|
The Color Meditation
While doing the following visualization, just allow
the images to come up. Don’t try to think them. Give yourself a moment and the images will “appear:”
Visualize yourself seated in a room.
Now, above your head see the color red.
Now let this color
red completely surround and envelope you. (Metaphorically, think of it as if you are seated in the middle of a beach ball
and the color completely fills that imaginary space around you.)
Now let yourself feel the color red.
Repeat for orange, yellow, green, blue and purple in that sequence. When meditating alone, I have found the following memory
aid for the sequence of the colors to be useful: ROY/G/BP (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple).
When you
reach purple, focus on one point. (The point between your eyebrows is handy, if for no other reason than we carry it around
with us! There is no need to literally roll your eyes up to look at that point. Rather, simply visualize looking at that point.)
Stay focused on that one point for about 15 to 20 minutes. When you are first beginning you might find that five or six minutes
is all you are comfortable doing. Do what feels best, and slowly build up the amount of time you spend meditating.
While you are focusing on that one point, you will find that thoughts will float through your mind. Just allow them to pass
through without following up on them. For example, when we think such thoughts as, “Oh, darn, I forgot to pick up the
clothes at the cleaners,” usually what happens next is we think something like, “Oops, I’m out of eggs,
too. I’d better go to the grocery store.” Then we are off and running thinking a million other similar and dissimilar
things! When the first thought comes up, just don’t follow it.
It is best to practice meditating for about
15 to 20 minutes twice a day and longer if you like.
The best books on this topic are: Lawrence LeShan, How To
Meditate; Herbert Benson, The Relaxation Response; and Dharma Singh Khalsa and Cameron Stauth, Meditation as Medicine.
Elaine Woodall.
Ph.D.
19 W. 34th Street, Penthouse
New York, New York 10001
212-781-3600
PSI3600@msn.com
|
