David meditating with Kahlua. In the afternoons, if she feels I have been at my desk too long, Kahlua will walk directly across my keyboard and jump down on the carpet, reminding me to stick to my priorities. JANMARIE MICHIE
IF MINDFULNESS IS PAYING attention to the present moment deliberately and non-judgementally, what is meditation? One definition of meditation is the application of mindfulness to a particular object for a specific period of time. For example, we may choose to be mindful of some element of breathing—say, the sensation at the tip of our nostrils as we inhale and exhale, as we count our breaths in cycles of four. And we may decide to do this for ten minutes.
We’re now meditating.
Buddhism has a somewhat different definition of meditation: thoroughly familiarising the mind with a virtuous object. This is because Buddhism directs meditation to our ultimate enlightenment.
Whether we practise meditation for spiritual or purely secular benefits, it’s fair to say that meditation, or mind training, is to a mindful life what physical training is to a physically fit life. The one practice supports the other. If you work out at the gym regularly, you’re going to be able to carry heavy luggage, ascend flights of stairs, and deal with whatever physical challenges you encounter each day with much greater ease than a sedentary person. In just the same way, practising meditation regularly enables you to deal with stressful work demands, aggressive people and whatever mental challenges you encounter with greater ease than a person who has fewer mental resources.
A myriad benefits of meditation have already been established in scientific trials, showing how we benefit physically and psychologically from the practice. And much more research is currently underway. If you’re interested in exploring these fascinating subjects in detail, you may like to read my book Why Mindfulness Is Better Than Chocolate.
CAN ANIMALS REALLY MEDITATE?
It is often said that dogs, cats and other animals are natural meditators. They are capable of sitting still for great lengths of time, gazing into the mid-distance and appearing simply to abide in the moment without the need for physical movement or mental stimulation. Unlike us, they seem capable of sitting in a quiet room alone.
Whether or not they are meditating, according to the definitions outlined above, is as unknowable as whether or not the person sitting next to us on the meditation cushion is meditating, or simply daydreaming. But the way that so many pets are highly sensitive to all forms of non-verbal communication as well as quite naturally intuitive and even telepathic suggests that, at the very least, they spend long periods abiding in the here and now—being present.
In the wisdom traditions of the East, the role of meditation has had a particular focus: it is the means by which we can understand and experience the nature of our own consciousness. The great advantage of meditation is that it enables a direct, non-conceptual experience of our own mind—something of greater personal value to us than a purely theoretical understanding.
There is no reason why our pets may not also have this same experiential-based understanding of consciousness. Reading books, listening to teachings and developing a conceptual framework may be helpful to those of us who are obsessive compulsive thinkers. But at some point we need to learn to let go of thoughts and simply observe consciousness for what it is. In this particular activity, our pet dog or cat may be a more advanced practitioner than we are!
A FEW TIPS ON MEDITATING WITH PETS
I expect that many readers of this book will already have some experience of meditation. If you are new to the practice, or would like a quick refresher, I have provided a ‘How to meditate’ section, providing essential instructions, later in this chapter. You can also access free downloads of a variety of guided meditations on my website: www.davidmichie.com.
When meditating with pets, do you need to change how you go about your practice? If your meditation is in some way pet-focused, for example in the case of healing (see Chapter Eight), then the content of your session will necessarily be different. Generally, the only other way I suggest you change your meditation routine is with the following practical steps.
ENABLE YOUR PETS TO COME AND GO FROM WHERE YOU ARE MEDITATING
When my wife and I were first adopted by our cat, Princess Wussik—the inspiration behind The Dalai Lama’s Cat series—I continued my practice of shutting my office door every morning to meditate in peace and quiet. After a few days of this, there was a scratching at the door. I ignored it, in the way that meditators train to withdraw attention from external noises.
The scratching became more insistent. As did my efforts to ignore it.
When, after a break, the scratching started again, I gave in to the inevitable. I got up, opened the door and let little Wussik come over to where I was sitting, where she settled beside me and began to purr appreciatively. It was still a noise, but one I could happily adjust to.
Wussik is no longer with us, and since that time my wife and I have shared our lives with other cats. I no longer close the door when I meditate, but use a door stop to keep it open just wide enough for a small, furry body to pass through.
For the sake of your own meditative concentration, as well as your pet’s convenience, I suggest you keep a door or window open, to allow your pet to come or go during the course of the session without disturbing you.
