Props and Tools

Today is day 7 of the Chopra meditation challange. I am very lucky to have gleaned some small shiny pebbles of insight into my practice during the past week. I found that just as yoga props are so helpful, so too are "meditation props". When I meditate, there are two props that help heighten my experience: earplugs, and a fan. The earplugs are not to drown out noise. I use them because I found that when I do, it makes my breath so much louder in my head, making it much easier to stay focused on my breath while reaching for stillness. I can easily hear each breath resonnate inside my entire head. Its really great, its like listening to silence. And the fan, its not for temperature control. I use the fan on the lowest speed, just a breeze gently grazing my skin. This creates a nice technique for bringing myself back to the moment when I catch myself daydreaming. I focus on the feeling of the breeze on my skin, and it brings me right back to the moment. These two props, or tools, take me into my practice rather than me just going through the motions. Its deeply touching to experience an opening in meditation, just as with yoga. For me, I glimpse stillness between the breaths, and I can feel my mind lift like it was filled with helium. It gives me that feeling I had as a kid when I first rode my bike with no hands, and I think, "wow, I'm doing it!"