short
moments
The practice
In this style, it’s essential that you’re able to drop all internal monologue in order to connect with your own innate wisdom. The being you are beyond thought. Connect with that essence for just a moment, at any point in the day, and see how you access greater wisdom when responding to external circumstances.
What I like about this practice is that it’s highly adaptable. This practice can be used in the middle of a difficult situation to call upon spirit guides. This style may be practiced in a group or with others.
Highly adaptable, taking short moments can be very illuminating.
THE TRADITION
I learned this technique at Balanced View in Goa, India. Sure, it’s a cult. But this style of meditation is by far the most illuminating connection I’ve ever experienced. That said, it took me years of meditation to genuinely access my internal compass, that innate wisdom known in meditation circles as the “inner Buddha.”
I TRIED IT
Frankly, this was my game changer.
The same day I learned the technique, I tried it out with a shopkeeper. My flip-flop had torn on a stair step, necessitating an immediate replacement. I found a pair of brown rubber thongs that should’ve cost around eighty-five rupees, but when I took the sandals to the shopkeeper, he smiled broadly and said, “Five hundred rupees.” Bargaining was expected but a ritual I disliked. I didn’t enjoy haggling. What if I asked for open intelligence?
In what barely registered as a beat in the conversation, I dropped all thought and felt for the joyful self within. Without strategizing I simply smiled back and asked, “But what’s your friendliest price?”
Minor though the triumph was, our negotiation went smoothly, and I left with my new rubber thongs at the price I knew they should be. Not only was this practice easier than the drudgery of sitting still for long periods of time, but the effects had been far more tangible.
If you’d like to read more in my forthcoming memoir, Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Surviving the Wellness Revolution, join the Advance Reader Team below!
MORE TO EXPLORE
I encourage you to explore other techniques, too. Click the symbols below for more.
OTHER STYLES TO EXPLORE
Silent Meditation
Guided Meditation
Moving Meditation
Gazing Meditation
Chanting Meditation
read the BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE JOURNEY
Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Revolution
Never give up, especially on yourself.
What would you do if your partner ended your marriage, over the phone? From another country?
Blissful Thinking is the raw and honest account of L.L. Kirchner's recovery, a quest that took her from university halls in the Persian Gulf to the streets of Manhattan to a sex cult in India.
The author was living in Qatar, separated from friends, family, and life as she’d known it when her marriage imploded. Feeling unable to move forward, she decided to take a time out in India. That time out turned into an odyssey that spanned years and crossed continents, zigzagging between silent meditation retreats, gurus, and finally a psychic in Florida.
If she applied herself, Kirchner was sure she could be rid of the flaws that had caused her ex-husband to leave in secret. But once she started looking, the list of her failings was a never-ending well.
Read along as Kirchner bravely searches for radical honesty. And a second date.
Not sure? Get the intro here
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