The Pentacle Approach: Balancing The Mental Body

Daily Meditation

I once had the privilege to study a form of Transcendental Meditation with Paul Brown of QuietPath Meditation, and he explained the purpose of meditation with an analogy that really works for me.

He said something to this effect: You don’t vacuum the carpet for the joy of hearing its noise, or the struggle of dragging it around the room; you vacuum so that you can enjoy the benefits of a clean carpet after you are finished. Likewise, one does not meditate with the expectation that the mysteries of the universe will crack open in daily cosmic revelation. The purpose of meditation is to achieve a mind at rest. However, once you’ve achieved the peace and orderliness of a well-rested and opened mind, you are then prepared to go about your regular day effectively. In every action, through every observation, you will be opened to the wonder of the revealed Universe that was always right there, surrounding you. The difference is that your eyes can now see, your mind can now comprehend, because it is properly prepared.

Exercise: Awen Meditation

Meditate 20 minutes a day, twice a day, if possible. Set a timer with a soft alarm, the volume turned low. I like “crickets” on my Iphone. Choose a time of day when you aren’t too tired, perhaps after morning coffee, but before you shower and bustle off to work. Or, take 20 minutes of your lunch break, or just before you prepare your evening meal.

• Just sit quietly in a comfy chair, relax all your muscles and sit at ease, upright, thighs parallel to the floor, feet flat. Rest your palms on your legs, or the arms of the chair, but don’t cross any of your limbs. A hood over your head, or draping a shawl or veil so that your eyes and ears are lightly covered, may help.
• You may light a candle dedicated to your daily meditation practice, and/or light some incense, if that aids you. Ritually doing the same preparations that engage all our senses will eventually become like Pavlov’s response…you light the candle and smell the smells and *poof* you are half-way there.
• Release all expectations. Release all attachment to the outcome.
• Turn your attention inward, take three large breaths in through the nose, and exhale slowly and completely through the mouth, releasing any tension in the body. Resume breathing naturally.
• In your mind’s eye, picture consciousness as a tiny version of yourself sitting in a comfortable chair, in a comfortable room, inside your actual cranium, just behind your eyes. Your eyes are like the windows in that room, but they are on the distant wall and you turn your attention away from the window. Now, whatever outside noises or distractions are just like passing cars out there on the street…they do not concern us now. Stray thoughts, like that thing you meant to add to the grocery list, is merely a bird flying by the window and we release them…refocusing our attention inwardly.
• Awen is the Welsh word for Divine Inspiration. Chant this simple mantra in three syllables: ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen… You may begin chanting aloud at first, then whispered, then just repeat the chant in your mind.
• With each chanting, allow your consciousness to descend more deeply within yourself—as though the floor itself is sinking away from the window. ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen… maintain the chant on topmost layer of your thoughts.
• If another layer of thoughts or visions begins to unfold observe them on the screen of your mind with detachment…do not second-guess, analyze or cast any judgement merely allow it to play out, casually observing while you chant ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen ahh-ooo-wen…
• When the alarm sounds, allow yourself a moment or two to rise back up toward the window…much like pushing up from the bottom of the swimming pool and gently paddling back to the surface of waking consciousness.
• Stretch, drink a tall glass of pure water, and go about your day.

Click “Continue” for an Affirmations Exercise to help reprogram our deepest beliefs about ourselves.