In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.
—Albert Camus
While sitting in the hot tub a few nights ago, I discovered a wonderful way to meditate. Meditation is a process I like to practice when I’m feeling the internal winter that sometimes creeps into my soul. By “winter” I’m referring to a gentle nudge of my serenity. Ninety percent of the time this feeling is based in fear. Fear of loosing something I think I have or not getting something I think I want. By quieting my mind, I can listen for the answers.
I like to SCUBA dive. Diving is one of the most spiritual experiences I engage in. Being submerged in another world full of beautiful creatures is truly amazing and nurturing for the soul. So here’s my process of meditation which works for me:
- Find a comfortable position
- Close my eyes and concentrate on breathing. I tend to think “God” or “Spirit” when breathing in and “self” when breathing out. This helps me relieve myself of “me” as much as possible
- I imagine I’m drift diving over a beautiful reef in crystal blue waters. Drift diving is as close to flying as I’ve ever come, you simply ride along the current and float over the reef.
- As I’m drifting along looking at all the beautiful sea life, I concentrate on as much detail as I can, trying to make out the different types of coral and schools of fish.
- If something comes into my mind—work, school, finances—I try and let it float by. If it keeps returning I have to do something to get it out of my mind. If the thought is school, I picture one of my text books, again concentrating on as much detail as possible. I must find something that visually represents the thought. Once I have a clear image of it, I imagine the object is floating over head and beginning to block out the sun and is disturbing my beautiful dive. As the object begins to block the sun, I watch it move slowly down from above and right in front of my face. I then imagine the object beginning to morph into a colorful fish. Like a bright yellow angel fish or something I’ve seen before under the ocean. As the object morphs it begins to descend past me towards the reef below. I then watch as the fish begins to swim around some rocks and coral. I then let the current take me on down to the next coral head or item of interest.
I try and continue this process for as long as possible, usually around 20-30 minutes. Afterward I feel refreshed and revitalized. This is when answers come to me. My mind is clearer and ready for guidance. Its at these times when I find my internal summer. The feeling deep inside that no matter what happens, everything is going to be OK. True serenity.