PRACTICE // MEDITATION
By Lorin Roche phd
What really Happens in MediTAtion
Meditation with The Radiance Sutras
In the real world, these are the kind of
things you hear if you listen to people who
have busy, active lives as well a thriving
meditation practice. When people grab a
few minutes to meditate, the impulse toward
action continues. There is an alternation of
restfulness and restlessness. Accomplishment-oriented thoughts cycle in a rhythm with rest-
ful sensations, as the brain clears its mental
desk and the body settles into relaxation.
There is often a review of the to-do list and
the items that have been done or are awaiting
completion, with a few seconds of relief and
satisfaction here and there. If you can toleratethe intensity of all this, you’ll emerge re-
freshed in twenty minutes, relaxed and ready
to go. Meditation is a bath in the life force.
In yoga terminology, there are some great
clues to all this. Prana (prāṇa) is “the breath of
life, vitality, vigor, power.” And prana flows
and pulsates. This is the nature of life, which
is continually healing itself, renewing its vital-
ity, and making the body ready to engage in
action. Yoga texts talk about this dynamic,
ever-changing brilliance of prana as composed
of five rhythms: prana, apana, samana, udana,
and vyana. Think of each word as having a
spectrum of the following energies.Prana - propulsion and momentum.
Apana - the vital force flowing downward
and outward, elimination.
Samana - assimilation, absorption, consoli-
dation.
Udana - upward movement, speech,
expression.
Vyana - expansiveness, diffusion, free
circulation everywhere.Notice that there is no hint here that
you are supposed to calm down, make your
mind blank, or suppress the dynamic dance
of prana. Rather, when we meditate, we are
invited to experience the genius of prana as it
dynamically flows through our entire being on
all levels and rejuvenates and restores us. In
meditation, prana may continually change its
energetic tone from propulsion and
momentum to elimination, to assimilation and
absorption, to expression and expansiveness.
These changes often happen by surprise and
are almost shocking in how powerful they are.
The first pulsation is action and rest. So we
find ourselves alternately feeling active and
feeling restful. Everyone likes feeling totally
restful and relaxed in meditation, but many
find it a challenge to sit there buzzing with
excitement – even though this is an equally es-
sential phase of meditation. The next pulsation
has to do with what happens when we rest.
Our bodies heal up and retune themselves. So
we fluctuate between pleasant restfulness and
the painful sensations and emotions that have
to do with healing. This tends to happen every
few seconds and then every few minutes, over“Oh my God, it is such a relief to just sit down for a minute.”
“F**K, there are a million thoughts flying everywhere.”
“All I can think about is all the unfinished stuff on my to-do list.”
“This can’t be right. All I can feel is the pressure to do more.”
“My mind is like fifty televisions playing simultaneously.”
“My nerves hurt. They are just buzzing with fatigue.”
“Ouch, I am soooo tired.” Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
“What time is it?”
“I just felt the muscles in my throat relax – guess I was holding something there.”
“My heart is racing. It’s like I’m nervous to feel what’s in store.”
“That conversation was weird this morning. Why did I respond like that? I could have just said no.”
“Owww... it is so uncomfortable to sit here and face my feelings. I think I will just stop meditat-
ing right now and check my email.”
“I don’t want to get up. God, I haven’t been this relaxed in days.”