Hillary Oat Healing: 28 Day Meditation Challenge

Meditation is the one simple thing we can do to support physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Simple, but not easy, as they say. Why is that? All we are asked to do is sit quietly for a period of time. While it doesn't seem hard, it can be challenging to "do nothing" amid the myriad of responsibilities and distractions that go with everyday life. That is why meditation is called a practice. We work at it everyday not to get better at meditating, but to bring us benefits of health, wellness, spiritual connection and calm. If you decide to accept the challenge, it just might change your life. This is first part in a 28 day series to inspire and support your meditation practice.  Even in the midst of disturbance, the stillness of the mind can offer sanctuary. - Stephen Richards  I had a friend who was an avid meditator for years. Knowing her, you could tell there was something different about her. Her life wasn't unique, full of ups and downs like the rest...

  Meditation is not a task to be mastered, it is an awareness of this moment, just as it is. The feedback I get indicates one of the biggest obstacles to a meditation practice is the belief we are not good at it. We don't like feeling incompetent so we don't meditate. We believe that if we were good at it, we could sit and immediately turn our minds into cloudless skies, effortlessly free of thoughts and filled with inner peace. It would be lovely if that were true, but then it would not require "practice". Here's a little secret: We can't ever be good (or bad) at meditation. Once we start a meditation practice we will wonder what being "good at it" even means. Meditation is not a task to be mastered, it is an awareness of this moment, just as it is. Osho suggests that instead of struggling against the mind by trying to forcibly calm it, we instead need to become an observer of the mind.  Just like someone sitting by the side of a river watching ...

  "It is as simple as this. Leave everything you know behind." - David Whyte When you are sick, or after surgery, everyone says it gets better after day 3, That is true for meditation as well. It will get better after day 3, or 4 or maybe 27, but it will get better! When I go to the gym and start on the cross trainer, the first couple of minutes feel terrible. I am panting, my muscles are complaining and I am tempted to stop. Its too hard. But I keep going! In another minute or two, it feels better and I am glad I didn't quit. Its the same with meditation. We are training our minds to do something new, like a sweet puppy, and it will complain. Let it complain. Breathe. Pat those thoughts on the head, come back to awareness of your body and breath. Tell yourself you will meditate one more minute or one more day. Remember our plan is to sit 20 minutes a day. Sit on a pillow, or sit on a chair. Hang out the "do not disturb" sign. Silence the phone. Close your ey...

By now you have become aware that all those thoughts are not going away. Myth Buster #2. Here we are at day four and we are noticing that no matter how well-intentioned we are, the thoughts just keep on coming. Minds think, like lungs breathe and stomachs digest that guacamole you had for lunch. The good news is that meditation teaches us the discipline to choose where we place our attention. Myth Buster #2: We are not our thoughts. There is a saying that asks "who is watching the watcher?". Without getting too technical and putting you into a sleep meditation, let me just say that we have consciousness, and that consciousness is not our thoughts, it is the Watcher, the witness, the observer. Meditation invites us to get acquainted with that greater part of ourselves, and to learn the discipline to be able to choose where we put our attention. Once we know that we are the captain of this ship, we will never again be unconsciously railroaded by crazy, scary obsessive thought...

  Sometimes life gets crazy busy and meditation, the way we planned it, just can't happen. Don't let a hectic schedule derail your commitment to sit. You know how it goes, chores, demands, and assorted other distractions pull us left and right making it easy to lose our focus and intention to meditate. Even in these Covid quarantine times, there are still kids, home schooling, home jobs, cooking and laundry to deal with. Some days are just exhausting made even more challenging by the lack of social contact. There is an old Zen saying that says "meditate one hour every day unless you are too busy. Then meditate two hours." Sure, easy to say but when? How? I know, that things go more smoothly when I take the time to meditate. So KISS it! Keep it simple, sweetheart. Avoid getting frustrated by allowing meditation time to fit into your life, rather than trying to make life fit your plan. We can surrender, wave the white flag, and fit our practice in when and where we ...

