Meditation and spiritual awakening meet in the exploration of awareness and identity. Meditation gives you an opportunity to notice experience directly: sounds, sensations, thoughts and the sense of being a separate “me.” In Being Yoga’s non-dual approach, inquiry concerns what is already present rather than producing a special state on demand.
This page is a guide to the different explorations available here. For step-by-step sitting instructions, begin with How to Meditate. For the broader teaching, read spiritual awakening yoga.
How Does Meditation Support Inquiry?
During an ordinary day, a thought can quickly become something you take for granted: “I am failing,” “I need to be different,” or “I should already understand.” Sitting quietly gives you room to notice how those conclusions arise. You can explore the bodily sensation, the thought and the awareness of both.
A quieter mind can be welcome, but quietness is an experience that changes. The question of who you are need not wait until thinking stops. Self-inquiry meditation introduces a gentle way to investigate what you mean by “I.”
Choose a Meditation Exploration
Present-Moment Attention
Notice something readily apparent: contact with a chair, a sound or the movement of breathing. When attention wanders, recognize that and return gently. Start with a comfortable few minutes. Use the busy-mind meditation guide when thinking keeps pulling you away.
Self-Inquiry
Ask one question without demanding a final answer: “What do I mean by ‘I’ in this experience?” Notice whether an image, phrase or feeling appears. Let it be something you can explore. Read mindfulness and self-inquiry to distinguish simply noticing an experience from questioning assumptions about it.
Listening
Let sounds arrive without needing to name or judge every one. Listening also belongs in conversation: hear what another person says before rehearsing your reply. The yoga of listening connects this practice with ordinary relationships.
Breath Awareness
Watching the breath changes it quantitatively and qualitatively: it slows and deepens. When regulating it, lengthen the exhalation comfortably and allow the inhalation to deepen naturally in the space made by the exhalation. Avoid forcing the inhalation or a pause. The breath awareness guide explains this focused exploration.
Other Contemplative Approaches
Mantra practice uses a sound or phrase as a point of attention. Loving-kindness practice uses wishes of goodwill for yourself and others. Traditional chakra and kundalini practices belong to particular teaching frameworks and should be understood in their own context. These approaches have different purposes and instructions; this guide does not treat them as interchangeable routes to a guaranteed result.
A Simple Practice to Try
- Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet supported.
- For a minute, notice nearby sounds without trying to name every one.
- When a thought appears, notice it as another event in awareness.
- Feel the support beneath you and include a bodily sensation.
- Finish by looking around the room and returning to your next ordinary activity.
While waiting for the kettle, for example, hear its sound and feel your feet. If you notice yourself planning the next task, include that thought too. There is no need to turn every moment into an exercise.
Living Meditation: Meeting Not Knowing
Practical knowledge helps us work, communicate and care for others. Psychological certainty can be different: we may insist on a fixed explanation of ourselves before allowing experience to be fresh. James’s teaching on being okay with not knowing explores this distinction.
Watch Not Knowing & Presence: How to Practise Living Meditation, then try the written companion practice. Notice what happens when you let a question remain open without abandoning the practical action needed.
Common Questions
How long should I meditate?
Begin with a few comfortable minutes at a time that fits your life. Duration is not a score of spiritual attainment. There is no fixed timeline or schedule that promises awakening.
Should my eyes be open or closed?
Choose what supports comfortable attention. You can explore sounds with your eyes closed or include your surroundings with a soft, open gaze.
Does meditation mean avoiding thoughts and feelings?
No. Notice them without making their presence a failure. Inquiry leaves room for feelings, relationships and responsibilities. If practice becomes overwhelming, stop and return to familiar activities; seek appropriate support rather than forcing it.
How do I bring meditation into daily life?
Choose one ordinary activity—walking, eating or listening—and give it your attention. Explore spiritual yoga practices for everyday life for more examples.
Continue Your Exploration
The seven-part BREATHE Framework offers a sequence of contemplations. Its companion web app includes private reflections and an optional breath pacer. Browse the practice library to choose another guide, or enquire about sessions with James Traverse.
Leave a Reply