As more and more individuals embrace a life of stillness, meditation is becoming increasingly popular. I remember the first time I meditated, I didn’t know what to expect or what I was to “achieve” by sitting in silence with my eyes closed. I was a novice then, but 7 years since my first time meditating, I have a very different comprehension of the practice.

Meditating is more than sitting in the lotus position, struggling to prevent yourself from thinking. In fact, this isn’t the core purpose of meditation at all. In the most simplistic expression of the practice, meditation is the process of allowing - allowing our thoughts and whatever comes into our mind to flow without judgment or the mental struggle of attempting to suppress our thoughts.

Thoughts, Emotions & What’s Real

Our thoughts are intricately connected to our emotions. We find it much easier to recall a thought when there is a feeling attached to such a memory. It has been proven that when we focus on a thought, our body perceives the thought we are focused on as reality, as if we are physically having the experience we are imagining.

In other words, when we think a thought, our body reacts to this thought as if it is an experience we are physically having in the here and now - to the body, it’s a very real thing! What does this mean when we experience something we label as “negative” or “bad” and after the experience has passed, we continuously replay this event in our minds? It means internally, we recreate the same body-chemistry as if we were still present in the experience that has passed. We may experience the same emotions of anxiety, anger, fear, hurt or any other feelings associated with the event. Essentially, we revert back to this point-in-time internally every time we focus on the event and formulate a judgement about what has taken place in the past. We “time travel” if you will.

By formulating a judgement that subsequently leads to the experience of those same emotions, we are creating an internal environment that mirrors what has taken place in the past. We now find that instead of experiencing this “negative” event one time, we experience it over and over and over again internally. Physically, we may be in the year 2020, but mentally and emotionally we can reside in the year 2010 (or whatever date the experience took place). Imagine that, imagine living like this for a year, five years, ten years, maybe even twenty plus years. This is the reality for many of us.

Breaking the Loop

The true objective of meditation is to reconnect with our true self, the observer. We are not our thoughts, we are the entity that realizes it is thinking. When we wake up to this reality, our internal world begins to change and a peace falls upon us. We all have experienced our share of hurt, rejection, abandonment, pain, betrayal, even despair, some more than others, but it is how we perceive and process these events that determines how we grow and move on from these experiences in a healthy way.

We can break the loop of living in the past by, as I mentioned earlier, refraining from judging the experience mentally. As we meditate, we allow thoughts to flow uninhibited. Our purpose is not to attempt to stop our stream of thought, but simply observe our thoughts as they flow into our awareness/mind. We refrain from formulating a judgement about these thoughts as “good” or “bad”, as the negative judgments we place on them can manifest an accompanying emotion that alters our internal state and subsequent mood. Our objective is to simply watch these thoughts and remain in our seat of the observer.

As we do this consistently, the underlying emotion attached to those negative thoughts/experiences becomes less and less intense until the emotion(s) dissolves all together and all that is left is the thought, and you, the observer, observing the thought from a position of neutrality. This is how we break the loop of living in the past.

We bring our awareness back into the present moment by observing our thoughts judgement-free. Over time, our body chemistry begins to change as we are no longer living in a pool of negative emotions. As negative emotions are experienced for prolonged periods of time, they manifest as disease in the body. The part of the body affected by living in such a state is determined by the thought attached to the emotion.

Meditation has been proven to have its long-term benefits mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually as it brings us back into the present moment instead of residing in the past - life is happening right here, right now, but we must be present to experience its gifts!

Sources:

Your brain on imagination: It's a lot like reality, study shows.

Science Daily. 2018. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210144943.htm

Our Spiritual Nutrition.

2020. http://ourspiritualnutrition.com/is05.htm

Jordan was born and raised on the west side of Detroit, MI. From an early age, he was drawn to reading and utilized writing as a form of self-expression. He would later find an interest in the occult, health and wellness, spirituality, and topics that expanded his understanding of himself and the world around him. Jordan went on to obtain formal education, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences at Tennessee State University an H.B.C.U. in Nashville, TN and later enrolling in courses at the International Academy of Astrology. Jordan published his first book, “So You Want to Be A Vegetarian?: A Step-by-Step Guide To A Plant-Based Diet'' in 2016 and followed up with his second publication in 2020 titled, "30 Days of Transformation:A Journey Back To Yourself". He currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

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