  All the benefits of meditation are an outcome, not the goal of the practice. - Ajanta Suri, Yogi Press I started this meditation challenge year ago because I read a really terrific book by Henry Shukman called One Blade of Grass. A Zen Memoir. The story inspired me to renew my meditation practice and made me curious about it. Most of us are aware that a practice will lower blood pressure, relieve stress, provide inspiration and support well-being on mental, physical and emotional levels. But if benefits are by-products, then what is the deeper purpose? Why are we doing this? The experts seem to agree that the deeper purpose of meditation is to help us discover our true selves as the pure consciousness that we are; to drop the baggage of possessions, identity, fears and separation through which we see the world. The purpose is to be here now , fully present in the moment without the "brain shortcuts" that keep us separate. Our brains are amazing machines. It's ability ...

  Meditation is not spacing-out or running away. In fact, it is being totally honest with ourselves.” – Kathleen McDonald We are one week into our practice and by now you may have had some different experiences when you sat down to meditate. Maybe nothing happened except you were sitting, and aware of the surface that supported your butt, your breath, and the sound of the refrigerator going on. Bravo for you! It may not seem very exciting, especially if you are hoping for enlightenment, but that is exactly the experience to shoot for. Sometimes, however, you may have a sense of spacing out, losing awareness of yourself and your body. It is a common belief that meditation, if we are doing it "right", should offer us a blissful out of body experience. If it happens, you may feel like you are finally getting somewhere and "going deep" into meditation. But are we? Where is it we think we are getting? There are those who strive to find that spaced out feeling, Some beli...

  What if we stopped trying to fix what we think is broken? What if everything is perfect? In light of all that is going on in this country and the world, it feels shocking to even propose such a thing. How is what we are experiencing perfection? Melvin McLeod, editor of Lion's Roar magazine, wrote an introduction to the meditation issue last year titled "The Simplest Meditation". He explains that the Tibetan word Dzogchen, means "Great Perfection" and reflects the belief that we are already perfect. That deserves more explanation. As we struggle in this world, McLeod asks the question "how can everything be perfect if it's so screwed up?". The answer is simple, but not easy, as the saying goes. We humans are driven by a need to fix what we see as broken. I see this in myself and people I know. And who wouldn't want to fix the mess we are in? McLeod asks, "What if nothing is broken? What if our problem is that there is no problem and we ju...

  This is a meditation from the March 2020 issue of Lion's Roar. It is a continuation of yesterday's theme about not fixing what isn't broken. I wish there was a link to the article by Vanessa Zuisie Goddard, because it is so good. Yesterday we talked about perfection and not fixing. Vanessa Goddard shares the practice at the heart of Soto Zen Buddhism called "just sitting". Hakuun Yasutani Roshi describes it "like sitting in the center of a clearing in the forest, knowing that ultimate danger is about to strike but not knowing what form it will take or from what direction it will come.". In other words, completely relaxed at open attention and extremely focused and aware. No spacing out or that tiger rushing into the clearing could have you for lunch. That kind of "just sitting". I will share the practice with you as Vanessa Goddard describes it. It might be something to try today. If you like it, I encourage you to explore more about Zen, ...

  In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. -Albert Camus The entire quotation goes like this: He said, "In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, and invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger - something better, pushing right back." I could not think of a more appropriate message for today, considering all we are going through. It is attributed to Camus, but there is some debate about that. But there is no debate, that the message is hopeful and possible. How do we find that place within us? Meditation. Meditation, staying present and gently turning toward difficulty, changes ...

  Which is better, guided or silent meditation? The simple answer is - that depends. Can we substitute guided meditation for silent meditation? Guided meditation is easier and more enjoyable, will it offer the same benefit? Excellent question. The short answer is that it depends on you and what you are searching for. Any meditation is better than no meditation, so do what you can. I knew someone who listened to guided meditations many times a day. He had a very busy mind, so the imagery helped him to focus and offered him a break from his thoughts. I also encouraged him to spend short periods of time in silent meditation because ultimately that would help him at a deeper level. It was frightening for him to even consider being alone with his thoughts so we started very slowly while he continued with the guided imagery. Guided imagery is perfect for relaxation, stress relief, prep for surgery, lower blood pressure or other healing benefits. It has a goal and is a wonderful way to su...

