NikithaI picked Headspace Guide to Meditation because it was one of the top reads on the topic Meditation which is a part of my theme for the year which is spirituality. I didn’t have great expectations from the book as it was just going to be a repeat of what I already knew. But then I enjoyed certain parts of the book for his style of explanation and the analogies he used.
As I write a review of this book after almost 6 months, these are a few things which I still remember from the top of my head.
- The author lived as a monk in the Eastern side hopping from one monastery to the other choosing what works best for him. He practised meditation thoroughly before he started a profession in that. One such example he quotes based on this is, how a monk decided to leave a monastery where he was expected to do gardening 8 hours a day instead of just spending the entire day in meditation. While meditation is important, being mindful in the rest of the day plays an equally important role as not everyone can leave their lifestyle and shift to monk life. I was grateful for the validation I received for my thought process through this.
- There is no good or bad meditation. If you are meditating, you observe your thoughts. If you are not observing your thoughts, it is no longer meditation.
- Meditation is like watching vehicles pass in front of you on a highway. If you like a vehicle, you don’t start running behind it. You just acknowledge it and let it go.
- The mind is like the sky. Thoughts are like the clouds. There are clear sky days, there are cloudy days. There are rainy days. But the sky remains the same.
- In the initial days, meditation feels impossible because your mind is like a wild horse. You can’t expect to domesticate in a day. When you tame a wild horse, you should first start by reducing its running space by one diameter each day until the space becomes smaller and smaller and then finally it learns to stay in a stable.
- When you start staying mindful and let’s say you go on a mindful walk on the same street you have been going throughout your life, the street looks completely new.
Is this book for you?
- I am new to meditation
- I need analogies and impact of meditation
- I want to understand what monk like is like
- I need some practice exercises on meditation
If you are at intermediate level, the book is more like a novel than with any practical use for you.
Happy Headspace!