| When we decide to learn to meditate and make | | | | third eye or spiritual eye. Watch the breath. On |
| the effort each day to be consistent in this | | | | the in breath (inspiration) pay attention to the cool |
| practice, it changes everything in our lives. We | | | | air coming through your nostrils; on the out breath |
| meditate without asking for results, favors, | | | | (the expiration) notice the warm air exiting your |
| paybacks, or wish fulfillments. Many individuals | | | | nostrils. Each breath is unique; each moment an |
| meditate because their purpose is to make | | | | opportunity. Be kind and unjudgmental with |
| contact with a cosmic consciousness, to remove | | | | yourself. When you are distracted by thoughts, |
| themselves from the delusions of the external | | | | feelings, body sensations, outside distractions, |
| world. Others meditate to find inner peace from | | | | gently bring yourself back to the breath. In the |
| the anxiety, obsessive thinking, and | | | | beginning, sit for a short period of time---two to |
| preoccupations of daily living. For writers who are | | | | five minutes at first. As you become accustomed |
| constantly working from inside themselves, | | | | to this, gradually extend the time that you |
| meditation gets us in touch with the deepest | | | | meditate. Emphasize consistency over length of |
| parts of ourselves, expands the imagination, and | | | | time when you are beginning a meditation |
| provides us with a perpetual infusion of hope and | | | | practice. |
| steadiness. | | | | Meditation assists writers in a variety of ways: |
| Meditating with great sincerity and transparency, | | | | 1. Increases intuition which loosens up the creative |
| we ask nothing in return for our efforts. We | | | | flow |
| simply sit with consistency. Starting with a couple | | | | 2. Quiets and expands the mind that leads to a |
| of minutes each day and increasing as we go, we | | | | cascade of fresh ideas |
| build the muscles of discipline and concentration | | | | 3. The discipline and concentration required for |
| that become a new habit. | | | | meditation and writing are interconnected. |
| A starting point is vipassana meditation. | | | | 4. Meditation expands our consciousness, |
| "Vipassana is one of India's most ancient | | | | stretches our muscles of awareness and teaches |
| techniques of meditation, attributed to Gautama | | | | the writer that there is always a solution, a |
| Buddha." With closed eyes, focus your attention | | | | direction, a new turn of thought that is coming |
| on the point between your eyebrows called the | | | | through each moment. |