  Sometimes the most important thing we can do is nothing. Jenny Odell's book called How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy describes a world where “every last minute” ends up “captured, optimized, or appropriated as a financial resource by the technologies we use daily.” But in the midst of push notifications and likes and friend requests, a “certain nervous feeling, of being overstimulated and unable to sustain a train of thought, lingers.” A meditation practice corrects and soothes our overstimulated mind and helps us focus. Who would have thought we'd need instructions for doing nothing! When we start a meditation practice, it can feel like we are doing nothing. We are lured by the demand to be productive and it's tempting to start inserting rituals, goals, journaling, and assorted other activities. Fight the urge! How does it feel to do nothing? Not only can we survive 20 minutes of not checking our messages, but we will thrive. At first, withdrawal from...

  It's tempting to blow off meditation when we don't feel good.   "People think meditation is a huge undertaking. Don't think of it like that. " -Deepak Chopra When we feel crummy, we may want to skip meditation practice. It does take some energy and we may not have much to spare. What if the very thing that may take some energy, like meditation, could be the thing that helps us feel better? Often blowing our noses, sipping tea and meditation will comfort us when we feel miserable. You are the best judge of what you need. Will sitting help? Or do you need time to rest up and start again tomorrow? I think Deepak Chopra makes a good point about thinking meditation has to be a big overwhelming deal. If we think we need to do it correctly, or if we need lots of rituals or processes, it will take energy that we may not have. Give yourslef a break, and just wrap yourself in a blanket and sit. If you fall asleep, it's fine, you needed to sleep. Gently be where you ...

There are times when we are so disturbed that we can't think of anything else. How do we deal with that? The Dalai Lama tells us not to let anything disturb our peace. That means that our peace is our business and a choice we make. So, what happens when something overwhelming disturbs our peace? The challenge isn't to find peace in time of peace, but to find peace in times of disturbance. That is why we practice. If we remember nothing else, know this: the thoughts we think upset us. The thoughts we think create the feeling and the suffering. That doesn't mean what is happening isn't real, but what we think about, how we think about it, is crucial. We can stay firmly anchored in reality and still hold onto our peace through the practice of meditation. Sit, even if you are so angry smoke is coming out of your ears. Sit, even if you are sobbing. Sit, even if your heart is pounding and it feels impossible. Just sit. This is the perfect opportunity to put our practice to p...

  One of the benefits of a meditation practice is that we can learn to limit the need to judge our experiences as good or bad. We have gotten through half of our Meditation Challenge. Congratulations and bravo for your commitment! Hopefully it is getting a little easier and you are beginning to notice the benefits. Perhaps you have noticed that we humans tend to judge our experiences. The "it's horrible" and "it's wonderful" thoughts remind me of the old Taoist story about the farmer. An old farmer and his horse had worked the crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors said, "Such bad luck,". "We'll see," said the farmer. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "We'll see," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. T...

  “I think that meditation puts you in that zone, or at least presents you with an opportunity to enter it. Things just begin to flow then. And that’s what I’ve found about creativity. It doesn’t come from forcing and straining and trying really hard. I think it’s more about relaxing and letting go until it all just starts pouring out of you.” — Lee Chesnut, music producer When I started the meditation challenge I was excited and had so many ideas about what I wanted to share. Now , two weeks in, that data base is narrowing. My mind doesn't have a clue what needs to come next, honestly. So I sit in meditation, relax and open up to receive inspiration from the creative consciousness around me. I am in good company doing this. So many others have found this path to creativity before us including Einstein, Mozart, and even Paul McCartney! Not all of us are artists, or musicians, but we are all creative. We express our creativity in how we problem solve, what clothes we wear and...

  Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. -Thich Nhat Hanh One of the things we can do during this time of coronavirus is get outside and walk. Nature, and fresh air is a balm for our stressed out souls. Today we are going to change up our practice with walking meditation. Walking meditation is a great way to calm, center and focus. Another plus, there is no way you can fall asleep. For some, this is a preferred form of meditation. When Jack Kornfield leads his silent retreat weekends, he incorporates walking after sitting. Because its harder to zone out while walking, it keeps us fully present. I encourage you to give it a try. Usually walking practice comes between periods of sitting, but since we are only meditating for 20 minutes, I suggest you walk for 5 or 10 minutes and then sit. If you have time and want to go longer, try sitting, walking, and then sitting again. That way you will get the full flavor of this practice. Walk this Way. Meditative walking is...

