No other practice can do more to bring us personal freedom in our daily life than deep meditation. It brings us to eternal and unshakable inner silence and expands our experience of life to be unending happiness, joy, and bliss.
In this article, I will share with you what deep meditation is and how you can start this transcendental practice.
The Essence Of Deep Meditation
To dive deeper into the essence of deep meditation, I will answer the most common questions the beginners usually ask.
What Is Deep Meditation?
Deep meditation is a mental practice that transfers your mind from surface awareness to subtle awareness, and ultimately to no awareness. During this practice, your mind travels through the various degrees of awareness and your body becomes calm and relaxed.
What Is The Difference Between Deep Meditation And Regular Meditation?
Regular meditation is characterized by focused attention and relatively short periods of mental silence. Whereas deep meditation focuses and directs the energy of a person in a special way – it goes beyond the physical consciousness and allows you to achieve complete silence in your thoughts.
The main distinguishing feature of deep meditation compared to regular meditation is that the final state of deep meditation excludes the presence of an object.
What Meditation Practices Are Considered Deep Meditations?
A good example of deep meditation is Shikantaza. This is a sitting meditation in the Buddhist tradition. It is designed to train pure perception. Shikantaza doesn’t involve concentrating on an object, such as your breath or a mantra. It is an “objectless meditation,” where you focus on everything you experience – thoughts, sounds, feelings – without attaching to any of them.
Another great example is the Nadabrahma. This is a so-called “humming meditation”. Through humming and hand movements, conflicting parts of you start falling in tune, and you bring harmony to your whole being. Then, with body and mind totally together, you “slip out of their hold” and become a witness to both. This observation from the outside is what brings peace, silence, and bliss.
What Are The Benefits Of Deep Meditation?
The practice of deep meditation can help you to:
- Raise your vibrations;
- Gain a sense of oneness with the whole world;
- Recognize and feel the energetic nature of the world;
- Develop empathy, compassion, and love;
- Go beyond time;
- Hear the voice of your intuition;
- Gain access to the field of unlimited Universal potential;
- Learn to communicate with spirit guides;
- Go beyond your own body;
- Reconnect with your Higher Self;
- Recharge your energy body;
- Cleanse your aura;
- Become more loving, joyful, calm, and grateful;
- Renew the lost interest in life;
- Heal the body and calm the mind;
- Rejuvenate the cells;
- Get rid of anxiety and fears;
- Calm down and become more balanced and peaceful;
- Increase your concentration abilities;
- Discover your purpose in life and open up your inner poterntial.
5 Steps To Deepen Your Meditation
#1: Define Your Intention
Deep meditation requires setting your intention for the practice. Your motivation is the fuel for your daily efforts. Formulate your intention before you begin your journey into the mysterious world of deep meditation.
Ask yourself, why do you want to meditate? Is your goal to just relax and calm your mind or you want to go farther and achieve spiritual transformation? Find an honest answer and stick with this intention. Remember that success in meditation practice depends on your commitment and consistency!
#2: Determine the Time
It is very important to determine what time suits best for your meditation practices. Some people like to meditate during Brahma Muhurta time, others are getting the maximum benefit from the evening practices. There is no “right” time for meditation since it’s very individual. Choose a period of time when no one can distract you. Disconnect from the outside world to hear the inner silence.
#3: Create a Calm Atmosphere
Be sure to prepare for practice – it’s like a warm-up before a workout in the gym. Ventilate the room, close the curtains, or dim the electric lighting. It is good to light candles, they will help create a meditative atmosphere.
#4: Use Incense And Essential Oils
Incense has been used for centuries in spiritual practices of different cultures. The essential oil of incense helps to clear and calm the mind, connect with your inner self.
Experiment with different scents and choose the one that responds to you. Here are some good options to start with:
Grapefruit aroma calms thoughts, eliminates emotional and energetical blocks, fills the mind with inspiration, and provokes creative impulses.
Lavender calms and balances the work of all energy centers (chakras) and subtle bodies, clarifies the mind, and promotes enlightenment. It is most often used for meditation practices.
Sandalwood grounds, immerses you in the “here and now” moment, sets up a deeply spiritual work.
Any of these essential oils can be used for burning in an essential oil burner or mixed with a base oil and applied to the temples, wrists, elbows, or feet.
#5: Take A Comfortable Body Position
Pay special attention to the position of the body during the practice. At first, it is not necessary to sit strictly in the Lotus position if you are uncomfortable, but if you sit on the sofa or lie in bed, you will not achieve good results in your meditation practice.
You can sit on a chair or a special meditation chair. Sit down so that your hips are parallel to the floor and your feet are firmly on the floor. It is important to feel the contact with the “ground”. Therefore, make sure that your feet are touching a solid surface.
Straighten your back. Pull the top of your head towards the sky, and lower your chin slightly. Place your tongue on the upper palate behind your front teeth. This is how you harmonize the circulation of energy along the energy meridians.
When you sit straight with your legs crossed, and your hands on your knees, energy can flow freely through the energy centers and meridians of your body. This position is perfect for deep meditation.
3 Keys To Deep Meditation
Now that you know the essence and steps to deep meditation, let me share with you 3 important keys that will help you to achieve a deep state.
Key #1: Calm your body and mind
Before you start your meditation practice, sit down, give yourself a minute to remember the intention of your practice, and take several deep breaths. As you breathe, immerse yourself in the present moment. On the inhale, visualize how white light is filling up your body. On the exhale, feel how any pressures or worries are leaving your body and mind.
Key #2: Find a place of contentment and joy within yourself
Our brain is designed to seek pleasure and reject pain. Therefore, before you start practicing deep meditation, try finding a place of contentment and joy within yourself. Once your brain has received the message that you are safe and all is well, restlessness and anxiety naturally decrease.
To help your brain feel safe, you can repeat a positive affirmation, such as “Right here, right now, I feel happy and content.” Also, you can remind yourself of all the things you are grateful for.
Key #3: Focus And Concentration
For a successful deep meditation practice, it is essential to rediscover your focus. Rather than remaining attached to the past or worrying about the future, by focusing on the breath and going deeper and deeper into mindful awareness, we enjoy every gift and experience that’s available for us right now. As we are deepening our meditation, we are also training our minds to fully appreciate what is happening in the NOW moment. As we progress, the mind will be able to focus better, and with less effort.
Joy (piti) and happiness (sukha) are two of the five factors of meditative absorption (jhanna). The more you learn to open up and enjoy your meditation practice, the fewer reasons there are for the mind to get restless thinking of other things.
Finishing The Practice
Get out of your meditation gently, not hurriedly. Gently move your fingers and neck, and then open your eyes. Gentle transition helps you bring your meditative experience into your daily life.
Also, it is very beneficial for your practice to write a meditation journal. Each time after finishing your meditation, take some notes about how your practice went. Journaling develops a greater understanding of meditation experiences, feelings, and visions you may have during the practice.
The Bottom Line
Doing deep meditation is an excellent tool for immersing yourself in the present moment, relaxing our bodies, and clearing our minds. Deep meditation helps us to reconnect with our Higher Selves, unify with the Universal consciousness, and feel our Divine nature.
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