A comprehensive Guide to Meditation with Terry
A sneak peek into the world of Meditation:
Meditation is no mystery. Some of us are privileged to experience it; some are apprehensive about trying, while others just don’t have time. We are aware of the multiple benefits of Meditation in our emotional well-being. However, a recent one-to-one session with a meditator expert, or I would say ‘guru’ of Meditation, Terry, changed my perspective of ‘meditation.’ It’s a whole new spiritual world out there amid the hustle-bustle of the physical world.
I will be honest. I was in the lurch until I had an enlightening session with Terry about Meditation. Talwinder ‘Terry’ Sidhu was born in the UK and raised in a Sikh household. He now resides in Nelson, B.C, where he was teaching Meditation in a studio before Covid. He is still imparting his knowledge by coaching various meditation techniques to students through online sessions. His students are as young as curious children of 5 years old to teenagers and adults up to 95. Terry has also authored a book recently: Meditate: Breathe into Meditation and Awaken Your Potential.
Terry starts with a dialogue with his student to initiate Meditation on what they want to learn and teach Meditation according to their yearnings/interest. Terry describes his experience as someone who had an aptitude for Meditation. A child who was comfortable with little sanctuary in his mind. He later derived knowledge from various religious scriptures.
Read along as one by one, Terry helped me to settle all my fears, myths, and query about Meditation.
So, what is Meditation?
Have you ever been struck by an anxious thought? Did you have an urge to pull away from that thought for your peace of mind or be gripped to be consumed by, only to be frustrated? You inhale to pull away from yourself from that negative thought and exhale to relieve yourself. You are in control of your thoughts, and this is what Meditation is all about. Seriously, no rocket science! A simple breathing technique can help one deal with anxiety, fear, stress, and other mental health issues.
Being able to meditate can detach yourself from the experiences at any given moment in time. Observe closely and study it. When you meditate, you are existing as a creator and observing the creation. For example, if you have an anxious thought, that’s creation. Now the question arises ‘how did that anxiety come to manifest?’, leading to ‘how do I create calmness?’. The answer resides very much in yourself.
In Meditation, you start to question backward: what’s the source of this creation, anxiety in this context? And tracing back to the creation of that creator. Until we start to question our third eye.
This brings to mind a mind-boggling concept of ‘THE THIRD EYE’. I was always living with my third eye up till now, but I was in deception.
The ‘THIRD EYE’
‘Third eye’ is also known as your sixth sense. It is your ability to sense what is true and what Is not. If we are told to relive a memory, the physical body can’t go into our subconscious mind and relive that memory. Our third eye or higher self-will relive that memory. The third eye is the version of you that exists in your body, in your mind, and a version that you carry into your soul. That’s one version of you in these 3 key experiences. Once you learn how to exist, Meditation becomes a lot easier. Even if our body ages, the interesting fact Is that our third eye necessarily does not. It becomes wiser and has access to more data based on life experience.
Inculcating Meditation in children
What amazed me was the fact that Terry started Meditation as early as 9 years old! Thanks to his mom, who had a vision for her child at such a tender age. This stirred curiosity in the young mind. I probed how to inculcate Meditation in younger children. The tips Terry shared would be gems of wisdom for any mom, guardian, or facilitator.
The moment a child starts to question is the time to introduce Meditation. An interesting example is if a child is curious about a spider. Don’t just smirk at the inquisitive mind. Encourage the child. If the child wants to learn about spiders, you should ask him to think like a spider and be like a spider. These experiences will settle his quest about nature and make the child playfully acquainted with Meditation.
Ask them to imagine being a spider with eight legs and which places they would want to hide, where would they climb? The possibilities are infinite for a young mind to explore. Next time they come across the spider, they are bound to look at it from a different perspective. This is where Meditation comes in. Ask the child to express the findings. Have an open dialogue.
Contrary to the myth about Meditation, you have not exclusively carried on any therapy. It’s a merely everyday conversation that has triggered Meditation. Don’t shy away from asking children what they want to learn. Unfortunately, we are so conditioned to make kids adhere to-dos and don’ts that we miss open communication. After all, an inquisitive mind paves the way for innovations and solutions to multiple problems around us. Don’t take away this opportunity from children. Let the mindset thrive through Meditation.