  "It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up space." - Pema Chodron This morning I stood by the kitchen sink mindlessly gulping down a hardboiled egg with my mind already speeding forward into all the things I had to do and was worried about. The mind can't tell the difference between a thought and an actual happening, so essentially I was already roasting that chicken, and searching for covid vaccine. I stopped. I looked at the deep yellow yolk of the half eaten egg and told myself to slow down. For the first time, I tasted the egg in my mouth. Never known to be still for long, my mind chimed in with a string of comments and exclamations. But I had that moment of stillness, the pause, and it stays with me. We have a choice to make during these challenging coronavirus days of sequestration. We can accept the invitation to slow down, pay attention and go inward. Or not. The risks both financial and physical are real, the ...

When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” - Zen proverb If you are struggling with meditatiion, it can help to start the session with a focal point. When I first started meditating it helped me to imagine a brilliant star that I focused my mind's eye on. Just like when we focus on the breath, I would keep bringing myself back to that image in my mind until I slipped into a meditation groove. Here are a few focal point suggestions. 1. A candle flame. This is an old tried and true method. Light a candle. Sit in front of it and with soft eyes, focus on the flame. 2. Chant. I personally find this method the most useful. There is something about using the voice to raise a vibration in my body that lets me slip easily into a silent meditation. Maybe it is the contrast between sound and silence that helps it work so well. In 1974 Lawrence LeShan wrote a terrific book called How to Meditate. In it he mentions mantra as a way into meditation. If you don"t know where to start, he said ...

  Vipassana meditation is not an intellectual journey but an experiential awakening.” ― Amit Ray At this stage of our progress I thought it might be interesting to introduce some traditional forms of silent meditation. Today we will try out Vipassana. Vipassana literally, means "special-seeing" and is a Buddhist term that is often translated as "insight". It is one of India's most ancient meditation techniques. What makes it different from what we have been doing? Disciplined, focused attention. How to do Vipassana. 1. Sit. Close eyes. 2. Breathe normally. Think about the pathway of the breath moving from the nostrils, down into your chest, filling your lungs and abdomen. 3. Focusing on a specific part of your respiratory system, like your nostrils, lungs, or diaphragm, will help your mind to stay focused. It sharpens your attention. 4. Find a beginning, middle and end to your breath. Focus on the different sensations. It can be helpful to use simple words th...

  “With mindfulness, loving kindness, and self-compassion, we can begin to let go of our expectations about how life and those we love should be.” ― Sharon Salzberg "Love is not just the intention to love, but the capacity to reduce suffering, and offer peace and happiness. The practice of love increases our forebearance, our capacity to be patient and embrace difficulties and pain." - Thích Nhất Hạnh Metta meditation, directs loving kindness toward ourselves and then, in a sequence of expansions toward those we love already, those we feel neutral about, someone we have difficulty with and ultimately toward all beings everywhere without distinction. Never before in my memory have I faced something so global, so isolating, as Covid-19. Yet, there is something about our isolation that has made us realize how important connections are to us. We start Metta by sitting quietly, fol...

  Chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it. That's the point of this whole thing. That's what cuts through all the "stuff". You get lit up. – Krishna Das Japa literally means "muttering, whispering" and is a traditional meditation practice thousands of years old. I first came upon this meditation technique listening to an interview with Dr. Wayne Dyer years ago. He was so enthusiastic, I had to explore it. Japa meditation uses the repetition a mantra, and for this exercise we will chant the sound Ahh. It is the universal sound found in the name of God from all cultures for example: Allah, Krishna, God, Buddha, Ra, Jehova etc. Other mantras, especially ones that have been given to you by a teacher, can also be used. A few days ago we briefly mentioned mantra as a way to focus in meditation, and this is one method. There are very comp...

