What do you do when a storm of stress-induced negative feelings or thoughts rushes to you? I'll teach you a way to change your energy easily at such times. It's a method of
meditation allowing you to find balance of body and peace of mind in one minute.
First, you need a stone about the size of your fist, one that feels heavy and is flat on the bottom. If you don't have a stone, then prepare another hefty object, something like a thick book.
Sitting in a chair or on the floor, put the stone on top of your head. Place your hands comfortably on your knees or let your arms hang naturally at your sides. Try to maintain this posture for at least one minute, without letting the stone fall off your head. And, with your eyes closed, watch what happens in your body and mind, seeing what changes take place in your awareness.
What reactions do you feel in your body? Your body will start balancing itself to keep the stone from falling. Your
lower back will straighten, your body adjusting its horizontal and vertical angles accordingly. All you did was place a stone on your head, but, to keep it from falling, your brain instantly demonstrates its sense of balance and harmony, directing changes in your body. Amazing, isn't it?
Closing your eyes, sense the weight of the stone on your head. Feel the weight coming from your head, passing your chest, and sinking into your lower abdomen. Imagine particles of bright energy pouring down from your head into your belly, like sand falling in an hourglass. Those particles of light come together, solidifying, creating a sturdy pillar of energy from your head to your abdomen.
Breathe comfortably as you continue feeling the energy. Saliva pools in your mouth, your head becomes clearer, your eyes brighter. You feel a warm heat in your belly, lower back, hands, and feet, your breathing deepening without conscious effort. Peace starts growing in your heart, your complicated thoughts and negative emotions subsiding. Concentrating on the crown of your head, try to feel your body, your life, existing here and now.
I call this "
Heaven's Gate Meditation." The Korean expression,
Chunmun, means, "heavenly gate," indicating an important energy point in the crown of your head. In Korea's Sundo culture, people would refrain from touching the crown of another person's head without permission or passing by the top of the head of someone who was lying down. This is because they considered it to be a sacred place for accepting the energy of heaven, the crown of the head being at the highest point in the body and in contact with the sky. Heaven's Gate Meditation is a method for awakening the senses of the brain using a heavy object to focus the mind on the crown of the head.
Try practicing Heaven's Gate Meditation, starting with about 1 minute and gradually increasing your time until you're able to do 10 minutes or more. Once you're comfortable with maintaining your balance, try slowly sitting down and standing up, repeatedly, with the stone still on your head. Later, as you do Heaven's Gate Meditation, you'll be able to do movements like
slow walking, tai chi, and
qigong,
Make sure that your brain definitely recognizes and remembers the feeling of the stone placed on your Heaven's Gate point. If you do that, you can experience the effects of Heaven's Gate Meditation with information and imagination alone by reproducing the feelings of the stone placed on your Heaven's Gate point. You'll feel the weight even after you take the stone off your head, and the sense of interconnection between your Heaven's Gate point and lower abdomen will be maintained.
One of the advantages of Heaven's Gate Meditation is that you have no choice but to focus, doing it automatically, without any effort. When you sit down to meditate, aren't there times when you have trouble concentrating, with all kinds of thoughts rolling around in your head? While you're doing Heaven's Gate Meditation, you have no room to think about anything but keeping the stone from falling. You automatically become mindful because you can't help but
focus fully on the here and now.
Your mind is centered while you're centering your body, keeping it from leaning to one side or another. Of course, your thoughts and emotions themselves do not completely disappear just because you're
doing Heaven's Gate Meditation. However, your awareness, your power to watch the thoughts and feelings arising in your mind, grows. When that power develops, you're able to manage your emotions and external information, without being controlled by them, using them in a direction that helps you.
When you place the stone on your head, at first, it feels like an obstacle. Do Heaven's Gate Meditation for a while, though, and you'll be grateful for the positive changes that rock creates in your body and mind. This also applies to different hindrances you encounter in your life. Obstacles may act as
obstructions or serve as stepping stones for growth, depending on what choices we make. Heaven's Gate Meditation develops our brain power and heart power, enabling us, with bright, clear awareness, to make the best choices in any circumstance.
Try Heaven's Gate Meditation today. Encounter your unwavering center. Those with a secure center do not dread change. When we face a challenge, we can choose change without fear if we have a strong center. Please share with me your experience of Heaven's Gate Meditation.