world. And while I will always be a huge of fan of making space for longer meditations as consistently as you can, I’ve found that practicing integral techniques may actually be the way forward for our collective, human consciousness evolution.

What type of integral meditations am I speaking about?

There are four categories of integral meditations I’m going to write on, and give examples for, however I’m sure the options are pretty limitless. As your life is unique, you may find alternate methods and approaches that better suit your lifestyle. There is no one-size-fits-all for spirituality, and if you are familiar with or get used to different meditative techniques, you may intuitively know or recognize a better way to integrate them into your schedule.

First, as a short disclaimer, in meditation breath-work is extremely important. There is so much power available from simply using appropriate breathing techniques, and I’m going to emphasize how to use it with each of the following integral meditations.

1. Active presence in a routine or repetitive activity

This works really great for repetitive activities, or things you can complete on auto-pilot. Think: folding laundry, driving, cleaning, gardening, cooking, working out, and such.

• When you’re in the activity, take a moment to acknowledge your intention (intention = integral meditation) and focus on your breath. Breathe in for a shorter period than you exhale, as this will relax the body. For example, if you inhale for three seconds, then exhale for five. Choose whatever timed in/outs work best for you and the activity, then complete six to ten sets of intentional breathing as you set your intention (and are still doing your activity of course). Clear your brain from other thoughts, except the specific task at hand. This is not the time to be running through your to-do list, or planning for what comes next. Focus on that shirt you’re folding. Put your mind on the dish that’s being washed. Keep breathing (though its okay to fall back into automatic breathing). Complete your activity, perhaps returning to the timed in/out breathing technique as needed. It’s okay (and normal) to have wandering thoughts – just refocus your attention on the task as soon as you notice your brain going off track. The goal is to be in active presence while your body relaxes into its current motion.
• This simple meditative technique provides body-mind coherence and trains your brain to turn off the chatter, letting you live fully in the moment. It doesn’t mean to stop paying attention to what you are doing by any means, and is why it’s a perfect way to integrate meditation into everyday life.

2. Thinking with your heart

This technique is really great to use during moments of extreme emotion or stress, if you can remember to. The more you practice it, the more naturally it will come. You can do this pretty much at any point during your day, and for the best results, I recommend sneaking it in several times a day, or as much as you can.

• Place your focus on your heart. Breathe in through the heart (you’re focusing on the heart as you inhale) and exhale from your belly, doing roughly the same timed ins/outs. If you breathe in for six seconds, breathe out for the same. Do this several times, or for whatever amount is appropriate based on your current place and activity. Then, imagine a chord of energy or light (white, yellow, whatever color feels healing to you) around your heart, traveling all the way up your spine and connecting to your brain. You can envision this chord with your eyes open – imagine it’s right there in your body – and complete another few sets of intentional breathing. The goal is to link your thinking brain with your heart, which has a tiny mind of its own. Your heart is an amazing organ, and intuitively knows a lot more than we’ve been led to believe. Let it lead your next action, spoken word, or choice.
• This relatively quick, internal focus technique creates brain-heart coherence that may settle an overwhelming emotional response, or give you a clear answer or intention with the next step you’re taking. Thinking with your heart and letting it intuitively lead a decision is an amazing meditative technique that brings your focus away from the external environment and into the internal, where your true power lies.

3. Signal broadcasting between activities

This wonderful technique is one I’ll use as a quick step-away, when I need a moment to ground myself, usually if I start feeling frustration, irritation, anger, or annoyance. But, it can be used at any point as well, and is especially useful during mundane moments, like waiting (in line, at the auto shop, for your number to be called, etc.).

