Vacation days are wonderful opportunities to cultivate ourselves: we move away - sometimes even physically - from everyday life and dedicate ourselves to what we like best.
We have a rare and precious friend now ... time! Don't let him escape without making it meaningful!
Today we want to offer you a meditation technique of ancient origins in which you can try your hand at deserved holidays: the deep vision meditation (vipassana).
Let's find out together!
Vipassana: an ancient and powerful technique
Vipassana meditation (lit. see in depth) is rooted in the Buddhist tradition, but requires no adherence to the doctrine to be practiced. You can make it your own beyond the religion you practice or any kind of spirituality you embrace.
Like any technique, it requires adequate time and an adequate time: cut out for you at least twenty minutes / half an hour within which you will make sure you will not be disturbed. Choose a time frame that does not oblige you to hurry, perhaps in the evening after work, for example, or very early in the morning.
How to practice vipassana meditation
The position to be taken for the practice should be sitting cross-legged but, if it makes you uncomfortable, sit on a chair as well. The hands can be in the lap or in the iconographic cin mudra.
Once well settled, one begins to descend into the actual meditation which starts from the observation of the body and its sensations .
Through the constant and calm breath, the space of the mind and of one's own bodily presence is probed: limbs, perceptions, small or large alterations. We will experience the turbulence of our mental picture and the futility of the obsessive alternation of thoughts, where one creates the other in a chain of images without respite.
Being aware of this state of affairs is the first step to get rid of it through constant and tenacious practice. Over time, in fact, you will become more and more aware of all the sensory and mental stimuli, thus vastly improving the refined art of attention, the key word to understand this style of meditation.
There are in fact 4 large conceptual areas within which it is practiced:
- The attention of the body : physical sensations, small pains, comfort or discomfort of the posture, etc ...
- Attention to feelings and sensations : the investigation is deepened to the primary sensations regarding comfort, the pleasure of the practice, etc ...
- Attention to the states of mind : we become aware of the alternation of thoughts, observing their birth and "death" in a continuous and, potentially, infinite cycle.
- Attention to mental objects : the content of thoughts is recorded without analyzing them, decoding the substance without decorating it with further mental convolutions.
Throughout the course of the practice the practitioner will remain in constant contact with the slow and deep breath.
Given that this type of meditation boasts ancient and noble origins, we advise you to deepen it also in the theory that is reading texts on the life of the Buddha and on the Buddhist religion: this not to adhere to the doctrine, but simply to know an extremely interesting and rich "cultural fact" of existential cues beyond the history, of the geographical place or of the culture that has kept it at baptism. Even the practice of meditation will benefit from it by becoming more aware and round.
Vipassana meditation: more advice ...
Deep vision meditation is generally practiced sitting with crossed legs. This posture is only apparently simple: the beginner will soon begin to feel pain and stiffness, especially as time passes.
It will tend to change the correct position in the name of comfort, perhaps arching the back, stretching the legs, imploding on itself.
We certainly recommend using the special supports for meditation such as cushions or benches, but above all we encourage you to combine it with a regular yoga practice: it will help you shape the body, dissolve any tension and make the sitting position more comfortable and pleasant.