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Nov 7, 2015

Meditation Basics

Location : Cebu City, Philippines

Teaching Format
Since I discovered Vipassana, I have become a regular meditator and have seen my progress with the passing years. Meditation has always been a private practice although every now and then, I get to share it with friends. This time however, Pascale Wettstein, a seasoned yoga teacher currently conducting a 200-hour teacher training program in Cebu, asked me to conduct a meditation session to the current batch of soon-to-be yoga teachers.

Question now is, how do I put my practice into a teaching format? Here's my attempt to do just that.

conducting a meditation class in Cebu

What is Meditation?
There are many established answers to this, but I'll keep it simple within my limited experience. Meditation is a technique of calming and creating stillness in the mind. That's it. It's just a technique. It's not about God, religion or any kind of rite or ritual. How do we create that stillness of the mind? First, we keep the body still. Then we calm the mind. However, it's not as simple as it sounds. Calming the mind is like asking a 2 year-old to remain seated on a chair for an hour. What you do once the mind is still, is up to you. You can meditate for just 10 minutes, or spend your life inside a cave and deepen your meditation.

Objectives of Meditation
You always start your meditation with an intention. What do you want to achieve in this session? In a meditative state, the mind is susceptible to suggestion. Is it to simply calm the mind and body? It can be that simple. You can attempt to stop smoking through meditation. You can heal the body through meditation. You can attempt enlightenment. In some advanced type of meditation like Vipassana, you can perform a deep surgery of the mind to exorcise all the negativities at the root level.

Benefits of Meditation
Of course, you meditate with your own intentions - that's a given. But there are other hidden benefits to meditation.

healing - first, the body activates its parasympathetic nervous system, allowing the body to heal
non-reactive - second, by having a calm mind, you develop the habit of being non-reactive. You can observe an event without reacting to it. You can assess your exercisable options and make informed decisions instead of going into auto-pilot
economy - by not being stressed-out, you also economize your energy, saving it for the more essential tasks
gifts - this serves as a powerful distraction, but meditation can awaken inherent esoteric abilities

Meditation Techniques
There are many techniques - visualization, observation, uttering a mantra, breath regulation (pranayama), counting, etc. The most popular is to start with the breath. The breath serves as the umbilical cord between the physical world and the esoteric world of prana - the life force governing our universe. The breath also primes the body to be in a meditative state.

Start of Practice
Traditionally, the sequence for meditation is preceded by asana and pranayama. Since we've done our asana, let's begin our meditation by doing a few rounds of pranayama.

Getting Seated Properly

cross your legs either in full lotus, half lotus or just a simple crossing
keep the sit bones centered and square. It may help to sit on a cushion.
keep the spine vertical aligned - no slouching
keep the crown of the head reaching up the sky, creating length and space on the spine
put your hands by your lap, either on a mudra or just resting on the lap. Best if you can have the thumbs lightly touching each other with right fingers on top of left (for guys) and left over right for females
light smile on the face - like a Mona Lisa
we practice Strong Determination (Addithana) on this pose - for the full length of this session, do NOT move or open your legs. Observe the increasing discomfort without any reaction whatsoever. Just observe the sensation with a calm and balanced mind.

Pranayama

Nadi Shodhan - alternate nostril breathing exercise, regulates vital life force
Kapalbhati - skull shining forceful exhalation
Kapalbhati/Nadi Shodhan - forceful exhalation alternating on both nostrils

Meditation Practice

we are still into Pranayama, as we continue regulating our breath
imagine your lungs to be a balloon, inflating with every in-breath, and deflating on every out-breath
inhale completely, making the most of all the nutrition..all the prana we get from the air
exhale completely, fully emptying the lungs - no residual air left
always pause between the in-breath and the out-breath
on the inhale, fill the chest portion of the lungs first, then continue the breath filling-in the belly, allowing it to expand out
on the exhale, empty the belly first, followed by the chest...like pressing toothpaste out of its tube
observe the subleties of the breath. Is there more air coming in or out of one nostril compared to the other? Observe.
keep observing...is the out-breath warmer than the in-breath? Just how much warmer? Observe without any reaction.
observe the in-breath as it passes through the inner lining of the nostril
observe the out-breath as it touches the area above the upper lip
continue breathing, keeping the mind alert and vigilant

...after 10 minutes of focused breathing

resume normal breath. Don't regulate the breath anymore. No more Pranayama. Don't even pay attention to your breathing
instead, focus your attention to what you are thinking - observe your own thoughts
you are not your thoughts. You are observing the mind's thought-process. Begin to see them from a distance.
imagine yourself to be a mountain - immovable, permanent and massive. Imagine your thoughts to be passing clouds - they arise, drift by and pass away into nothingness
if you stray and become lost in your own private thoughts...and this will happen, take refuge back into the breath, and resume observing your thoughts