• Before I start this one, you may or may not be familiar with the term chakras, or energy centers, but know that your body has seven major energy centers that run in a line from your pelvis area up to the top of your head, and an eighth center that sits outside the body about twelve to eighteen inches above the head. I won’t discuss these centers in depth in this post, but to start this meditation, I like to imagine my breath traveling up my body through these centers in one fluid motion.
• You can stand or sit for this, keep eyes open or closed, whatever works for the time/place that you’re performing this. If you do sit, I recommend in a chair with feet on the floor or on the ground in the lotus (legs crossed). You’ll take a deep breath in, focusing on the root chakra (at the base of your pelvis) and follow the breath upwards as it travels through the sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown, then up and outside the body into the energy field that surrounds you. Breathe deeply a few times, then imagine a chord of energy (again, whatever color feels best for you) running up the length of your body, connecting all of these centers together, as you breathe a few more times. Now, place your focus on different parts of your body as you continue to breathe deeply. Focus on your head, then travel down to your throat/neck, your shoulders and chest, your naval, your arms and hands, your legs, then feet. Putting attention on each part brings your attention to your body (which is the doorway to divinity) and helps ground you in the present moment. Next, focus on an elevated emotion, or even several of them. Think, love, gratitude, appreciation, enthusiasm, compassion, abundance, confidence, or anything you might attribute as a positive emotion. Feel that emotion as it fills up your body then let it break through, traveling outside the body, into your energy field and then pushing even further out into the space around. Imagine your elevated emotion is flowing from inside to outside, like you are broadcasting this signal for the universe to feel. Stay focused on that elevated emotion, sending that signal out for however long is appropriate. You can do this entire integral meditation in a couple of minutes, or five, even ten minutes, whatever fits. It’s perfect for in between activities, or if you need to step away and “cool off” from a confrontation or other situation.
• This technique is one that can flip your emotional response from a lower vibration (irritation, anger) to a higher one (gratitude, love), or is used to simply send out a signal of loving energy, which helps not only raise your vibration, but also helps raise the collective consciousness and vibrations of all beings on the planet. It’s a good-for-you-good-for-me type of meditative technique that can be used during the day at any point you need, or if you have a moment to spare.

4. Beginning and ending your day with the future

This is something that I love to do in the morning before I even get out of bed, and at night when I’m laying down to fall into sleep. It’s a visualization of sorts, about a future scenario or condition, and can be about health or a relationship or job, whatever you are building towards. You spend a few minutes of time at the start and end of your day with the reality you’re trying to create.

• This works best either lying down or sitting in the lotus, with eyes closed. Breathing normally, or even a bit more slowly, you should envision the scene as if you are living in it and actively participating, from a first person perspective. If you’re thinking about fixing a health issue, envision that body part or organ functioning at optimum efficiency. Imagine looking down at said part and seeing it operate the way it’s supposed to, imagining what that feels like (emotion and all). Or, for creating a scenario like a meeting or new environment, imagine yourself from first person perspective, living that situation out. What’s happening, and what do your five senses detect? Make it feel real. Whatever the situation, spend at least a few minutes in the morning as if you are living that reality, and a few minutes doing the same thing at the end of the day.
• As we are more susceptible to subconscious programming in between the waking and dreaming states, these times of day are the best to recondition the body and curate an experience from imagination. Our bodies and brains cannot differentiate the emotions and experiences that actually happen to us from those that we simply imagine as happening. The more we train our bodies (and minds) to live in elevated emotional starts, with the health, relationships, and jobs that we want, the more those things will come into our reality.

And who doesn’t want to live in a safe, secure place full of abundance, health, wealth, and endless things to be grateful for?

What I love about all of these integral meditations, is that they are real life examples of how a person can actively bring meditation into daily living. They don’t take a lot of time. They don’t require hours of concentration or having a mystical experience. All they require is a bit of focus and intentional decision-making. All they need is a little remembrance that you are a spiritual being living in a material world, and making the space to connect with the intelligent field that exists all around is the answer you are looking for.

To any question. To any problem. To any external issue you believe you are facing.

Maybe you’ll try some of these and find they really help. Maybe some of them won’t. Or, maybe reading about these techniques will inspire you to create some of your own integral meditations that work even better! The point is that these integral meditations allow people to step into the world of meditation, especially if it’s been a challenge before, and help them create space to do longer meditations that could have an even more significant impact on their lifestyle.

Of course be warned, the side effects of turning meditation into a way of life include reinforcing your connection with the spirit, forging new neural pathways, and unfolding into the life you’re meant to lead. Becoming the creator of your own reality is a threshold that once crossed, is not so easily doubled back on.

In fact, you may begin to wonder how you ever lived any other way before.

So here’s to living life in meditation and increasing the frequency of our vibrations. For the language of the universe is truly the most important method of communication we will ever have.

Until Next Time –

Yours for happy writing,

Lady Jenji