Join this community!
› Share: Email Digg del.icio.us Reddit icon StumbleUpon Technorati

Meditate in a Group


Posted Sep 10 07 11:58am by Stephanie B.

If you are having problems meditating by yourself, then try meditating in a group. The group is beneficial in a number of ways:

1. It forces you to sit still and be quiet if just due to peer pressure.

2. Group meditations will often have some guidance at the beginning.

3. If you believe in group "energy," then that energy will help your meditation become deeper and more fulfilling.

Note that in group meditations, you are often required to sit in a cross-legged position for a lengthy period of time. This can cause your legs to fall asleep or be painful. You can often improve your comfort with a meditation cushion or a simple meditation bench that allows you to fold your legs underneath while putting the weight of your body on the bench. 

 
Comments (4)
Sort by: Newest first | Oldest first
Nirmala N. Dec 19 07 12:38pm
Stephanie, I think you're totally right. I definitely have had meditation leaders in the past who have set out a formula for how the meditation should look and the effects you should feel in your body. Then there are self-help scions like Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer who, well-meaning though they may be, make out meditation to be this absolutely mind-altering experience of reality that can lead you to fulfill your wildest dreams. Pairing my earliest reading encounters with meditation and the collective expectations you might experience in a group, it can lead to a lot of preformed ideas about what meditationis and how it shuold be.
Stephanie B. Dec 18 07 9:24pm
Nirmala, it may be that your earlier experiences of feeling inadequate in group meditation had something to do with the group leader. There's an easy way for that problem to be solved - you just need a group leader who says nicely, "You can't do this wrong, there's no testing going on here, just let it happen" or something along those lines. So I think it depends on the group.
sheryl w. Dec 10 07 7:07am
What you are saying Nirmala about comparing yourself...I think that is a good lesson to learn about meditiation, and one that every single person that I know who meditates has had to go through. Meditation is hard for everyone, no one sits down and has a beautiful mindful meditation for hours. That is why we do it...to quiet our racing minds...and it takes a lot of work, perhaps a lifetime. So learning that lesson is positive and a group experience can help you, especially if it is open and honest.
Nirmala N. Oct 18 07 3:39pm
...it can also lead to people comparing themselves to other people. I know that when I did group meditation, back in the day when I thought there was a "right" way to meditate, being among others always made me feel inadequate. It always felt that everyone else "got" how to meditate, and I was the only one having problems with it. I think that a group can be very powerful, particularly in leading you to a disciplined practice, but you also have to understand that everyone's experience of the meditation will be different, and where you are at any given time is perfect.
Post a comment
Write a comment: