The place of stillness

Yesterday, as I was meditating I suddenly entered this place of stillness - my thoughts suddently subsided, my breathing became very slow and I felt total stillness. I could hear what was going on around me, but my mind was still, my breathing was still, my heart was ... peaceful. I do a breathing exercise, a type of pranayam I learned from guru Sant Shri Asaram Bapuji. I take a deep, deep breath, then try to hold it for 1 min. I don't try to force it too much, but sometimes I do look at the second hand of the clock to see my progress. Next I breathe out all air, then hold the breath. 40 seconds is the ideal, and it is called "baahya kumbhak" where you hold your breath after breathing out. It is more difficult than "kumbhak" which is holding your breath after you breath in. I don't try to do 40 seconds, but only as much as I can without forcing to the point of uncomfortability. Doing this exercise helps the breath flow much smoother and almost feels like it was moving through butter - frictonless. Feels good. So, the point is, this place of stillness, of almost no-breath I think is partly because of this pranayam exercise, and my meditation. Because even though I wasn't breathing regularly, taking in very little air, my chest was moving as if I was breathing regularly. It didn't seem like I needed air, because it seemed like I was getting air anyway. It was an amazing feeling.

How I Meditate

I have been meditating off and on for some time now. It was only after I did one particular exercise in this book called "The Heart of Meditation" by Swami Durgananda that I really started going deeper into meditation than I had before. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand what Meditation is all about and to learn how to meditate. The exercise I picked was called "The Way to the Heart", I believe. What I did was sit comfortably and quietly in one place, and focus my attention in the center of my chest, a little above the solar plexus. This is the heart chakra - "anahat chakra", if I remember correctly. The goal is to focus your attention at the spot, and observe what you feel. No need to concentrate, or to try and "feel" peaceful. If you feel any pressure in that region, you just focus your attention on it - feel it. Nothing else. Slowly, any pressure you feel in that region dissipates, the feeling of "peace", calmness, contentment increases. Some days I would feel so contented that I wanted to hug everyone I saw on the way to work. I didn't do that, of course, but you understand the kind of feelings meditation aroused in me. The feelings don't stay for long, though, but you develop an overall sense of contentment in your life if you continue.