These days I often find that as I end my meditation session, but before I am ready to get up, my current meditation buddy Kahlua will roll over next to me, with a tremulous stretch of arms and legs, before getting up and walking out of the room. It’s as though she’s saying ‘That’s the meditation done. What next?’
LET YOUR PET DECIDE ON PHYSICAL CONTACT
I know that some people suggest you should meditate with your hand placed on your dog, rabbit, pig or cat to provide contact and reassurance. My own view is that there is a reason why the seven point meditation posture has been used by meditators for the past 2500 years, and that’s why I keep my hands, like a pair of shells, in my lap, even if a pet is right beside me.
Your pet doesn’t need you to touch them to benefit from your peacefulness of body and mind when you meditate. Your pet senses this, even if they are at the other end of the house. Because they are more intuitively engaged with us than most of us generally experience, they are well aware when you shift into the unique state created by meditation—that is, a relaxed body combined with a focused mind.
Of course, if your pet decides they want to lie right beside you, or even climb onto your lap, it’s up to you how far you accommodate them without detracting from your session. I was amused by the description Judy Sampson-Hobson shared in an email about her large tabby cat Charlie, who loved to hug, nuzzle and purr loudly.
When you found yourself meditating, Charlie was there. However, he was much more Zen about his contact. He would very slowly and quietly make his way onto your lap, even if it meant crawling under a shawl. Curl into a generous yet stealthy 13 lb ball, and purr much more quietly, so as not to disturb, and fall fast asleep. This description exactly mirrors how I have heard dog lovers describe the not-so-surreptitious attempts by large canine friends to sneak onto their laps when they are trying to meditate!
OUT OF SIGHT IS NOT OUT OF MIND
You can no more force a pet to meditate than you can a human. Eager as you may be to have your pet accompany you when you meditate, it is better to extend an open invitation, rather than make any demands. And you certainly shouldn’t try to shut a reluctant guinea pig or rabbit in the room when you are meditating in the hope that they will be caught up in the wonderful energy you are creating.
Although we may have mostly lost the ability to tune into the minds of others, there is much evidence that our pets have not. As far as they are concerned, just because we are out of sight doesn’t put us out of range. They may be very aware of what we’re doing on the meditation cushion but, for whatever reason, feel disinclined to join us. They may prefer to share the experience with us in mind rather than in body. Or not even that. It is their prerogative.
Even if our pet isn’t physically present when we meditate, this doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate or benefit from what we’re doing. If we’re new to the practice, it may take them a while to warm up to it. Don’t make your own meditation journey contingent on your pet being with you. It is enough that you cultivate our own sense of wellbeing, balance and clarity of mind. They will be among the first beneficiaries.
THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATING WITH OUR PETS
OUR PETS BECOME CALMER
Pets entrain their minds with ours and are highly responsive to our own emotional state. Think how easy it is to get a dog excited by jumping up and down and shouting enthusiastically. Within a few seconds, most dog owners can have their pet dog barking and jumping too, through the effect sometimes known as emotional contagion.
Pets also respond when we become calmer and more relaxed. And of all the proven benefits of meditation, the multiple outcomes of the relaxation response, physical as well as psychological, are probably the most well established. Meditation has been proven to boost our immune defences, help us manage pain, act as an anti-inflammatory, counteract anxiety and depression, and enhance our sense of wellbeing, to list only a few advantages. When we meditate, even as beginners, we start to tap into the profound peacefulness and wellbeing of our own primordial mind.
If we meditate with our pets we open the possibility for them to experience these same benefits. Research has yet to establish the extent of impacts, but anecdotal evidence of the very strong way that pets are attracted to us when we meditate suggests that they are powerfully drawn to the psycho-physical shift we create, perhaps because they are able to respond to this same shift themselves, or because they are attracted by our transition to a state of greater coherence, which reinforces their own capacity for wellbeing.
WE BUILD STRONGER BONDS OF TRUST
Engaging regularly in a shared activity, especially a non-conceptual one, quite naturally strengthens bonds between those who participate. As I tell the corporate groups to whom I teach mindfulness, ‘A company that sits together, knits together.’ There is a sense that we share something that is distinct from other activities (‘set apart’ is, in fact, the original meaning of the word ‘sacred’), something important and beneficial that binds us together. This very much applies when we meditate with our pets. The longer we continue our meditation journey together, the stronger the bonds.
