A common issue in meditation is the feeling that we are not doing it right.

This is something that my students say to me, and I also have personal experience - it actually made me bounce off meditation when I first tried it as a teenager!

In today's practice I try to address that a little - talking about what we're actually doing when we meditate, what might it feel like, and how we can embrace our experience as it actually is.

I hope this will be useful.

Today's meditation includes a whole lot of singing (apologies - this is not my strong suit).

I thought it might be interesting to share the kirtan that you'd usually hear sung before and after every yoga practice (meditation, asana, satsang, etc) in a lot of ashrams. I've shared the words and my best effort at translation in the link below (this is on Patreon, but it doesn't require a payment or registration).

The meditation for today is also slightly different. A little longer than usual, and with less guidance. So see how you get on with all of this. If it doesn't feel right, just stick with my other episodes.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/meditation-and-152202302

In this episode, I've adapted a meditation focused on the five koshas to be a little more beginner friendly. The practice takes us through awareness of 1) the body, 2) the breath, 3) the senses, 4) the mind, and finally to 5) pure awareness itself.

I think this should be quite a nice progressive relaxation, so hopefully it works for you!

Today's meditation involves a guided body scan, and a meditative visualisation using imagery of a deep lake. If you have a fear of deep or open water, then this might make you feel uncomfortable, so please have a think about whether this recording will be right for you today.

If you'd like an alternative, Episode 2 is a pretty similar practice, but without this kind of imagery.