6 common meditation misconceptions (and how Vedic meditation blows them out of the water)
"I know I should learn to meditate, but..." Hold it right there. NO more excuses! Vedic meditation isn't like other types of meditation. Read on, and leave the stereotypes at the door.
1. ‘You have to be a vegetarian to meditate’.
Anyone can meditate! The type of foods you eat, the type of job you have, your political beliefs, your physical appearance, your hankering for certain adult beverages or recreational drugs, none of those affect how you will benefit from Vedic meditation. You may, in time, choose to stop some habits that don’t seem appealing or relevant to you, but this will be your choice.
2. ‘You have to sit uncomfortably, with your back upright and your knees in lotus, and your palms upright on your knees, in order to meditate’.
Vedic meditation doesn’t believe in being uncomfortable. In fact, if you are exerting any physical effort (including the effort to deal with discomfort), you will draw your consciousness away from transcendence (ie ‘going deep’) and towards the surface level of thought. We like transcendence; it’s got all the good stuff. So, to maximize our ability to transcend, we sit comfortably.
3. ‘You have to clear your mind of thoughts to meditate’.
That requires effort. We don’t like effort in Vedic meditation, because, again, it draws you away from going deep, and we like to go deep. We actually love all thoughts in Vedic meditation. Even the inane and obsessive thoughts. Thoughts are a sign that we are doing it right.
4. ‘You need to focus and concentrate in order to meditate’.
Did I mention we don’t have much use for effort? Our motto: ‘Do less, accomplish more. Do least, accomplish most. Do nothing, accomplish everything.’ How do we do it? We surrender, and we employ a technique of effortlessness.
5. ‘I know I need to do it, but my brain is too busy to meditate effectively’.
Guess what? Everyone’s brain is busy! And everyone thinks they are the only ones who won’t actually be able to learn to meditate. Vedic meditation loooooves a busy mind. The busier, the better. Why? We don’t have to quiet our minds to meditate! We use a mantra to transcend the busy-ness and get to a place of inner quiet, the source of all thoughts. This place actually exists, and we can teach you how to get there.
6. “I’m too type A. I’ve never been a spiritual type.”
I was an atheist doctor and I took to meditation like a duck to water. Type A people deserve to be happy, too, by the way! Each meditation is a micro-exercise in letting go and surrendering to our body’s intelligence. Not to our egos, or to our monkey mind, but to our body’s inherent ability to repair damage done by decades of constant exposure to stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline. Our bodies are begging us to learn Vedic meditation, because when we transcend, we bathe our cells in bliss chemicals (serotonin, dopamine, endogenous opioids), and the repair work begins. It’s like a factory re-set button, 1 meditation at a time.
Bottom line: ANYone can meditate, EVERYone can benefit. Including you! Come to a free intro talk and learn more about what I teach, and if you like what you hear, you can sign up for my 4-day Course in Vedic Meditation. You can trust me, I'm a doctor!