WE ENHANCE THE TRAINING PROCESS
A direct consequence of stronger bonds is an increased willingness to do other things for one another. We know each other and, in the most important sense, feel we are essentially on the same page. It is unsurprising that dog trainers report that meditating with pets enhances the training process, given the foundation of trust that has been established.1
WE CAN SHIFT THE DYNAMICS IN A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP
Meditation offers a different way to be together, quite separate from our usual vocalised or visualised modalities. Our pets come to experience a different side to us, one which they can more readily share. Sometimes this can be all that’s needed to remove quite significant obstacles from a difficult relationship.
I have received a number of emails from people reporting how a pet that was withdrawn or aloof, often after having been rescued from the local animal shelter, changed their behaviour when they encountered their person meditating.
I particularly like this story from a reader in the United States:
When I first met my partner Peter, my tabby cat Marney did not particularly like him. She seemed to take delight in sitting on his lap, letting him fuss her, then scratching and biting him. Nothing new there—I hear people saying that most cats do not like change, but as Peter is allergic, he could have had a nasty reaction very quickly. This led to our evenings together being cut short as Peter had to go home to get away from the ‘catness’.
To give him credit, Peter persevered with us. He started taking antihistamines regularly and about ten months later he moved in with me. Marney was still indifferent to him with no love lost between them. If Peter felt ‘catty’ he would retreat to the spare bedroom, which was kept a cat-free zone.
Peter started to meditate using the technique of mindfulness of the breath and did this in the privacy of the spare bedroom with the door shut. One evening he did not shut the door properly and Marney wandered in. She jumped on the bed and lay down with Peter as he meditated. He didn’t shoo her away and just left her alone and she stayed with him, seeming to relax and enjoy the atmosphere, rolling on her back and being completely at ease with him for the first time since they met. She often joins him now, relishing the peace, and even seems to know when he is going to meditate and not just going upstairs. She’s much more affectionate towards him and has not bitten or scratched since, which leads to some lovely evenings, all three of us curled up on the sofa, one happy family.
The simple and gentle practice of meditation offers a potential circuit-breaker in challenging relationships like the one between Marney and Peter. It is astonishing how powerfully the dynamics can be shifted to a place of acceptance and even warmth, without the need for any other intervention, or even for a word to be said.
I can vouch for the ability of pets to tell the difference between when we’re meditating versus when we’re just sitting in a chair. On occasion, while still in my desk chair, I have decided to spend a few minutes reciting mantras. Within moments, Kahlua has appeared, eager to sit on the desk next to me. On other occasions, I’ve started meditating when she’s been fast asleep on the porch outside. Awakening some way through the session, she will typically appear with a high-pitched meow that seems to me to express dismay at missing out.
WE CAN HELP OUR PETS THROUGH TIMES OF TRANSITION
Going through a rescue centre, being rehomed with a new family, or moving houses with the same family … these upheavals can cause pets a huge amount of stress. Losing loved ones—human or animal—or having to accommodate new household members, are also times of major transition where meditating with pets can play a key role in minimising trauma.
Not so long ago, a couple we knew brought home two six-year-old dachshund sisters from the local Dogs’ Refuge Home. Having never formally adopted pets before, they weren’t sure how they would settle. At the Dogs’ Refuge Home they were told not to overwhelm their new dogs with too much excitement, to establish a routine from day one, and to allow the dachshunds plenty of time to get used to their new environment.
On arriving home, after initial exploratory visits throughout the house, the dogs seemed to adjust to their new setting very quickly. The very next day, when family members descended for a barbecue, they welcomed them with wagging tails as though they knew them of old.
Every pet is different, as is the relationship with their people. And meditation has a big impact on that relationship. On day one, when the dogs’ new owners sat down to meditate for the first time since the adoption, both dogs came into the room of their own accord and sat with them. Over time one dog has developed a preference for meditating with the wife, and the other prefers being with the husband. So eager are they to maintain the habit that they are often waiting by the meditation room door for one or both of their owners to appear for the morning session.
Within weeks of being adopted, it was as though the two dachshies had been with the couple for years. The dogs were to reveal very different personalities, and came to negotiate favourite spots inside and out. Visitors would remark how very settled they seemed—as though the dogs and their new owners had been living together for their whole lives.
