Should You Try Meditation? Solutions for Three Common Fears
Even though it has become a household word over the past fifty years, and the health, emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation are well documented, you might still feel suspicious and uneasy. You might think that by using a meditation technique, you could be getting into some far out, dangerous experience.
If you are one of the many who are skittish about beginning to meditate, see if one of the following reasons fuels your nervousness, and read the simple solution below each issue.
1. You are over fifty or you grew up in a strict, perhaps fundamentalist religious tradition. You hesitate to try meditation because of family and church attitudes and stereotypes that you took on before meditation was widely embraced in the western world.
Solution: Educate yourself about the benefits of meditation and the many forms of meditation that are quite compatible with your faith and culture today. You will almost certainly find approaches to meditation that are considered safe and appropriate in your tradition.
2. You fear the unknown. You lack experience with processes that might take you into uncharted territory within yourself. What monsters might you encounter? What old wounds might you reopen in the quiet of meditation? What disturbing thoughts might bug you if your usual mind chatter is still?
Solution: Find an experienced and trustworthy teacher to guide your learning experience. A meditation instructor can help you understand that such fears are normal, and that you will not encounter anything you are not able to handle. It takes only a little courage to be willing to look. You will quickly discover that these old perceptions can be released and healed. If you are receiving treatment for serious mental health issues, ask your therapist to assist or suggest resources to help you maintain balance in case you encounter anxiety-provoking thoughts or images while meditating.
3. You fear your own darker nature. If you have habitually attempted to suppress or ignore your negative impulses, you might find it frightening to consider entering the "dark territory" of your inner awareness. You might unconsciously worry that if you open yourself through meditation, you won't be able to control those tightly-reined-in negative impulses.
Solution: Be aware that we all have negative tendencies. Gently accept them and work with self-compassion to improve yourself. In the long run, this is a healthier approach than trying to "control" these shadow sides of yourself.
Meditation can actually give you an ability to observe any negative aspects and allow for a natural balancing and healing to take place. If you become a neutral loving observer of yourself through meditation, you can unlock the energy tied up in your attempts to control negativity, and greatly enhance your process of relaxation and inner peace!
Related Tags: fear, anxiety, meditation, healing, relaxation, compassion, relax, meditate, observe, benefits of meditation
Speaking of relaxation and inner peace, you are invited to visit Dr. Ilenya Marrin at www.powerofpersonalpeace.com for loads of articles with practical tips on how to create personal peace. You will find helpful hints for meditation, stress-reduction, and self-compassion as you create your next levels of success.
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