Written by Eugene Morgan
“But meditation is thinking for the self, by the self, and thinking freely and easily; what the self has to offer for the self.” Milton Erickson
Meditation is about focusing in our internal world. If we ever saw someone meditate, more likely it’s a person with shut eyes. When we close our eyes, it forces us to attend to our inner world. Closing our eyes help us to cut out external distractions. The inner world is really where the unconscious mind can work its magic. When we close our eyes, we can begin to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings and images. We can see clearly what we’re thinking, recognizing what emotions we’re feeling at the moment and watching what images flashing across our minds. Studies have suggested that meditation can alter the brain. However, researchers aren’t sure what mechanism causes such alterations in the brain.
The practice of meditation began centuries ago. Erickson’s definition of meditation is thinking freely and easily by and for the self. It is a powerful inner experience because our unconscious minds are now in charge, during meditation. And if we just get out-of-the-way of our unconscious minds, and to just wait and see, it can show clearly a solution to a problem, it can aid us in making a difficult decision, and it can help us to know how to proceed in difficult situations for the self.