While the impact of meditation on this particular transition can’t be proven, the owners have no doubt that the sisters benefited from the calming effect of being in a home with two meditators, and that this helped them feel safe and settled.
Providing time each day for both ourselves and our pets to reconnect with the peace and light within helps us cope when our world is turned upside down. As we come to terms with whatever has changed in conventional reality, it is extremely beneficial to experience, on a daily basis, the more enduring reality that, ultimately, all is well.
WE BECOME MORE MINDFUL OF OUR PETS DURING THE DAY
It is sometimes observed that mindfulness is easy to do—it is remembering to do it that is the hard part. While it’s possible to cultivate mindfulness purely through incidental activity—for example, remembering to be mindful whenever we enjoy a meal, or take a shower—we experience higher levels of mindfulness if we begin each day with a meditation session. Meditation is the best way to turbo-charge our practice of mindfulness.
When we meditate with our pets, we strengthen the habit of being mindful of them. Developing a closer relationship and sharing the same mindfulness experience, the off-cushion time we spend together is more likely to be mindful. We also make ourselves more accessible to them and optimise the potential for non-verbal communication to occur.
WE OPEN THE PATHWAY TO HEALING
Meditation and healing are very closely related. Many reiki practitioners would say that meditation is healing. The habit of meditating with our pets opens the door to our ability to focus beneficial attention and energy on their physical wellbeing, a subject explored in greater detail in Chapter Eight. Because pets entrain their minds so much with our own mental state, when we place ourselves in a state of balance, congruence and wellbeing, the same shift occurs for them too. With an understanding of specific methods to help the wellbeing of others, we can support their physical and psychological recovery in a gentle yet very powerful way.
WE CREATE TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPRINTS
While the benefits listed above are all valid, from a Buddhist perspective the main purpose of meditation is not to manage stress or enhance relationships. These are only beneficial side effects. The real purpose of meditation is to enable inner growth in a way that is only possible by experiencing the true nature of our own mind directly and non-conceptually.
When we meditate with our pets, quite apart from whatever immediate benefits may be derived, we are also imprinting their consciousness, or conditioning them, so that they will be predisposed to meditate in future lives. We are helping them familiarise their minds with an object of virtue. If they come to associate the state of meditation with peace and positivity, we have given our pets the most wonderful karmic inheritance. What’s more, if they become familiar with the sound of a transformational mantra, the Buddhist view is that this alone may be the cause for them to experience higher rebirth in their next life.
In summary, when we meditate with our pets, we benefit them not only in the short term. We can make the most profound and positive impact on their minds, empowering their own journey to enlightenment.
HOW TO MEDITATE: INSTRUCTIONS
WHERE AND WHEN?
A quiet room, first thing in the morning, is recommended for meditation. It suits most people because after a good night’s sleep we tend to be more refreshed, and our minds less cluttered, than in the evening.
FOR HOW LONG?
I would suggest you start with ten or fifteen minutes if you’re new to the practice. It’s important that meditation is not a chore for you but something you want to do, at the very least a matter of curiosity, and hopefully developing into the source of greatly enhanced inner peace. Ideally you will end a session feeling positively about what you’ve just done, instead of relieved it’s all over. By starting with bite-sized chunks, you will want to increase the length of your sessions quite naturally as your concentration improves. While some meditators put a watch in front of them to keep track of time, if you find this creates a distraction you may like to use a gentle alert on your mobile.
PHYSICAL POSTURE
Take off your shoes and loosen any tight clothing such as a belt. Ideal meditation clothing is a T-shirt or sweatshirt, shorts or tracksuit pants, or a dressing-gown.
Sit with a straight back. Sitting cross-legged on a cushion on the floor has been the recommended posture for thousands of years. But if you can’t manage this, because of a bad back, sore knees or for some other reason, it’s fine to sit in a straight-backed chair. Of all the posture instructions, this is the most important because your spine is the main conduit of your central nervous system. Your back should be erect, but following its natural tendency to be slightly curved at the base. When you meditate, it’s important to keep the spine neither slumped nor artificially straight. This instruction holds true whether you are sitting on a meditation cushion or a regular chair, or even lying in bed.
Rest your hands in your lap. Place your right hand in the left, palms upwards like a pair of shells, with your thumb tips meeting approximately at the level of your navel.
