Don’t eat for at least an hour prior to meditating as the body’s respiration and metabolism would otherwise slow down too much for food to be digested properly. Besides, it doesn’t make for a good meditation session.
It is suggested that you meditate twice a day for 20 minutes each time: once immediately after awakening in the morning and once before dinner. Meditating soon before bedtime is discouraged because of the possibility that you will no longer be sleepy after meditating.
It is strongly suggested that before your meditation session, you take steps to minimize the possibility of being disturbed or worse yet, startled. It’s very unsettling to be jolted out of deep meditation, and it can lead to a headache or in general, feeling out of sorts.
The practice:
- sit upright in a comfortable chair; an upright spine has the desired effect on the autonomic nervous system
- sit with both feet on the floor (this, according to the TM instructor, although I see no reason why a full or half lotus position would also suffice as long as one is comfortable)
- sit with eyes closed quietly for about 30 seconds or however long it takes for your mind and body to settle down
- once you’ve settled down, start repeating your mantra mentally; it could be om, the word “one” or anything that is short and pleases you (most mantras seem to have a bit of a “legato” to them, as with the mantra, om or “a-um”)
- repeat the mantra mentally without worrying if you’re doing it right; at times, the repetition rate may speed up or slow down, the intonation may change, etc., but however you repeat it, immerse yourself in that repetition as much as possible so that all other thoughts are drowned out…
- …until at some point despite your best efforts, your mind will wander and you will forget to repeat your mantra–this is normal; when you realize that you’re no longer repeating your mantra, simply resume repeating it
- regarding these daydreams or thoughts… consider them as clouds floating by in the sky–don’t follow them or dwell on them; instead, be detached, let them come and go
- the cycle between repeating the mantra and daydreaming will occur a number of times during the session, and with each occurrence, you’ll probably notice much greater relaxation
- after approximately 20 minutes, stop repeating your mantra and just sit quietly with eyes closed for about two minutes
- slowly open your eyes and return to the real world
Transcendental meditation has been described as a microcosm of sleep. Clinical studies have supported this view: one’s respiration follows the same sort of pattern as seen in sleep, although the depth of the effect is greater with TM–one’s breathing and heart rate tend to slow down significantly more with TM than it does with sleep. As for comparing the sleep phases with TM, repetition of the mantra is the equivalent of NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) deep sleep, and when the mind wanders, it is akin to a dream which occurs during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Dreaming has been thought of as the mind’s way to deal with stress, and so too, there is the release of stress that accompanies the daydreams that occur during meditation. A TM student asked an instructor what happens if one practices TM religiously and leads a relatively stress free life such that they approach a point of complete elimination of stress in mind and body. The instructor’s eyes lit up and she gave a kind of “aye, there’s the rub” knowing smile.
