Meditation is done alone, Right? Why would you need a community to meditate?
IS COMMUNITY AN IMPORTANT PART OF MEDITATION? Let's discuss a bit, okay?
Today I wanted to do a little myth busting. Meditation is something we have a very basic or over generalized idea of that is often painted into this image by the media and advertising.
Headspace, the meditation app company, defines meditation like this…
"Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well."
The key points I like in this definition are… Meditation is about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. So if we think about meditation portrayed in the media as a monk going up into a cave to meditate all alone or we think of this definition being a training in awareness and gaining perspective, why would we need a community to meditate?
Well the answer is we don’t. Not really. We can and many people do meditate all alone and thrive in their practice. But let’s dig deeper, shall we? What value could adding meditating in a group add? Shall we answer the question… IS COMMUNITY AN IMPORTANT PART OF MEDITATION? Yes because this is an important question and the answer may surprise you.
Myth Busting Meditating in Groups vs Meditating Alone
Let’s go back to one of the earlier thoughts about the monk going up to the cave and being all alone. This has probably happened and I’d assume finding a quite place with no distractions or less distractions may be part of the appeal to going it alone in a secluded place. No matter where you go though, you will always have distractions. There is the weather outside that is warm or cold, sunny or rainy or snowy. There are birds or animals or other things in nature that could disrupt you.
I’d guess the number of monks or others that go this route, meaning isolated in a cave or climbing a mountain top is a fairly small number in the grand scheme of meditators.
If we continue exploring the monk side of things, monks join monasteries to deepen their practice and understanding of how to live a more mindful life.
In typical society we may not be able to go off to the mountains, a cave or even join a monastery like a monk however we can find a community to meditate with. You can join a buddhist Sangha, or meditation group that is kind of a lay person monastery. You can check out the International Sangha Directory to find a local mediation group.
Other options are finding a meditation group with friends or local communities or online communities. This is one of the things I offer here at Hellagood Life an online community.
Why would you want to join a meditation community? Well, just like the monks joining a monastery, joining a meditation group of some sort will allow you to explore ways to practice deeper and find new ways to apply mindfulness ideas deeper in your life. Through conversations and discussions of shared experiences and best practices from solo experiences or mindfulness studies, you can learn new ways to practice or deeper ways to practice. Fellow meditators can share books to read or different ways to practice. Meditating and sitting as a group can also offer a new experience.
Meditating with others can also share some energy that you may not experience on your solo meditations. I think it also just feels good meditating in a group.
I might even say that meditating with others is an important part of the journey. There is a level of learning that can only be accomplished with a community of like-minded people.
For me, I meditated alone for some 6 years or so before I started seeking a group or a more seasoned expert to help me take my practice deeper. If like me you find that meditation serves you well, then you will find that adding a community is a powerful addition to your practice. You may also find that sitting with a more seasoned meditator, coach, or training under a monk can also add to your practice.
Is a Meditation Community Right For You?
I guess answering this question depends on your goals and what you want to accomplish with your practice. There are lots of apps out there and maybe that is all you need. I have used them for a long time and meditated alone for ages.
Meditation lead to exploring mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and how my moods and emotions some make a good or bad meditation experience and also how meditating also started flowing out into my life in informal ways.
When I noticed breathing could help ease my frustrations or anger I wanted to learn more. When I learned mindfulness could actually help me deal with difficult times in life, I wanted to learn more. So for me it was a seeking for new ways to apply the ideas and practices that were already working for me.
I think being a part of a community pushes me to continually grow and stretch myself. If you’d like to grow your practice and stretch yourself then maybe being a part of a community is something you should look into.
All the programming I am offering at Hellagood Life, I believe, are better when you have someone to talk about it with you and share their experience with you. Everyone’s experience is different and you might be amazed at what you can learn from another person.
This past month I kicked-off the 30-Day Daily-Meditation Habit Builder Challenge with the purpose of helping people build their daily meditation habit as I truly believe the daily practice can serve you deeply. One of the awesome things though was the shared experience of the small group discussing thier journey and which practices resonated with them and which did not and why. I believe some solid relationships were built by going through this challenge together and I know I am personally more connected to those who went through it. I learn as much from them as they may have learned from me. I think it really creates a win-win experience for ll involved.
So I’d challenge you to try meditating in a group or better yet, commit to joining a group for ongoing basis to see how it adds to your practice or helps you build a practice. If you’d like to try one of the groups I lead, I’d recommend joining us for the next 30-Day Daily-Meditation Habit Builder Challenge. You can go here to sign up!
I am not sure when I will be offering this challenge again and I do not let people join while we are in the middle of a session as I like to keep people going through the challenge at the same time and discussing the same experience together as I believe it creates a better experience for the community. Similar to a college course.
If you are reading this article when the cart is closed and the challenge is not happening, then you can always get on the waitlist to get notified when I open up the next challenge. Here is a link to the waitlist.
