If you have decided to try Taoist meditation, it is essential that you find an appropriate environment and time of day as well as understanding fully its philosophies and the energy behind this form of relaxation. Imagine yourself as a tiny frog resting comfortably on a lily pad in a tranquil pond, while outside lies an increasingly noisy and chaotic world: planes fly overhead, people on street text maddeningly, cars speed past, and children play happily together.
Emptiness Meditation
Emptiness meditation techniques involve directing one’s complete attention toward one of the body’s energy centers known as dantian, located in one’s lower abdomen. Most commonly, individuals focus on cultivating the lower dantian, also referred to as the heart center or “shen”. There are many techniques for cultivating this energy but they all focus on sensing how chi flows in and out – this requires time, absolute patience and commitment before being able to feel its depths fully.
Meditation practitioners who wish to fully experience emptiness must first begin to understand that all phenomena lack an inherent existence; this realization will take significant work and contemplation to comprehend fully. A key reason is the realization that all things, both harsh and subtle, depend on conditions for their existence; once this concept is fully grasped, the meditator will realize there simply does not exist any entity that exists apart from other phenomena – this profound insight leads them closer and closer towards understanding that there simply does not exist any individual self within reality.
Once the meditator has developed a sufficient proficiency in foundation practices, they can then begin engaging in emptiness meditation. Unfortunately, though few are likely to achieve it due to embodying and overcoming egocentric predispositions. This likely takes years of focused daily contemplative practice along with an unwavering support from an appropriate teacher.
Counting Breaths
One of the simplest forms of meditation is simply paying attention to your breathing. Some find counting exhalations very useful as a way to keep their attention focused on each breath they take; counting also helps calm the mind while encouraging deeper, longer breaths. Furthermore, some practitioners employ patterned-paced breathing in which they count backwards each time they inhale or exhale.
Start this meditation exercise anywhere – even at your desk at work! Start by placing your left thumb on the tip of your little finger, inhaling both slowly and calmly while counting backwards from one. When exhaling, silently say to yourself “two.” Continue this for 10 cycles before reverse counting from 10 back down to 1.
Try changing up this breathing exercise by placing your thumb on the next segment of your little finger and repeating this cycle – ekaika-ganana (one breath for every twelve) or alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana Pranayama).
This simple but effective practice builds highly acute concentration. If your mind wanders, simply notice it without judgement and come back to watching your breaths. Over time you will notice that counting becomes less necessary as your focus deepens on each breath and becomes clearer.
Visualization
Visualization involves using the mind to imagine desired results, such as an state of calmness. This technique can help those who find it hard to settle their racing mind or who cannot sit still for extended periods to meditate successfully. Starting off slowly may help somewhat; try short sessions of 5-7 minutes until your body gets used to this form of mediation.
Visualization involves closing your eyes softly and focusing on one image that brings to mind something you have experienced or something completely made up from your imagination. Use all five senses when visualizing, for instance imagine hearing water lapping against the seashore or feeling a soft summer breeze.
Visualization allows a sense of relaxation to spread throughout your entire body as both tension and stress disappear with every extended exhale. Imagine peace enveloping all aspects of yourself and the world at large – you may spend as long in visualization as desired.
Meditation practitioners tend to look different from those around them; they usually lose weight, their complexion clears, their entire posture straightens out and they become increasingly more relaxed and contented as an effect of internal healing energy and light flowing throughout their bodies which changes how they interact with the world outside them.
