myths about meditation

16 Myths About Meditation

Meditation is as complex as your mind and as simple as sitting down and breathing. Even if you’re unsure about the details, you’ve probably heard that meditation is good for you.

In addition to managing stress, mindfulness practices have been linked to better outcomes for patients with heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and many other conditions.

There are many myths about meditation. It’s easy to see why it’s sometimes misunderstood.

This guide will help you sort out the facts so you can discover the true benefits of meditation and how it can change your life for the better.

Myth: It’s okay to discontinue medical treatment.

Truth: Talk with your doctor before making any decisions about your health. Meditation may reduce your need for prescription drugs or it may be a helpful supplement to conventional care.

Myth: Only the full lotus position counts.

Truth: Take a seat that’s comfortable for you. That may mean a half lotus on the floor or sitting in a straight backed chair.

Myth: Aches and pains are good.

Truth: Change positions if you feel stiff or get a cramp. Scan your body to detect areas of tension and make adjustments. You’ll eliminate distractions and protect your body from injury.

Myth: Teachers are useless.

Truth: You can learn a lot from books and videos. Live teachers are even better because you can form a warm and supportive relationship. Feeling accountable to another person may also encourage you to practice more consistently.

Myth: Expensive props make a big difference.

Truth: Go ahead and select a cushion that works well for you. You can also use your bed pillow or an old phonebook. Your mind is what really counts.

Myth: Absolute quiet is essential.

Truth: Silence is conducive to meditation, but it can be difficult to find in the modern world. Work on accepting background noise with a peaceful mind.

Myth: It requires a lot of time.

Truth: You can meditate for a just a few minutes a day. Focus on your breathing when you’re stuck at a red light. Remind yourself of all you have to be grateful for while you’re waiting for your coffee to brew.

Myth: It requires little time.

Truth: Prolonged contemplation leads to deeper insights. You can always adjust your priorities depending on what you want to accomplish.

Myth: Concentrate first.

Truth: Your thoughts may be accustomed to racing around. Over time, you will enhance your ability to concentrate.

Myth: Zoning out is the ultimate goal.

Truth: Meditation can be used just to relax. You can also use your sessions to sort out personal issues or seek spiritual attainments.

Myth: It’s some kind of religion.

Truth: Meditation is a traditional part of many religions. It can also be adapted to your personal spiritual beliefs or be a completely secular activity.

Myth: You’ll wind up isolated.

Truth: Sitting by yourself can actually strengthen your connections with others. You’ll develop more love and compassion.

Myth: Breathing is just for beginners.

Truth: Watching your breathing or counting your inhalations and exhalations is a common technique when you’re starting out. Train carefully. Deep and relaxed breathing is essential at every stage of meditation.

Myth: Progress feels gradual and steady.

Truth: Expect fluctuations. Some sessions will go smoothly and sometimes you’ll struggle.

Myth: Meditation is easy.

Truth: Mindfulness can be hard work. To make breakthroughs in thinking, address your automatic defenses. To set out in a more positive direction, transform your entrenched habits.

Myth: Meditation is difficult.

Truth: Meditation can also be simple and fun. Be gentle with yourself. Lighten up and enjoy the process.

Conclusion

Meditation practices are full of contradictions and diversity. They’re also immensely rewarding and worth all the effort. Clear up the myths and boost your physical and mental well-being through meditation.

myths about meditation

2 Biggest Myths About Meditation And Finding Peace Of Mind

If you have struggled with either finding peace of mind or starting/maintaining a consistent meditation practice then these are probably the same truths that you believe to be myths. They’re likely the same truths that are keeping you from finding peace of mind or meditation practice. I would like to clear the air for you in hopes that it will propel you forward.

After numerous conversations with people, I have taken notice of the same reasons that keep coming up as to why they apparently can’t meditate or find peace of mind.

2 Biggest Myths About Meditation

Myth/Truth #1: “I can’t stop thinking”

If you attempt to meditate or find peace of mind by means of stopping your thinking then you will be thoroughly disappointed, to the point that you will most likely want to quit.

Think of your thoughts traveling on a never-ending conveyor belt, doing loop, after loop, after loop. This conveyor belt doesn’t have an off button, nor does it even have a pause button, it loops infinitely.

Each time the conveyor belt comes around to you, it brings with it a random set of thoughts.

Some thoughts may be the same as you had just 1 minute ago.

Others may be regurgitated thoughts you had hours, days, weeks, months, or even years ago.

While other thoughts may be brand new, never ever seen before.

This conveyor belt runs on an infinite power source, as does your conscious awareness. This power source never dies. Even when you’re dead and your conscious awareness is no longer brought to life, this infinite conveyor belt will continue to run, supplying thoughts to the conscious awareness of others.

Nobody knows where these thoughts come from, some say God, some say the divine, some say our creator, some say the universal life force etc. What we do know is that they appear seemingly out of nowhere, like the magic of pulling a rabbit out of an empty hat.

Since we can’t stop the conveyor belt that delivers our thoughts, can we at least control it?

Myth/Truth #2: “I can’t control my thinking”.

If you meditate or search for peace of mind by means of controlling your thinking, once again, you will be thoroughly disappointed.

Now that you know your thinking will never stop so long as you’re alive and consciously aware, the next logical step for many people is trying to assert some form of control over them. This too, my friend, is a big myth.

This attempt to gain control typically comes from trying to choose which thoughts get placed on the conveyor belt or slow the conveyor belt down to slow down the rate at which your thoughts get delivered.

Just as we have zero control over being able to stop thoughts from popping into our head, we have zero control over which thoughts pop into our head.

You may now be starting to realize that you were never in control in the first place, that you just thought you were. This can be a very startling and mind-bending experience.

Surely we can slow down our thoughts, right? As far as I know, we can’t. However, we can most certainly create the illusion that our thoughts have slowed down.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “time flies when you’re having fun”. Time appears to speed up during those moments. Yet, when you’re bored time appears to slow to a crawl. This is the grand illusion of time.

When we’re stressed, panicked, overwhelmed, or in any similar state of mind, we are under this illusion that our thoughts are racing at a much faster pace than normal. Confusion tends to set in and we’re bouncing back and forth between thoughts.

When we’re peaceful, happy, content, or in any similar state of mind, we are under this illusion that our thoughts are slowed.

We can drive two different cars at the same speed and feel like we’re going faster in one car, and slower in the other. How is this possible? We use cues such as noise and vibration to estimate the speed of the car.

We use similar cues when we feel like our thoughts are moving faster or slower. When we’re in a state of stress our thoughts appear quite noisy, creating the illusion that noise equals speed. When we’re in a state of peace our thoughts appear to be much quieter, giving us the illusion that quiet equals slow.

Now That You Know This…

I hope this helps cut through the illusion of these two myths. Keep in mind that you are to observe your thoughts, you’re not trying to control them or stop them. The paradox here is that you gain some sense of control by relinquishing your attempt to control.

By understanding that we were never in control in the first place and still made it this far, seems pretty amazing considering we were probably oblivious to this all our lives.

How can this understanding change your life now that you are aware of it?