Meditation
Many of us are used to thinking about Meditation as if it were a discipline in which our body must be prevented from moving and our mind from thinking: an act of concentration and immobility. This concentration, however, brings with it an effort and a rigidity that are, in reality, the exact opposite of Meditation.
What we practice at Ashram Harmonia starts from an inverse assumption: during the first phase of any meditative technique, we allow our body to move however you want, free and relaxed. Subsequently, in the second phase, we find stillness: from a relaxed and comfortable position, we remain still and witness, as witnesses, everything that happens inside and outside of us.
Meditation is not about concentration, nor about denying or controlling our mind, nor is it about trying to change anything. Meditation is, rather, the art of letting go, letting be and observing. There is no goal, nothing to achieve.
Movement and immobility, in their contrast, are also the basic elements for a'somatic experience. Moving the body with awareness, slowly and stopping to observe what happens inside and outside of us is one of the essential principles of the Somatic Approach.
After years spent experimenting with Meditation in its various forms and techniques, what we have found to be most effective are the Active Meditations, whose perhaps most commonly known form is Yoga, but also the many techniques created by OSHO Spiritual Master.
There Active Meditation it is perfect for the modern man/woman, whose mind is much more active and stimulated than that of his predecessors. Our frenetic, hyper-connected life full of continuous input requires the mind to be even more dynamic, fast and efficient. By spending much of our day (and our life) in our minds, we are no longer able to sit and meditate as Buddha did. Before, our body needs to move, release accumulated tensions and energy and sometimes held over time, even for years. For this reason, Active Meditations always include one first phase of movement, dance or catharsis.
Once been through this, our mind has calmed down, our body is more relaxed and we are ready to be able to stand still. The second phase, in fact, is the one of these techniques of quiet. Here, we assume a comfortable position, usually sitting or lying, and immerse ourselves in silence and stillness.
Now we will be able to observe with more detachment what happens outside and inside us, without being so easily kidnapped by a passing thought. In this way, over time and with a little practice, we will become capable of experiencing the space of meditation again.
Practicing Active Meditations regularly has revolutionized our lives, from the inside out. Being able to establish a daily, or at least regular, practice is the real driver of change for our lives. Bringing Meditation into everyday life has much more value than having a sporadic experience, since Meditating regularly “teaches” new habits and response patterns to our nervous system. After enough time, it will become a habit that will be part of our life and we will be able to include it without any effort.
And this is what really makes a difference to our inner well-being.
The conception of the Spiritual Master Osho, and that of many others, is that the modern man and woman can combine the tradition of Eastern soul searching with the scientific and pragmatic approach to life typical of the Western world, living a healthy, balanced and juicy life.
We can live in the modern world without being slaves to its unhealthy system!
Other approaches based on movement as a door to our inner world that we practice at the Harmonia Ashram are Yoga, Massage, Conscious Dance, Breathing...
