NOTE:
The past two weeks have been madness trying to get my two little ones on schedule and ready for the new school year. So first and foremost, thank you for your patience with me and trying to figure out the first week of school! I am now at a point where I can refocus my efforts on exploring the written word in how best to describe moments of mindfulness!
Goals
One of the goals of meditation is calming the mind-body connection. As easy as it would be to say the process of meditation is just sitting and breathing, there is so much more that goes into achieving states of mindfulness. Before I begin explaining my perspective, I feel I need to first, humbly, reiterate this is from my perspective and level of perception. I find myself questioning why even begin to write at all? The information is already out there and written by far smarter, more experienced people than myself.
But then I stop and lightly rest in that space I just created by stopping that thought loop – that thought pattern – of not being good enough. What if? What if my words help someone? What if my words help someone like me? And with that positive thought loop – positive thought pattern – I get back on my meditation bandwagon.
Mindset : Gratitude
I’m in a transition phase currently with my life. My spiritual practice is the reason I’m able to transition as I have with as much grace and patience as possible. I’m part of a Buddhism practice and within that practice I’ve also found community. The community feels more like family and I think because of that, despite the transition, much of (if not all) my hierarchy of needs are met through my practice. I also feel I should say, while I do incorporate Buddhism through much of my spiritual practice, there are also shamanistic and yogic methods intertwined as well.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
(McLeod, 2022) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is fairly common knowledge. A quick summary is depicted in the graphic and basically when one need is met, the person can then develop into the next need up the pyramid and so on. The needs ebb and flow depending on one’s environment and other external factors but the overall theme is true, when our basic needs are met, we are free to focus on realizing our authentic, transcendent nature. A later model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs included cognitive and ascetic needs as well as transcendence. The motivational model is the version of needs I prefer because the additions are relevant in describing this human existence and necessary to reach transcendence. Transcendence is also the goal with my meditation and so transcendence is both my motivation and goal. Following the needs help to create the proper mindset conditions for a mindful meditation experience.
Meditation : Breath
So what is a simple way to ensure these needs are met to reach the mindfulness goal? Watch the breath. Through each breath we can create a space that fulfills the hierarchy of needs within us in order to reach a mindfulness state.
During this transition, there have been times of intense duress. My heart was pounding, my breathing labored, my hands shaking, and my mind hyper-focused on my environment. I was able to work through those times by controlling my breath. Once I controlled my breath, my heart calmed. Once my heart calmed, my hands stopped shaking and my mind calmed. Once I was calm, then I further concentrated on just my breath. My breath is my life, it brings me life energy and purifies my body.
My breath is the foundation of my practice and also serves as a vehicle for meeting each need. By controlling my breath, I’m calming my body and filling the physiological and safety needs. By watching the breath, I develop an intimate relationship with my body and bridge the body-mind gap, thus fulfilling the belonging and love and esteem needs. I satisfy the cognitive and aesthetic needs through the visualization that accompanies the breath work discussed in the previous blog. With the feeling of love I create by watching the breath, and the love that is created from the intimate relationship I’ve developed with my body, I also fill the self-actualization and transcendence self-fulfillment needs.
Precious, Present, Grounding
Breath is precious. Breath is present. Breath is grounding. We can only breathe in the now, we cannot breathe past nor future air. Allowing the breath to fulfill the hierarchy of needs is also a way to use the breath as a method to mindfulness.
Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I sincerely appreciate every single like and every single subscribe. May my humble words bring benefit and serenity. ~Namaste~
Reference
McLeod, S. A. (2022, April 04). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
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