...after 10 minutes of observing the thoughts

now, we stop observing our mind and begin to focus on the body. We put our attention to individual body parts
bring focus on the head - from the scalp all the way down to the neck. Observe if there is any sensation. Does it feel heavy? Does it feel itchy? Does it feel throbbing? Don't create any sensation...just observe them if there is any. Let's spend a minute here observing the head and any body sensation that might be there.
bring your attention lower to the muscles at the base of the neck....and across the entire span of the shoulders. Observe. Do you feel anything? Is one shoulder heavier than the other? Is one shoulder higher than the other. Do you feel any sensation? If you do, what kind of sensation. Whatever it is, don't react to it.
from the shoulders, bring your attention to the entire length of the arm, all the way down to the finger tips. Is there a tingling sensation on the fingers? Do you feel your pulse? Is the pulse stronger on one hand?
bring the attention up and into the chest. Do you feel it expand on the in-breath? Do you feel it's contraction on the out-breath?
focus now on the abdomen. On the in-breath, does it expand as much as the chest? When you exhale, which contracts first? The abdomen? or the chest? Observe without any reaction.
shift the attention now on the pelvic area. Observe for any sensation that might be there. Does it feel fatigued? Is it completely relaxed?
let us observe both legs from the upper thigh to the toes. It's a huge muscle group. Do you feel anything when you observe it? Is there any tightness? Are the muscles limp or are they tight? Do you feel any sensation on the tips of the toes?
having scanned the full body, scan it one more time in one full breath - from the top of the head to the tip of the toes
on the next breath, scan it again for any sensation from the tip of the toes to the top of the head

OM Mantra

let's bring our attention back in the breath and do a deep, long inhale. Continue breathing.
on the next exhale, let's all utter the OM Mantra and let's do it 3x
inhale everyone....and
Aaaaa....uuuuuu....mmmmmmmm
let us put our hands together in front of our chest, open our eyes...and greet each other Namaste
this ends our meditation practice

Practice Ends Here

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

** pictures provided by Claire Paredes and MichaelClaire Yap (thru FB)

Pascale's Teacher-Training Class - asanas before meditation

Pascale's pace was slow and intense - great for sinking into the pose

reaching up, creating space on the rib-cage

Reader Comments:

MichaelDouglas Yap
(Nov 10, 2015) Thank u!

Mechel Zapanta
(Nov 10, 2015) Awesome to see you again Gigit! thanks for teaching us meditation

Cebu City, Philippines

tourist attractions

Tops - hilltop offering panoramic view of the city
Taoist Temple - temple on a hillslope in Lahug with panoramic view of the city

hotel

Hostel Seven Cebu - newly opened, resto/bar, central location, solo/group travellers
Juana Osmeña Street, Cebu City
S Hotel & Residences - new hotel, luxury rooms, central location
827 M. Velez corner Andres Abellana St.

resto / cafe / bar

Fujinoya - new and refreshing twists to Western style desserts using Japanese techniques
Wilson St., Lahug, Cebu City - tel. 888.6075
Bad Boys Wingz - Buffalo Wings, unique versions of sauces! Great service, accommodating staff, bad boys vibe
Kasambagan, Cebu City | (032) 415 4811

yoga

Love Yoga World - yoga studio
11/fl, Skyrise 2 Tower, IT Park, Lahug, Cebu City
Yoga Now - first Yoga and Wellness studio in Mactan offering daily Yoga Classes
at The Yacht Club Mactan

mountain biking

Cebu Mountain Bike Adventure - MTB tours, bike sales and repairs. Bed and Breakfast + Resto Cafe + wifi
1298-b V.Rama Ave, Guadalupe, Cebu City | 0942.959.7451

More Information about Cebu City

Currency Converter

Suggested Destinations in Cebu

Camotes Islands - caves, beaches
Cebu City - rich in culture and history, 2nd largest city in the Philippines
Moalboal - amazing coral reef system, sardine bowl, deep drop-off for freediving
Oslob - Butanding (whale shark) watching
Bantayan Island - long stretch of fine white sand beach, Virgin Island for snorkeling
Malapascua Island - divers' paradise for seeing the rare Thresher Shark
Cantabaco Cave - Toledo
Barile Waterfalls - Barile
Whale Shark Tour - Oslob
Carcar - chicharon and lechon in public market

»» next story: Smoked Salmon-Belly Pizza on BBQ Sauce
»» next Meditation story: Life Coaching for a Chronically Depressed Cambodian
»» next Yoga story: Yoga Adjustment and Alignment
»» next Teaching story: First Day of Teaching English at Thai Plum Village
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