Meditation Basics for The Embodied Path

Grounded, Centered, Aware, Discerning

Meditation is an essential practice along The Embodied Path. The problem is that “meditation” is a term that can mean many different things. Beginners (or even long-time practitioners) may not be aware of the full extent of what a meditation practice offers, and therefore, may become stuck in a meditation rut, or else may not engage in practices that could be wholly aligned for them.

Here, we flush out what meditation is, how it can serve you, and how you can find the practices that best serve you wherever you are along your life path.

And, as we know from the The Embodied Path, if it truly serves you (soul aligned, not ego-aligned YOU), then it is in service to the greater whole that is this Planet Earth.

What is Meditation?

To put things simply, meditation is a practice of bringing consciousness to one’s own consciousness, which we can break out into two categories: attention and awareness. As we turn our attention inward, we examine self, especially as it relates to thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations, etc. We hold awareness for that which is rising in each moment. We do not work to change things in this space. We notice, and we hold this “noticing” upon the space that we have chosen to focus.

With this, meditation is often used as a “focus” practice: can you hold your consciousness (your attention) on a single task, and when you get distracted (which you will), can you bring your attention back to the object of focus?

At what we may say its “highest level,” meditation is a practice in which that single pointed focus brings you into expanded consciousness. This is the moment we know true “oneness.’“ There are different words for it. In yoga, we call it Samadhi.

This may be a worthy goal for some, but for most modern human beings, the practice of meditation has practical, as well as spiritual benefits that begin way before any attempt at some ultimate spiritual moment occurs. Actually, the moment one begins meditating, the long list of benefits start to unfold, and the life of the practitioner begins to transform.

In other words, the benefits of meditation are not just about an ultimate state of enlightenment. In truth, it is about impacting your life in all the ways you could never imagine. Again, I am speaking practically, just as I am speaking spiritually.

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The core benefit of meditation

I believe the true power of a meditation practice, especially as it can be embraced by any modern individual, has to do with awareness: are you aware of your thoughts, actions, and state of being at any one moment? We can call this “mindfulness” – as in, is your mind full of consciousness, aware of all that is unfolding that is relevant for you to know. Know that this is a term that comes out of a Buddhist lineage. However, I prefer the more general term, awareness.

While many people think about meditation as a “focus practice,” once again, this focus is what plays a part within expanded awareness.

If you choose to focus on a specific object during your meditation (e.g., your thoughts, your breath), then that can be beneficial. However, are you holding this focus with the awareness of everything else that is unfolding?

As I share in the videos linked below, I write this because I got this part wrong, and it actually led to my meditation practice causing me real harm. I was using meditation to “shut out” the world as I focused on what I thought I best be focusing on. What this led to was my inability to be tuned into what I actually needed to be tuned into.

It became my downfall, and in the years of pain that it caused, I found myself in need of a true spirituality:

one that was no longer about my ego guiding me to meditate for a small list of benefits
one that was fully about meditation as part of a holistic spirituality

With this, I once again name that awareness is what serves at the center of any spiritual awakening:

awareness of all that is unfolding in any one moment, as it is relevant to and serves the practitioner
awareness of all that is unfolding in any one moment, as it serves the greater whole that the practitioner is part of

As you get the awareness piece down, the playground for your meditation experience is expansive. You may want to try out focus practices. You may want to try out expanded practices. You may want to try out a deeply embodied practice, such as yoga nidra.

Or, you may want to do something like I teach most often, which becomes a practice of bringing consciousness (awareness) to all the different parts of self:

thoughts
breath
heart
body
and more

To recap:

Meditation can be about focused attention. But it can also be about expanded awareness.

Meditation can be about examining what is happening within your head. But it can also be about anything that is happening:

within self, such as in your heart or limbs
outside of self, such as your direct environment

As opposed to a rigid structure often taught, I prefer to teach meditation as a more general experience, and one that comes with many different types of practices depending on what you need in each moment. Most importantly, I teach a modern take on how you can embrace meditation in a grounded and holistic space that serves you, no matter where you are in each moment.

In this way, we honor the long-standing, often rigid traditions that have brought forth meditation as a practice, as we open to all the useful ways that an attention/awareness/consciousness practice can serve each of us in our own way.

Enter The Meditation Library

Beginning Meditation

A first meditation practice begins by bringing awareness to our breath, and/or our thoughts.

Try this: Find yourself seated in stillness and turn your attention inward. Close down your eyes, but do so only if it helps. Become witness:

Witness the rise and fall of your breath. Stay focused on your inhale as it flows into your exhale. Continue to hold your focus on your breath as it flows back into your inhale, and on and on and on
Maintain focus on your breath.
As you do this, you will notice yourself getting taken away by your thoughts, or by other stimuli. Don’t worry. This is part of the practice.
When you notice that your thoughts have taken your attention away, simply return your attention back to your breath.