Relax your shoulders. Ideally they should be slightly rolled back, down and resting level. Your arms will therefore rest loosely by your sides.
Adjust the tilt of your head. If you are feeling particularly agitated, tilt your head slightly down, as that will help reduce the agitation. If you’re feeling drowsy, keep your head more upright, to help get rid of sleepiness.
Relax your face. Your mouth, jaw and tongue should be neither slack nor tight, and your brow should be smooth. By placing the tip of the tongue behind your front teeth, you can help control the build-up of saliva.
Close your eyes or gaze at a spot a metre or two ahead of you in an unfocused way. While keeping your eyes half-open and gazing downwards is recommended, when beginning to meditate most people find that keeping the eyes fully closed is better for eliminating distraction.
Once you are in the optimal physical posture, take a few deep breaths and, each time you exhale, let go of whatever thoughts, feelings and sensations you may have been experiencing. Use this exercise as a punctuation mark between whatever was going on before in your mind, and the meditation session you are about to begin. As far as possible try to be purely in the present, without a past, without a future, simply abiding in the here and now.
Give yourself permission to meditate. For the next period of time it’s okay not to have to think about any of your usual concerns. This is your time off to restore, recharge and rebalance.
Begin with a clear motivation. I have provided two options below, one for newcomers to meditation and Buddhism, and the other for people who have some level of commitment to Tibetan Buddhism.
SECULAR MOTIVATION
By the practice of this meditation
I am becoming calm and relaxed,
Happier and more efficient in all that I do,
Both for my own sake, as well as for others.
Feel free to personalise this to reflect your own priorities. Remember that statements should be written in the present tense, not the future, and should be stated in the positive (e.g. I am becoming more and more patient) not the negative (e.g. I am becoming less and less angry). You should also include the wellbeing of others in your motivation.
TIBETAN BUDDHIST MOTIVATION
This combines the three practices of taking refuge (in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), a commitment to practise the six perfections (generosity, ethics, patience, joyous perseverance, concentration and wisdom), and establishing the mind of bodhichitta:
To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha
I go for refuge until becoming enlightened.
By the practice of giving and so on,
May I achieve Buddhahood to benefit all beings.
It’s useful to learn a motivation off by heart so you can repeat it three times, eyes closed, at the start of a session. In this way you associate a relaxed physical and psychological state with this verse.
MEDITATION 1: BREATH COUNTING
Breath counting is used widely across most meditative traditions, and through all levels, from novice meditators to the most advanced practitioners. There are a number of reasons for this. The breath is a convenient object of meditation because we have no difficulty finding it. Making it the focus of our attention is an entirely natural process. When we do so, our breathing tends to slow down quite naturally, thereby slowing our entire metabolism and making us feel more relaxed. And achieving a calm but focused state serves as a useful stabilisation practice.
With the following breath-counting exercise, the objective is to actively shift our focus to the breath. We do this, quite simply, by mentally counting each breath on exhalation, for a set number of breaths. I recommend from one to four to begin with, before beginning again at one.
The process is as follows: place the focus of your attention at the tip of your nostrils, like a sentry, and observe the flow of air as you breathe in and then out. Ideally all the air you inhale and exhale should be through your nose, with your mouth kept firmly shut. However, if you have a condition that makes this difficult, by all means part your lips slightly to inhale and exhale.
As you breathe out, count the number ‘one’ in your mind, then on the next out-breath ‘two’, then ‘three’, ‘four’, and so on. Don’t focus on anything else—for example, don’t follow the air travelling into your lungs, or your rib cage rising and falling. Don’t allow your mind to wander from the tip of your nostrils. And try not to fall asleep! What we’re setting out to achieve is really very simple—but not necessarily easy. The best way to discover this for yourself is to try it. Pretty soon, you’ll find all kinds of thoughts demanding your attention. Even though you’ve set this time aside for meditating, habitual agitation or drowsiness may very soon kick in, to the point that you may discover you can’t even count to four!
This is called gross agitation and it happens to us all. When it does, once you realise you’ve lost the object of meditation—the breath—simply refocus on it and start back at one again. Try not to beat yourself up about your lapse of attention or fall into the trap of believing that you’re one of the few people who can’t meditate. Your experience is, in fact, totally normal. Our minds are amazingly inventive at coming up with reasons to avoid self-discipline: you shouldn’t buy into any of them!