The world Is changing rapidly around us. If we do not give children an outlet to express themselves, it can be quite difficult ‘as if living life in a pressure cooker.’ Findings can lead to Dialogue. Nurture kids’ curiosity by engaging in constructive communication.
As I was listening to Terry with awe, I could point out so many key domains that Meditation could incorporate in the kindergarten curriculum as a Childhood Educator. As children play in the playground, listen to a story, or have a heart-to-heart conversation, many areas could be tapped to start Meditation.
Meditation, Covid and Social isolation
Mental health issues during the covid has struck all of us. From children to adults, no one is spared. Terry has got the perfect solution. He recalls his two weeks being spent in Meditation. The world was indeed restricted for his physical body, but he had ideas and memories to venture into. What Terry describes as the ‘wonderful two weeks in isolation. He penned his thoughts constructively in the book during the lockdown. When covid took a toll on everything else, his studio had to be shut down too. He diverted to a covid project of writing a book to teach about Meditation. The book is written in chapter form for the reader’s convenience, just the way Terry would teach his class. That was his adaptation method during the lockdown, unleashing his passion for Meditation and imparting it to others.
Now is the time during lockdown to reflect on life. With social isolation, there is no mainstream outlet where people have answers to their questions. Many of us don’t have access to their places in the community like churches, synagogues, and other places of worship or counseling. The good news is that We can seek answers from within. We, humans, are intelligent beings. We know when to sleep, drink, and eat. Covid and lockdown taught us survival. Indoors we learned to find ways for workouts, haircuts, restaurant-style cooking, and whatnot. We human beings are well equipped with adaptation and can adjust in the darkest of times.
Countering myths about Meditation
Am I eligible for Meditation? Can I take out time? Do I need to go to a secluded environment?
Yes, yes, and no. If you can sleep and breathe, you can meditate. The only difference between sleep and Meditation is during sleep, our body is in stand-by mode. In Meditation, our mind is not shutting down.
You need not exclusively go to a serene environment or be close to nature for Meditation. The busier and crazier the external environment is, the more beneficial it’s for the meditation training as you learn to detach. Terry further insisted, ‘For people saying I can’t meditate, it’s like I can’t sleep.’
But I don’t have time for Meditation!
Terry gave an amazing tip for that.
Meditation is possible amid your busy schedule no matter what walk of life your belong to. If you are a mom, running errands all day, from school pick and drop to a grocery run. Your ‘Me Time’ revolves only around a cup of coffee. Meditation would be an ideal solution to connect and explore the real you, but then who has time for Meditation??!! Well, what if I reveal that 60 seconds a day would suffice. 60 seconds of conscious breathing while you grab a cup of coffee and stand by the window, observe the world, and breathe for 60 seconds consciously. Keep on doing it for one year and increase it to 2 mins the following year.
Grab a copy of Terry’s book Meditate: Breathe into Meditation and Awaken Your Potential. For your guide to Meditation. What’s interesting about the book is that you don’t have to read the entire book to start meditating. The chapters are reader-friendly, like an introduction to Meditation, how to meditate, deepening your Meditation, etc. Depending on where you are in your meditation practice, you can start from that chapter.
You can also download the free meditation starter Pack. Here you can access the chapter on Introduction to Meditation, video on the 5-step Meditation process, and listen to Quick-start guided Meditation.
Terry also has an engaging YouTube Channel, Meditate with Terry. I would recommend you subscribe to it. With visuals and examples from the real-life, it gets way easier to comprehend and practice Meditation.
Don’t forget to register for the upcoming Zoom Session with Terry on the Here2Help Community Platform on June 22nd, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm. What’s more, It’s free of cost!
In this meditation workshop, you will learn how to activate your’ third eye’ and breathe into Meditation to calm your mind and let go of distractions. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience. This class is suitable for all levels of experience, and please ensure that you are seated comfortably.
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