Thought variation:

You can do the same practice with your thoughts, themselves. I recommend beginning with some grounding breaths, then bring your attention to your thoughts:

Witness how your thoughts flow in, and flow out
Continue to witness the inflow and outflow of your thoughts
When you get caught up in a thought, disentangle yourself, then return to being witness to your thoughts

Over time, what will happen is a disentanglement from your thoughts. You will come to know yourself a separate from your thoughts as you cultivate the skill that is remaining separate from your thoughts.

Over time, you will cultivate a skill surrounding your ability to harness your thinking/concentrating mind when needed, and the rest of the time, walk through life holding more awareness for what is unfolding (without being caught up in it).

A couple more important notes on meditation:

The power of the practice comes in the awareness that you hold for what is happening. What you do when you notice you’ve become distracted (i.e., taken out of your focused awareness on the object of your meditation) becomes the key to the practice.

The practice unfolds as you continue to return your attention to the object of your meditation (e.g., your breath, your thoughts). Stay focused. When you lose focus, notice it, then return back to the practice.

I recommend setting a timer to do this. Choose whatever time you want, just make sure that you hold yourself accountable to completing the entirety of the practice.

Begin with 5 minutes. If that is too much, take the time down. If that is easy, increase the time.

Sound simple enough? Make sure to try it out. Practice is what is essential. Reading about a practice and not doing the practice is a waste of time.

Katie is a trained Yoga Therapist and Priestess, teaching meditation and an embodied spirituality. Subscribe to We Are The Forest to learn more, and to experience her creative yet grounded approach to it all.

The true power of meditation

When I first started meditating, I believed meditation was about focus, peace, and clarity. I loved that meditation allowed the chaos of my thoughts to fall away and clarity to set in.

I wanted clarity. I wanted my mind to be free of distraction so that I could focus on my work (as a scientist, as an entrepreneur, as a rock climber, etc.).

Meditation served me in this way. I was able to disconnect myself from distraction and gain greater focus and clarity. I learned to appreciate meditation for this purpose.

This is where I got lost.

The problem is, I did not understand meditation within a greater spiritual context. I only saw it for how it could serve me to be better at the life I was already living.

But this is not spirituality. A true spiritual path guides us to know what matters, in truth. It guides us in the directions we are best meant to go.

I wasn’t calling upon my meditation practice in a grounded, nor wholesome way. Rather, I was clinging to it for one particular benefit it had given me in the past.

Because of this, I wasn’t in a true meditation practice. Had I been, I would have allowed meditation to show me that the life I was living was greatly misaligned.

Chaos had shown up in my life because I needed to get out of this deeply misaligned life. The further I clung to meditation as a “focus practice,” the louder the chaos became.

I told myself I was a good meditator. That I had grit. That I could hold my focus on what “I wanted” while I let the rest fall away.

In truth, I was stubborn and ignorant of reality as it was unfolding. The fact is, all that “noise” in my life, mind, and body was there for a reason. I needed to be able to listen to it. Had I known what I know now, meditation could have brought me the awareness I needed then.

Instead, I clung to meditation as a focus practice. It became my undoing.

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I have learned much in the years since then. Having formally trained as a yoga teacher, a yoga therapist, and a priestess, I have a wealth of tradition grounded within me to hold meditation in a holistic space.

This does not mean that I necessarily practice a specific tradition. I love yoga, but it isn’t everything. I appreciate Buddhism (the space that my original meditation practice came from), but I disagree with one of the fundamental pillars, and therefore, will never follow it whole-heartedly.

Plus, I live my own wild, modern life. I am a trail runner, and I even compete as an ultra running athlete. I rock climb (although, my relationship to rock climbing was shattered due to the ill effects talked about in the section above, and expanded upon in the video below).

All-in-all, I am walking my own, unique path in life. Sometimes that path leads to leaning in more fully to an ancient tradition. Most of the time, it means learning from and honoring that tradition to the degree that it serves, adapting the practices and other teachings to life as it is unfolding, here and now.

This is The Embodied Path

It is a path to be walked by you, yourself, as the sovereign individual that you are. Because the fact is, you have your own karma and dharma. You have your wounding that is unique to you, just as you have desire unique to you.

AND.

It is a path to be walked as we know ourselves as a collective. Because, as a humanity, we face many of the same challenges. We hold many of the same wounds. There are places that we all would like to get to.

By being open to the traditions that can help us, we are gifted. By being discerning about which practices actually serve in each moment, we gift ourselves.