I Tried Guided Meditation For 30 Days
I’ve just spent the past 30 days learning guided meditation. Christians everywhere (mostly from the Bible Belt) are yelling at me to turn from my secular practices of eastern mysticism and come back to fellowship with the church. Seriously? It’s not what you think it is.
What I Did Do.
I sat alone for 10 minutes every morning before doing anything else, I plugged my headphones into my iPhone before 6am every morning. I used an app called Headspace, and I payed $12.99/month for the privilege. The first 10 days are free and then you opt into the monthly fee to continue. Since I felt 10 days wasn’t enough time to really analyze the benefits and give an honest account for my experience, I opted in.
I sat quietly alone in a dark room. I calmed down. I breathed deeply. I counted breathes. I learned to focus on one thing, not many things. I learned how to refocus because my mind wandered.
What I Didn’t Do.
I didn’t sit up straight on a mat, looking out into the vast expanse before me. I was in my living room.
I didn’t cross my legs and rest my arms on my knees while making a circle with my fingers and thumbs. My current back condition simply would not allow for such a position for 30 seconds, more or less 10 minutes.
I didn’t say, “Oooommmh…” in a deep voice. I never said anything at all. I was never directed to. It was a guided meditation by a nice male voice with an Australian accent. Pretty sure he was Australian. He never said it either. So, I have no clue what the “Oooommmh” is all about.
I didn’t transcend into an altered state of mind. I stayed in my own the whole time. Some may be wondering if me staying in my current mind is a good thing. Yes it is. For me, anyway.
I didn’t time travel, have an out-of-body experience or lose any weight. All three would have been interesting outcomes, and to be honest I could lose a few pounds around the middle, again. However, none of these things happened.
Here’s What I Learned… about eastern mysticism, Buddhism, humanism or whatever else…
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No ancient spiritual foundations. No doctrine of any kind. No secret powers of the universe were unlocked. (I was a little disappointed about that one. Disappointed, but not surprised.) I was not drawn into anything I didn’t believe or didn’t want to believe. I kept an open mind for the entire experience.
Here’s What I Learned…
I have learned how to calm myself down before anything else grabs my thoughts. I know how I am in the morning. My thoughts race forward to the stuff of the day ahead. Work that needs to be done. Errands to run. Supper to prep and cook. Thinking about my wife, our daughter, the dog, news, events, weather, Facebook posts. The list can go on and on. Doing this meditation before anything else has given me a calm, focused start to my day.
I have learned to focus more. The 30 days was an introductory exercise. There was no “topic” to explore. It was all about learning a technique. To focus better means to learn how to shut out all of the other things that want our attention. The technique of meditation helps me turn down the volume on the potential busyness ahead of me.
I have learned that mind distractions are something I can diminish, not just in the morning, but at any time during the day.
I have learned that I’ve only scratched the surface of what meditation truly is. 30 days was the introduction. In the app, since I’ve completed the intro, I have options to do different series: Sports… competition, focus, motivation, training. Health… cancer, depression, sleep, stress, anxiety, self-esteem, pregnancy. There’s relationships, performance and a pro section (whatever that is.)
[bctt tweet=”Meditation is a technique used to calm your body & spirit, to guide your chosen point of focus. Choose your focus wisely.” username=”@1billmcconnell”]
Some may say that I’ve not given meditation a true test. I disagree. 30 days only scratched the surface but I did succeed in discovering what I sought. Since everything builds on a strong foundation, I have done the foundation work of meditation (according to the app, at least) to be of great value. I find the technique of mediation to be something worth continuing within my own needed context.
Is Meditation Based On A Non-Christian Practice?
Good question. Yes and no.
There’s no reason for me to go into detail about the non-Christian aspect. So, here’s a great 5-minute article to give you some background. It’s worth the read.
Now check out Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2-3, Psalm 19:14, Psalm 119:97-99, Psalm 143:5 And there’s more. Lots more. When you read these passages, most if not all of them talk about meditating on God’s Word. So God’s Word is telling us to meditate on God’s Word. I’m good with that. Guided meditation means being guided by God’s Word.
In another article, “17 Ways to Meditate on Scripture,” the author takes a different approach and gives 17 ways to pursue Christian meditation. I love the suggestions but do not consider them meditation, per se. To me, this is studying God’s Word. We’ll have to agree to disagree in this aspect. That’s why I started meditating for 30 days to begin with. I wanted to learn meditation from another source for the sake of perspective.
I’ve also discovered that when I study about successful people from all walks of life, professions, faiths, and so on, there are some common key elements for their daily habits. Meditation in the morning is on 90% of these lists. This is not coincidence.
So What Is Christian Meditation?
It is when God’w Word is directly involved in your calmness and focus. It is “Spending time in quietness and usually alone, drawing close to God, pondering on His word, His creation, His mighty works or other aspects of His self-revelation. (from Dictionary of Bible Themes)
This type of meditation will continue to be part of my morning ritual, without the Australian voice in my head. I will build on the techniques I’ve learned in the past 30 days and add the focus that draws me closer to God.
For a Bigger Picture, Here’s My Entire Early Morning Ritual
On order… Meditation for 10 minute, as described above. One worship song, while I still have the headphones on. Bible study and notes I write on the passage. RSVP: Read the Word, Scribe about the passage, Visualize the truth of the passage in my life and Pray about the truth and insights I’ve learned. Prayer for the different items on a list I keep. Finally, I write some personal thoughts in my journal. Then, exercise and yogurt. Oh, I also drink 16 ounces of lemon water within 30 minutes of waking up.
By the way, I post my scribed notes on the passage I read on my Facebook Page every day.
So, I just don’t meditate for 10 minutes and then rush into my day. It’s part of a morning ritual I have that starts my day, everyday. I am dependent on this ritual to begin my days. How do you start your days?