Do We Need To Define Meditation?

So... here is a question for you.....why is it that people need to put things into a category?

Does it matter? I suppose it might depending on what it’s referring to.

If you’ve decided that it’s time to get a dog, it’s very helpful to know what ‘category’ it would fit into. Is it a large, medium or small breed?

But I think that oftentimes it doesn’t. 

What Kind Of Meditation Do You Teach?

I hadn’t really thought of meditation as something that also needed to be ‘categorized.’ Usually when I tell people that I teach meditation, that’s enough to either pique their interest or not.

The first time someone asked me “what kind of meditation do you teach?” I was attending my first qigong retreat. I was taken aback and my reply was that I just teach people how to meditate.

Then I came to realize that what I typically teach they defined as “sitting meditation.” As opposed to walking, standing, moving.... Now in that situation I came to understand a bit more of why they were asking, because the qigong that I do has been taught to me as a form of moving meditation. 

Move forward two years to another qigong retreat and I was asked again. My reply was that I simply teach people to meditate in a way that works for them.

But no....she was looking for a more defined label. Did I teach sitting, standing, insight or concentration meditation? Plus a few other categories that I can’t remember. Heck - I wasn’t even sure what she was talking about with ‘insight’ and ‘concentration’ meditation.

And here’s why. When I’m teaching meditation I’m trying to help people discover what will work best for them.

I know what works for me, and I’ve found it also works for the majority of my students, but if not that’s okay.

In our meditation teacher training with davidji we study many different philosophies and types of meditation. I’ve recently trained to instruct qigong so that I can help those who don’t feel they can sit still long enough to do ‘sitting’ meditation.

If I can help them find a way into that peaceful calm through qigong as a form of ‘moving’ meditation they will still reap the benefits - and perhaps some day find their way to ‘sitting’ meditation as well.

I know there are meditation programs out there geared to specific results but really, I don’t think we need to define and categorize meditation so distinctly.

Does it Matter What Kind of Meditation You Do?

We don’t need a lot of tools and gimmicks. People have meditated for thousands of years without them. Find what works for you and do it!

If guided meditation or beautiful music helps you get into a calm space then use it. If you practice long enough, eventually you will be able to enter that meditative peace anywhere without them.

You can change it up and one day use a mantra, on another day follow your breath and on another listen to a guided meditation. If you enjoy it, you’ll keep at it. Because in the end, if you can just find some minutes in the day to meditate, you will reap all of the benefits throughout the rest of your day. 

While going through US customs at the airport the officer asked why I was going to Sanibel Island. I told him that I taught meditation and was going to a teachers retreat. “Oh”, he said, “what kind of meditation do you teach?” With a smile I said “I teach whatever kind of meditation is going to work for you.”

Namaste,   Glenda