Meditation Strategies - Candle Flame Meditation

One of the biggest complaints I hear about meditating is that their thoughts never stop. Sadly, it has been my experience the harder you try to get rid of your thoughts the worse the problem will be. And being told to simply *ignore them* doesn't really help either. It's kind of like telling someone in a field of shite not to smell the shite. It's like.... seriously??? In time you would ignore the smell perhaps but it is much more likely you would abandon the endeavor as not being worth your while -- much like people giving up on trying to meditate.

So what is the deal with meditation anyway? What is it for? It depends on your focus. Sorry, I know that sounds like an open ended answer but it is the truth. If you are trying to learn to visualize, then you are using meditation to learn to tame the mind and redirect its thoughts to those of your choosing. Unbiden thoughts are where we are trying to focus on one thing and then have *thought creep* where something totally unrelated to what we are trying to do comes running in like a toddler streaking through our brain. Perhaps you are having a pleasant daydream and suddenly a thought spikes through your brain that you didn't lock the back door. Like where the hell did that come from while you were envisioning a vacation on the beach? Pretty much our minds have ADHD issues. It has been allowed to spike with thoughts at any time at random and not have to worry about what *we* wanted. So that is the issue that has to be addressed for successful meditation.

There are some forms of active meditation where you *do something* rather than just sit. These activities can be something specifically designed for meditation purposes such as a labyrinth or can just be a task you enjoy of any kind -- jogging, gardening, washing dishes, sweeping the floor -- usually something that doesn't require concentration. Something you can do automatically. These sort of meditations are more for giving the body and mind a respite from the barrage of fast paced living.

If you are trying to tame the mind so that you can learn to visualize, connect with your higher self, do psychic work, speak with spirit guides and spirits etc., then you will want to do something that helps you tame the mind and learn to control its thoughts. I use the world *control* but I don't mean forcing anything -- perhaps *tame* is a better choice. The point of this style of meditation is to realize that we are the creator of our thoughts and to become more aware of that process so that we are selective about the thoughts we have and when we have them.

A good first step to taming our thoughts is to slow them down. Here is a candle meditation to help with that process.

Candle Flame Meditation

When first trying this technique do only 5 minutes a day. You will need a small candle with an open flame. You will also need pen and paper for recording your progress.

• Light your candle and set a timer for 5 minutes. 
• Have your pen and paper poised and ready.
• Keep your eyes on the candle flame for the entire 5 minutes.
• Every time you have a thought, make a mark on your paper. Do not look at the paper, just wiggle your pen and make a mark.
• When the 5 minutes are up, tally your marks and see what you scored.

Don't worry, at first you might find yourself making constant marks. No problem. Just stay with it. As the days go by, your mind will get used to this exercise and will begin to automatically calm down. Your marks should get less and less. It is most beneficial if you can do your meditation at the same time every day. And just remember, you will have good days and bad days with this exercise depending on what is going on in your daily life.

After a week or ten days, up the time limit for your meditation to 8 or 10 minutes. If it proves too difficult, go back to 5 minutes and stick with that for another week, then try upping the time limit again. Continue this exercise until you can do the desired amount of extended meditation time (15, 20, 30 minutes) with a low thought score.

I hope you find this exercise helpful.

Bright Blessings and Blessed Be,
Rayven Michaels