Vipassana

When people are talking about meditation they will often mean vipassana meditation. But what is vipassana meditation and how do you do it? Vipassana is a Pali word that means something like seeing things as they are. The vipassana meditation sometimes is also called the insightmeditation. Vipassana originates from Buddhism.

LEARNING TO SEE

During vipassana meditation you try to observe everything that comes to you, that emerges as clearly as you can. This can be sensations in your body, a feeling, a thought or a sound. You are trying to get insight into you mental and physical processes.

POSTURE

Even though the vipassana meditation can be done in the form of a walkingmeditation, it is more often practiced sitting down. It is important to be comfortable but maintain a straight back while sitting down. You want to be able to relax but also stay alert. Lose fitting clothes are nice so nothing gets in the way and you can sit easily. Make sure you are still able to breath without effort.

ANCHOR

In vipassana you are likely to use an anchor. You can read more about anchors in meditation here. Typically the breath is used as the anchor. Especially bellybreathing, which I like to use. Your intention is to stay wth your anchor, in this instance the breath.

Most likely you will get distracted which is completely normal, it's part of the practice. When you notice you lost your anchor, you just notice it in a gentle way and then you go back to your anchor in a loving way. You are not supposed to judge yourself or get frustrated because you got distracted. It isn't called a meditationPRACTICE for nothing.

VISITORS

My own meditationteacher calls distractions during meditation visitors. You greet them and then you go back to your anchor. If you like you can name the thing that distracted you, the visitor. A thought would be "thought" or "thinking", something you can feel in your body could be named "sensation" and when you hear something you can call it "sound". When naming your visitors it's important not to dive right into them, not go into the story behind them. You don't want to think about what it is you are hearing or feeling. Also try not to see them as positive or negative. They are all neutral and you treat them all in the same way. You greet your visitors in a friendly manner and you go back to your anchor.

If you would like to know more about this I would encourage you to take a look at Gerjan's blog, my own teacher. In this post he explains how you can start with vipassana in a simple way.

That was it for today. Goodluck with the next steps on your bridge. I wish you all the happiness and an amazing day.

❤ Eva