Meditation
Integrate the Mind
To integrate the mind is to bring its function into ‘organised harmony’.
The mind when integrated runs ‘cool & quiet’ like a super-efficient machine.
Meditation
When we first become interested in Meditation we often approach it for a benefit, or from curiosity.
The ‘benefit’ approach may be for better mental performance, or it may be to overcome a stress factor or anxiety.
Whether for curiosity, performance, or stress-relief, we have an approach for you here at Melbourne Yoga & Meditation Centre.
We offer private lessons because that is the best and quickest way to get started.
What is Meditation really?
In brief we can say that true Meditation is an active, positive, conscious process. It is not hypnosis, or sleep, or suggestion, or auto-suggestion. It is not so many things, some of which are outlined lastly on this page. When understood & practised properly true Meditation results in a high degree of alertness, precise & dynamic cognitive ability, and mental spaciousness. The spaciousness is usually interpreted as ‘quiet’ and ‘peace of mind’, but really it is the ‘awareness of space’ for a beginner meditator. True Meditation enables the practitioner tremendous freedom and capacities largely unknown to the non-meditator.
Real Meditation has deep origins & consists in a proper technique & practice. Of course ‘depth’ requires a bit of time and persistence. It also requires a wide diversity of traditional methods from which to select from & apply.
Malcolm has found first hand from teaching 18 years in his Melbourne studio, preceded by many years personal practice & research study, that Private Tuition is the best approach to assisting people, & especially when learning Meditation.
What we offer
- Classical Meditation in many world styles; both Eastern & Western.
- Aesthetic Scientific Meditation & Mindfulness, as well as more Spiritually oriented methods – your choice.
- Techniques & traditions to balance & integrate the mind of every kind of person, in every lifestyle.
Meditation Styles
The main Styles of Meditation offered at Melbourne Yoga & Meditation Centre include Eastern Mind, Western Mind, Physical Body, Emotional Balance, Pure Mind, Samadhic Contemplation. There are many Integrated approaches which become available when your experience has developed.
Meditation – East & West
Eastern & Western styles of Meditation are different. This appointment aims to assess your ability with each, and then to practice what you are best at. The ultimate purpose of meditation is to discover meaning in our mind and to balance the mind’s content in the most efficient way. We then move on to Contemplation(a stage beyond meditation), which is objectless and silent.
Eastern Mind Meditation
This style of Meditation is very well suited to beginners. It aims at bringing stable awareness to the physical body as the centre of the psyche. It’s for introspective and earthy people, and an excellent place to begin for anyone starting out with Meditation.
Western Mind Meditation
This style of Meditation is for the very busy mind. It aims at integration prior to stillness. It’s for strong personalities and people who are always on the go.
Physical Body Focus Meditation
This style of Meditation is for people who are often too much in the mind and need to withdraw into the physical body to stabilise first. It’s the best way to begin for everyone, and is the most efficient method for beginners. It’s primarily for beginner meditators and people just starting out with meditation. A grounded start is your foundation.
Emotional Balance Meditation
This style of Meditation is for people who are extra sensitive and open to emotional imbalance. It aims at psychological calmness and equilibration and soothing of various emotional states like anger, frustration, sadness, trauma, anxiety. It’s for sensitive personalities and people who are subject to being upset emotionally.
Pure Mind Meditation
This style of Meditation is for those who are already well-versed in their mind’s peculiarities. It aims at purifying the mental content and the inner motivation. It’s for subtle people who understand the gentle and various nuances of mental activity. This method is advanced and not for the beginner meditator.
Samadhic Contemplation
This style of Meditation is for those who are ready to step beyond the mind and into the very essence of Contemplative awareness. It aims at what is called Reflexive Self-consciousness, a state of transcendent awareness which is the culmination of all meditation procedures; pure bliss. It’s for those who have the energy & mental integration to apply the simple rule which is at its basis. It is advanced and not suitable for a beginner meditator.
Unsure ?
If you are completely unsure where to begin, please start with “Meditation – East & West” We will assist you on how to proceed from the first appointment.
Stories of Freedom & Recovery
- A guy said one day, “I’ve heard Meditation is popular. What’s it all about? Can it help me to recover from my stressful job? I can’t seem to stop the Mind chatter at the end of the day… it just goes on an on. And I don’t have time to come to scheduled classes with you.” I mentioned that a few Private Lessons would be enough to give a practice outline. He took the lessons and was very happy.