As you settle into your practice, your focus on the breath will become sharper. Try paying more concentrated attention to the detail of every moment. The subtle, physical sensation at the tip of your nostrils as you breathe in. The coolness of the air. The warmer sensation as you exhale. Notice the start of each in-breath, how it builds up, then how it tapers off. The gap between in- and out-breaths. Then the start, middle and fading away of each exhalation. The much longer gap at the end of each exhalation.
As you progress into a meditation session, your breathing will probably slow, and you’ll become more and more conscious of the gaps between out-breath and in-breath. What do you focus on then? Only the absence of breath and the complete relaxation you experience with nothing to distract you, and no demands being put on you. This may not seem an ambitious goal but, rest assured, it is profoundly calming.
Breath-based meditations are a rapid and powerful way of shifting your psycho–physical state. Within minutes you should feel calmer and more grounded. Given the established capacity of animals in general, and our pets in particular, to respond intuitively to us, when we cultivate a state of profound peace and wellbeing within ourselves, they are also prime beneficiaries. I experience the simple truth of this every day when my cat behaves as though magnetically attracted to me when I start to meditate. She will often come and curl up right next to me and begin to purr—quite unlike other times of the day when she sometimes treats me as though I have a highly contagious disease!
The subjective experiences of physical and mental wellbeing are reason enough to practise meditation. But there are other, less immediately evident but very powerful benefits outlined in this chapter, and in the one that follows.
GIVE YOUR MEDITATION A FORMAL ENDING
Just as you began with a motivation, it is useful to end with one too. Why bother? Because your mind–body state has shifted, repeating the same words now may have greater impact, like the stone thrown into a tranquil lake.
SECULAR ENDING
By the practice of this meditation
I am becoming calm and relaxed,
Happier and more efficient in all that I do,
Both for my own sake, as well as for others.
TIBETAN BUDDHIST ENDING
To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha
I go for refuge until becoming enlightened.
By the practice of giving and so on,
May I achieve Buddhahood to benefit all beings.
MEDITATION 2: COCOON VISUALISATION
Follow the instructions above for adopting the optimal physical and psychological posture.
Visualise yourself sitting at the centre of a great cocoon of golden light. The gold light represents radiant happiness, boundless energy and abundant fulfilment in health, prosperity, relationships and all things. With your next inhalation, imagine you are breathing in this golden light and all its wonderful qualities. Visualise the light streaming into your body. With each breath you are filled with more and more happiness, more energy and more fulfilment. If you are meditating with your pet, feel free to include your pet in the visualisation, with the light flowing into their body too.
Make this visualisation relevant to where you are right now. If there is an aspect of your own or your pet’s physical or emotional wellbeing that has been concerning you, imagine the golden light dissolves away all negativities, anxieties or fears. For the next few minutes, breath by breath, every aspect of your own and your pet’s life is filled with positive energy, confidence and profound wellbeing.
Continuing the meditation, visualise the gold-coloured light permeating your whole body, from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes. Imagine it penetrating every part of your body, every organ—and that of your pet—each single cell, infusing your whole being with intense radiance, happiness and fulfilment. With every breath, you absorb the qualities of profound wellbeing more and more, until you become one with the golden-coloured light. You and your pet become energy and purpose and deep, deep happiness.
Coming to the end of your guided visualisation, be aware of how you are feeling. Enjoy the positive effect of your meditation on body and mind. Resolve to return to this feeling, as much as possible, during the rest of the day or evening.
End the meditation session by repeating your motivation.
A lot of people enjoy the novelty and playfulness of this visualisation, as well as its powerful impact on our state of body and mind. Feel free to customise the visualisation to meet your own particular needs by changing the colour of the light you breathe in. For example, deep blue is the colour of healing and this can be a most useful meditation to support physical and mental recovery from disease and illness. Bear in mind that cats and dogs can only see yellow/gold and blue, so these are the best colours to work with when meditating with pets.
These two meditations are useful to begin with, but there are many others. ‘Meditation’ is a bit like the word ‘sport’, encompassing a great many different practices, some of which appeal to different people more than others. What’s important is to find the practice that most resonates with you and cultivate it.
You will find more meditation types in Chapter Eight (on healing). I also have a range of free guided meditation downloads available on my website: www.davidmichie.com.