Meditation
"Alex offered me a powerful way to develop compassion and to learn to manage my emotions. He helped me to connect with the deepest aspects of myself and find a sense of centeredness and groundedness that I can always return to, drawing me back into focus and out of the waves of distraction."
- Teresa
WHY PRACTICE MEDITATION?
The Tibetan word for meditation is “gom”, which means to familiarize, to habituate.
In a certain sense, we could say it is a process of becoming, of embodying.
Modernist education is mostly based around reading, listening, facts and knowledge. It tends to stay very heady, devoid of the immediacy of embodied human emotions; characteristic of intellectualism. It leaves most of us stuck in abstractions, stories and ideas. This keeps us divorced from reality, separated from each other, disembodied.
Contemplative traditions venerate study, learning, and the intellect, but they also recognize the supreme importance of bringing learning into our hearts, and the extreme dangers of not doing so (see climate emergency, World Wars, etc.).
This is where meditation comes in.
First, we contemplate: connecting any abstract ideas to our personal lives.
Then, we sit in the flavor or taste left by that contemplation, saturating in it, becoming it.
This is meditation.
There are infinitely many different objects to choose as the focus of meditation. Since meditation is a process of becoming, it is really important to choose which objects we focus our meditation on. Ancient traditions have preserved thousands of years of rigorous scientific, scholarly research into which objects of meditation produce which results. For example, if we choose compassion for all beings as the object of meditation, we enter into a process of becoming infinite compassion, and the result is generally that we enter into a process of becoming incredibly successful, content, happy, and much more. Contrarily, if we focus on hatred, wishing harm for others, we enter into a process of becoming monstrous, and the result is generally that we enter into a process of becoming incredibly unfortunate and miserable.
Whether we know it or not, we all meditate.
Which means we are all in a process of becoming.
As Stan Lee said in the Peter Parker principle, "With great power comes great responsibility."
If we learn to meditate with skill, selecting objects of meditation which result in wellbeing for ourselves and others, not only are we becoming healthy and happy, we are becoming the antidote to the climate emergency, the sociopolitical crisis, the pandemic, the inequality, the wars, the violence - all of the problems the world is facing.
WHAT DOES A PRIVATE SESSION LOOK LIKE?
It will depend on your experience. Generally it will begin with a short discussion in which we will go over the concept and philosophy of the particular meditation that we are working on. Then we will go through a practice and we will record the session so that you can practice on your own. As you are progressing you can return for additional feedback and clarification or for the next appropriate meditation.
According to the traditions, there are very specific sequences of meditations to follow for success. These sequences depend on our disposition and situation. Modern neuropsychology is revealing neural correlates which affirm the importance of these sequences: certain structures and networks of the brain must be primed before the next stage or phase of meditative and neural development can be fruitfully engaged.
I will help you to navigate the infinite realm of meditation so that you succeed in what your real aim is, rather than getting lost in the infinity of it.
"Alex's meditation instruction revealed powerful forces which reside naturally within my mind and body - and in the depths of my subconscious. His instruction slowed me down, calmed me and nurtured my roots.
Through our time together, I developed a deep trust in life and learned to meet unexpected challenges in new ways, with more awareness."
- Magda
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
I offer private sessions and group classes. Email me for more details.
I am currently working with clients remotely via Zoom or similar platform.
Please set up a free initial discussion to see if we are a good fit for each other.
Private students may send questions for me to respond to. There is no additional charge for this ongoing support.