- A guy (businessman) came one day (from overseas) and advised he had just been diagnosed with cancer. He said his Doctor recommended Meditation. After two private lessons he returned overseas. It took 3 years to recover with Meditation and some other conventional assistance. He remains alive, happy, has returned to work, & in contact still today.
Fees
What is the current fee schedule ? For Yoga or Meditation | Tuition, Courses or Workshops | Individual or Group | Country.
Fees are for IN-PERSON teaching with Malcolm in and around Melbourne, and also ONLINE across the World: The local individual rate starts at AU$80/hour, plus a moderate charge for travelling to your location if Melbourne based.
Group rates and ONLINE Teaching is always matched to the client’s requirements, abilities & location. Please ask for a Quote.
What may NOT be Meditation?
Reductionism
Many modern Meditation teachers have found that more people are interested in Meditation if the traditional aims and methods are removed from the practice. They call it ‘reductionism’. This may be true for a time. “Science has displaced Philosophy & the dogma of Religion” they say, “and we are in a new era”. In a certain way they are right, but not totally right.
Many Sparrows
We say that if individuals are given an original Meditation teaching in an assimilable way, the individual can choose what to keep and what to discard. “We are more than many sparrows”, and we can choose. Just giving childish mind techniques to smother mental phenomena doesn’t help people, and often leads to a shallow and limited practice & eventually abandonment of the practice. Many people today just want the ‘bare bones’ to patch up a temporary problem, without the deeper and richer insights. Many people can’t deal with anything more than a superficial technique to fiddle their mind a bit for a day or a week’s temporary relief.
Individual Confidence, or Not?
True to individuals’ confidence today through mass media, when people are asked “What is Meditaion?”, most have an answer satisfactory to themselves. Some already have a Meditation practice, some have tried, some say they will try one day when they get time, and so on. They know what Meditation is, right?
In our modern culture true Meditation has been fused together with so many practices which are not Meditation that there is often no longer a clear differentiation, not least among many teachers themselves. Here are a few common everyday views of what people ‘think’ or are ‘told’ Meditation is:-
- Vegan, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Paleo diet, or any special diet or supplement as such
- Contemplating nature in the fresh air & sunshine, or going on long walks
- Doing static or flowing yoga posture exercise, jogging, sweating in a room, gym exercise
- Listening to sound bowls & bells & soft music
- Chanting
- Deep body relaxation
- Sensory deprivation activities – like flotation in a chamber, or residing in a soundproof/lightproof room
- Ingesting any Psychotropic or other mind altering drug
- Practicing simple breathing techniques to relax the nervous system & induce negative hypostasis
- Exercises in Serial & Cyclic Body scanning – looping of consciousness
- Repetition of verbal or mental sounds – sometimes called mantra (used to focus attention)
- Thought suppression techniques & Thought diversion
- Mental trickery – specialised distractions & games for the mind
- Following serial linear thinking thought trains – often mistaken for Meditation
- Focusing with the eyes on the tip of the nose, or other focal techniques for the eyes, or other sense organs
- Mindfulness – a small aspect of Buddhist ‘preparation’ for Meditation
- Mental visualisation & inducement of Emotional phantasy
- Devotion to a ‘name’ or ‘form’ of any kind, inner psychologically or outer sensory
- Various states of part-sleep, hypnosis, drowsiness or dream where the mind content becomes random, vague or imperceptible
- Concentration (the classical process which precedes Meditation)
- Contemplation (which in the classical tradition follows Meditation)
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Real Meditation is either something different, or more specific, & far more valuable than these above, and we owe ourselves to not be deluded by pseudo techniques & misnomers.
Let us not say more on this subject for now.
For those who wish to practice true Meditation, learn the true discipline, please book yourself an appointment and we can proceed
Fees
What is the current fee schedule ? For Yoga or Meditation | Tuition, Courses or Workshops | Individual or Group | Country.
Fees are for IN-PERSON teaching with Malcolm in and around Melbourne, and also ONLINE across the World: The local individual rate starts at AU$80/hour, plus a moderate charge for travelling to your location if Melbourne based.
Group rates and ONLINE Teaching is always matched to the client’s requirements, abilities & location. Please ask for a Quote.