I’ve been wanting to do a post on Contemplation for awhile now, but saved it up for the second “C” week of the Pagan Blog Project.
Contemplation is something that I think a lot of people do unconsciously, but not so much in an intentional way. When you’re trying to meditate and your mind wanders off, you could well be contemplating instead of meditating.
Contemplation is just allowing your mind to “chew” on or “percolate” something while the body is in a relaxed, meditative state. This is often something that we do while we’re using the toilet or in the shower – having nothing better to do with it, we let our minds wander where they will. This freedom to wander allows our minds to explore new and innovative ideas and reach some amazing insights.
To begin a contemplation:
- Set some time aside – for the first time, aim for about 15 minutes. As you practice, you can increase or decrease the amount of time you do this.
- Relax your body or put it on auto-pilot or other meditative type of activity (for me, sweeping is very meditative – but not vacuuming!).
- Relax your mind, and make sure you’re comfortable.
- Take three deep breaths, in through your nose, and out through your mouth with a little sigh.
- Now, instead of focusing your mind, go ahead and let it wander. This can be a little difficult to do on purpose, so if you need to, start thinking about something in your environment – perhaps ponder whatever you’re sitting on, noticing it’s details. When your mind begins to wander off, instead of gently bringing it back, allow it to wander where it will and just follow it as an observer.
Beware going in circles! If you start worrying on something, your mind starts to tense up and you start going in circles with your thoughts – having the same repetitive process over and over again. This is worrying and will cause stress and anxiety. If you find your mind doing this, redirect your thoughts, maybe to why you’re so stuck on this subject. Or you can redirect your thoughts to something else entirely different.
If you’re having trouble meditating, doing contemplations for a couple days or a week, or even setting specific time before meditation for contemplation may prove helpful. Contemplations are what the mind naturally does when it isn’t being constrained by a particular task. Even if you’re practiced at meditating, a contemplation can turn up wonderful insights and ideas.
