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Many people learn how to meditate from a book, but meditation is art as much as science, and arts are better taught by live teachers than by books. This explains why meditation is often learned quicker and brought to a deeper level when the beginner has someone as a teacher. Could that someone be a dog, cat or other animal?
Learn How To Meditate
From A Cat
Watch a cat clean itself? It's fully involved in the process, and you can intuitively sense that the cat is living right in the moment. It isn't thinking about later, or something that happened this morning. Look at how a cat stretches out in the sun and relaxes.
This natural state is part of what meditators work towards. Of course animals have fear, but they aren't afraid and also thinking "I shouldn't be afraid." They have pain, but without the added suffering of worrying about it. That "being here now" state is what you see in the eyes of a deer or other animal. So how can we more easily achieve this?
Try using an animal as a model. It takes imagination, which is fortunately one of the strenths of the human mind. Sit and imagine you are a cat. Notice that your mind doesn't wander into thoughts of yesterday or tomorrow. It is like it is at rest, yet open to whatever the moment brings.
Take a walk in the woods and pretend you're a deer. Look at the woods around you without thinking about them. Don't chew on the plants, but be a deer for a while. Notice that your senses are heightened. Does thinking too much lessen your ability to hear and see? It certainly can make you listen and look less.
Animal Meditation
The point isn't to think like an animal does, although that could be entertaining and instructive too. The idea is to adopt the state of mind of an animal at peace. That, along with your human awareness can be a powerful meditative practice. Why does it work?
Human minds are more powerful than conscious thoughts alone. Here's an experiment to try with someone who is willing to play along: Tell them to act tough. They might flex their muscles and scowl. Now tell them to be Conan The Barbarian, and watch the change. It will be more dramatic. Without thinking about it much, their posture, expression and attitude will change.
This shows the power of modeling. The subconscious mind knows more than the conscious mind. Decide to be an animal, and it influences you at a deep level. Pant like a dog and run around looking for a bone, and you'll feel quite different than you do now. Be a bear, sitting down after he has eaten, and you'll feel more relaxed and content.
When a squirrel is running around collecting nuts he isn't worried. He has fear at times, but he drops it when the cause is gone. A suirrel is just doing what needs to be done, right now, in this moment. He's at peace, even in the midst of all his busyness. You can bring that state of mind into your practice, and learn how to meditate from the animals.
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