  So Hum. I am That...all of Creation, the One breathing us all. Before the pandemic we went to Garrison Institute in New York for a Path of Devotion chanting retreat with Krishna Das . Ah, the good old days when we could hug, chant and eat together. For those unfamiliar with KD, he was, and I suppose will always be, a follower of legendary guru Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. There is a really wonderful book called Love Everyone: The Transcendent Wisdom of Neem Karoli Baba Told Through The Stories of Westerners Whose Lives He Transformed. KD gets mentioned along with a slew of other teachers you might recognize. It was fascinating and a great read. He promised his beloved guru that he would “sing for you in the west”. It took almost 20 years for KD to sing with groups of people around the USA. In Chants of a Life Time , KD writes about his journey over the years. The movie, One Track Heart, will offer you a taste of chanting with Krishna Das. I know we have a lo...

  Once upon a time the World Honored One was walking with gods and devas and humans, when he paused. He pointed to the ground and said, “this is a suitable site to build a temple.” The god Indra then plucked a blade of grass from nearby, and stuck it into the ground at the spot where the Buddha had pointed. Indra declared, “The temple is built!” The World Honored One smiled. Last year I visited our public library and while browsing the new books I came across Henry Shukman's book One Blade of Grass. I passed over it a few times until I finally relented and took it home. Mr. Shukman has a wonderful way with words, as he describes his difficult life and discovery of Zen meditation. It made me curious about Zen. Zen is a very strict practice. The New York Zen Center was conducting a sesshin at Garrison Institute when we were there for another program. It was like spiritual boot camp, and fascinating to watch. There isn't anything about Zen that appeals to my everyday mind...

  "Do your practice, treat people well, and live your life." -Krishna Das " Don’t try to hold on to the joy, because you won’t be able to + then you’ll get depressed + then you won’t do any practice. Just keep chanting no matter how you feel."   That goes for whatever your practice is, whether it be singing, chanting, praying, meditating or walking. During this time of COVID-19, we are all learning a lot about keeping it real. Back in the 90's at the start of the New Age, a teacher named Sun Bear advised us to not waste our time on any practice that "doesn't grow corn", a staple of life for Native Americans. When life gets challengeing we need our practice, whatever it is, to feed us in practical ways. The last time we were on retreat with Krishna Das he took questions. Many of the questions had to do with "how". How do I bring devotion into my work? How do I use this practice to help me in dealing with lawyers? How many chants do I need...

 When you train yourself to concentrate you will become aware of much more in your life." Daskalos, in The Magus of Strovolos, by Kyriacos C. Markides I was introduced to this meditation back when I was teaching at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. I found it to be very powerful and it almost led me through without any effort on my part. This meditation was created by Panayiota Theotoki-Atteshli, otherwise known as Daskalos, which means teacher. Not many people know of him in the US, but he is very well known as a healer, mystic and teacher in other parts of the world including his native Cyprus. You can find it and other meditations in a book titled Gates to the Light: Exercises and Meditations. Once you get the hang of the instructions, it will become natural for you to pull up the sides of the pyramid and bathe in the light. Read through the directions, and perhaps walk through them, before you start. We start as we always do by sitting, relaxing and breathing. When you ...

  In Sanskrit, a kirtan is a song, and kriya refers to a specific set of movements. In the Eastern tradition, kriyas are used to help bring the body, mind and emotions into balance to enable healing. A few years ago I opened Insight Timer in preparation for meditation. I saw a guided meditation called Kirtan Kriya. I am a big fan of Kirtan, a call and response type of chanting, so I opened it to check it out. After I practiced it a few times, it became one of my favorite meditations. You can chant along with this video on YouTube if you find that easier. Meaning of the Chant: SAT NAM seeds the truth in our consciousness by waking us up to our divine identity. SA is the beginning, infinity, the totality of everything that ever was, is or will be. TA is life, existance and creativity that manifests from infinity. NA is death, change and the transformation of consciousness. MA is rebirth, regeneration and resurrection which allows us to consciously experience the joy of the inf...

  Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. In practicing meditation, we’re not trying to live up to some kind of ideal – quite the opposite. We’re just being with our experience, whatever it is. - Pema Chödrön Here we are at Day 28, the end of this particular meditation experiment. The coronavirus pandemic has made it a much more practical experience for coping with the unknown. I thought I was doing this for the collective you, but now I realize it was mostly for myself. It is one thing to know something intellectually, and quite another to have an embodied experience. I learned that this practice is enormously useful in times of trouble, and that peace comes from accepting this moment, as it is, warts and all. As we sit today, consider what you have noticed over the past four wee...