My Current Morning Meditation Practice
My meditation routines have evolved and changed countless times over the years. The word “evolved” may not be the best option because I don’t see any one form of meditation as better than another. Each serves its purpose then and at that point in life. Any meditator will tell you that, while there are countless types of mediation, their core elements are the same, as are their general benefit.
That said, it’s always interesting to see how someone else does it. You could get a new idea or two. It also shows you that you are not alone in your meditation practice. I’m there with you, every day.
Here is the ritual I have been conducting for the past few months.
When do I meditate?
I meditate in the morning, before I:
Exercise
Eat
Shower
Use my cell phone for anything except checking the weather
I’ve written about how I do not allow much “content” into my mind until I have meditated. It’s never perfect. My schedule has me conduct a few interactions before my meditation slot in the morning. But, I try to keep my mind quiet until I intentionally feed it its first mental meal.
When I meditate I have only had black coffee and water.
Where do I meditate?
I meditate on a chair at the dining room table. The room is dark except for the sunrise slowly coming through the drape-less windows. At this point, I am the only one awake in the house and the only one on that floor of the house. I have privacy.
Do I use any assistance?
Yes, music.
But, there’s something I prefer in my mediation music: a marker of sorts
The best way to do this is to use multiple tracks ready to go, back to back.
I time the duration of my playlist based on how long I want my meditation to last.
So, if you want to meditate for 10 minutes, you could cue up a 6-minute song, followed by a 4-minute song.
Why do I want a marker?
I use a change in my meditation music to gently prompt me to move to the next phase of my meditation.
The Phases of my Meditation are as follows:
a white light and a black hole
Visualization
“The feeling is the secret”
Explained below:
Phase 1: A White Light and A Black Hole
Goal: to lose myself, to become nobody, just consciousness
Secondary Goal: mental and bodily healing
Phase 1 is probably the most complicated part of my process. I will break it down into two parts: inhaling and exhaling.
Phase 1: Inhale
During this portion, I visualize a bright white light far over my head. It is a healing light with all of the power and love of the universe. As I breathe in, I imagine that light permeating my entire body, healing, cleaning, and strengthening my whole being.
Phase 1: Exhale
On the exhale, I imagine that my out-breath acts as a propulsion. I see my breath pushing my body back, away from the movie screen of my thoughts. Every time I breathe out, I move further and further back into a peaceful darkness.
By the end of this phase in my meditation, I am surrounded by complete darkness, and glowing is the love of the universe. I am floating in space. There is equal distance above me, behind me, and in every other direction. There is no horizon. The ideal feeling is that of nobody, just a consciousness, an awareness.
It has been said that the best way to inject change into our minds is when we have let go of our preconceived notions. If you work as a banker but dream of being a chef, you cannot believe that you are a chef until you forget that you are a banker. If you can mentally take yourself from being a banker to being nothing, then you can, later fill your blank mind with the feeling of being a chef.
I stay here and enjoy it until the subtle change in music encourages me to think of something new.
Phase 2: Visualization
Goal: to create a mental experience that is REAL to my mind
Secondary Goal: inspiration
When the next song arrives, I implement a method of the great Neville Goddard. I imagine a future scene that proves that I have accomplished one of my goals.
For example: If your goal is to get a promotion at work, you would imagine one of your friends congratulating you. If your goal is to heal your body, you might imagine a doctor telling you that your blood work was excellent. You might mentally hear the doctor say something like, “You’re in perfect health.” In many ways, this is the hardest part. For many of us, it’s deciding what we want that takes the most time.
Regardless of what you have chosen as your imaginal scene, you would repeat the scene several times in your mind. The idea is to take your time, see every ripple of that future moment, and make it as real as possible.
When I imagine my scenes, they land with varying degrees of authenticity. Some recounts feel very real and others do not. But, I try to stay loose and see as much detail as possible.
Phase 3: “The Feeling is the Secret.” - Neville Goddard
Goal: to live “as if” my goal were accomplished
Secondary Goal: to take the feeling with me after the meditation
Once I imagine the scene, I FEEL the feeling that the scene generates in my body. Just as the placebo medication in the drug trial, what we see as real becomes real in our minds.
The Afterparty:
I usually move from my meditation into my exercise preparation, which is always done with affirmations set to music in my earbuds.
My daily workout has not been missed for 2245 days and is its animal.
I will talk about that soon.
Burak Uzun is an award-winning writer and a Certified Meditation Teacher.
Burak Uzun also co-wrote a feature film called Team Marco, which was featured in over fifty film festivals around the globe and was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Please feel free to reach out to Burak here.
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