What do you do if life is intense? One of the things I see and hear many people are doing these days is meditating. What I wonder is: do we really consider what we are doing or trying to achieve when we are meditating? It is important to know.
My first experience with meditation was when I was growing up. Some people around me would meditate – they would disappear into a room, not to be disturbed for the rest of the afternoon. Especially their mentioning that they should not be disturbed is something that made it all quite mysterious to me and also made it seem a very vulnerable thing to do, in the sense that I could not make noise otherwise the meditation would be disturbed.
If I asked what meditation was and how I should do it, I was told that I had to focus on an object in my mind like a pencil and keep focussing on that… I tried but found it hard and to be honest, not very enriching and even a bit boring. I did not feel my body and I sort of felt isolated in my mind and cold – not the most pleasant feeling.
All in all, this meditation did not do it for me.
Years later, at the age of 19, I came across Universal Medicine. Here I was introduced to the Gentle Breath Meditation by Serge Benhayon. First I was a bit hesitant, remembering the meditation from my childhood and not finding it very supportive, but I gave it a go and the experience was completely different.
We were asked to focus on our body and to choose a quality of gentleness in our breath, starting with the tip of the nose and feeling the air flowing in gently and how this feels cool at the tip. The rest of the meditation continued with focussing on both the in and out-breath and after that, your whole body, by relaxing and surrendering all your muscles to the gentle rhythm established by your breath. What I found was a profound awareness of my whole body; I felt all of my body – warm and delicious, as well as very still and precious in quality.
It was the most beautiful feeling I had ever experienced.
It was from this moment that I learned that meditation is not about checking out of our body for a moment of calm and to basically escape from the intensity of the world. The point is, after this ‘outing,’ we always have to come back to our body and feel it, and the intensity of the world it carries once again. In other words, it does not change anything.
True meditation for me is about connecting to a quality of gentleness or tenderness that is innate in our body and surrendering to this quality that is already there. It is about establishing a quality and a connection that brings my mind and body together as one. When I go out of my body into my mind, I feel I lose my innate intelligence, which includes feelings of what to do and what not to do, what to say, and what is safe to do and what is not.
Thus, when I come out of the meditation I am more surrendered in my body and feel equipped to deal with life and its intensities that we cannot stop from being there. For me this is true body intelligence. In that moment I feel the whole of my body like it is a big space and from there it is very clear what I need to do, how I need to do it and when. It is the most beautiful feeling I know – to be one with my body and mind together.
By Lieke Campbell, Belgium
Further Reading:
Our Breathe As A Tool Of Connection
The Gentle Breath Meditation™ & Discovering my Inner Self
Gentle Breath Meditation in Daily Life
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
What a difference life is when we learn to understand our body, and feel from the inner stillness that has been made possible from the Gentle Breath Meditation. Feeling our essence is profound in many ways and thus being able to bring a different perspective to the way we look at life and the ways we are imposed upon by the forces that are unseen and thus we can be open to much corruption and lies on so many levels including how we meditate, so thank you Lieke for much can be explained through true meditation and thus feeling our divine connection.
“In that moment I feel the whole of my body like it is a big space and from there it is very clear what I need to do, how I need to do it and when” – I love this statement.
Even reading it makes me realise but also feels beautiful to read on my own body.
There is much to say about the power of the Gentle Breath Meditation. The simplicity of doing it but also how it connects the body to you (and vice versa) is so much better than the other meditations that zones you out, or become a chore.
As far as I’m concerned, I much prefer that, that brings me to my body any day, than that, that separates me. It’s a worldly tool…
The Gentle Breath Meditation, when practiced with consistency, is one of the most loving gifts we can give ourselves.
In my experience too, the Gentle Breath Meditation as taught by Serge Benhayon is one that does equip us to handle life, and lovingly so, where as the other meditations I have learned and practice teach the opposite (how to escape and seek a blissful space to ‘get away’ from life and our committments).
Henrietta I totally agree a vast difference between the Gentle Breath Meditation and the others that are out there. The former connects you to you and your body and from there we are in our fulness to serve. Whilst the latter keeps us separated from the world and not wanting to be part of it.
This blog is a great reminder to simply come back and feel the natural innate qualities of gentleness and tenderness that we all hold deep within – to develop a relationship with this in terms of holding an awareness of these qualities and allowing them to be expressed freely.
Thank you Lieke, I like how you have spelled this out: “meditation is not about checking out of our body for a moment of calm and to basically escape from the intensity of the world.” – and in fact this is what most meditations seem to be about.
Gentle Breath Meditation helps us to connect with our bodies, ‘focus on our body and to choose a quality of gentleness in our breath, starting with the tip of the nose and feeling the air flowing in gently and how this feels cool at the tip. ‘
Profound it is, what True-focus on what we are doing can bring to our day, as in the Gentle Breath Meditation. Many ways of living now provide a platform for our Soul-full connection such as simply walking and feeling our bodies as we walk without any mind disturbing distractions.
I have also done those meditations that rely on the mind focusing on something and there is a coldness to them. The Gentle Breath Meditation is so different in that it’s brings you deeper into your body (not away like many meditations) and as a result able to cope more with life and commit to life more as well. What I find supportive about this meditation is that the gentle breath technique can be used anytime during the day at work, home, out shopping, when I can’t sleep, etc, and it supports me to be more present with myself and steady, and not get caught up in what’s going on around me or with what’s happening in my mind. The Gentle Breath Meditation and breathing technique are very settling.
The Gentle Breath Meditation supports us to be still and surrendered, ‘ What I found was a profound awareness of my whole body; I felt all of my body – warm and delicious, as well as very still and precious in quality.’
This is a great sharing Lieke because everyone can feel the intensity of life and when I look around me it seems that we are not dealing with this intensity very well – as we are looking for more and more ways to distract ourselves. So something as simple as the Gentle Breath Meditation is an excellent way to come back to our bodies to build a relationship with ourselves so that we don’t need to numb or dull our senses in order to cope with the stress of day to day living.
One of the most simple yet profound learnings I have taken away from Universal Medicine is the gentle breath meditation. This in itself has the power to resettle the body and support to connect to deep stillness; something in this modern era we all desperately need.
Absolutely Michelle, profound indeed, and with mental illness on the rise this simple way of connection is life changing for many of our societal afflictions. Any mental anguish is an ominous sign, especially when so many are entering into what could be called the modern plague, and this is simply because of the way we are living and something as simple as the way we can focus on our breath as we go about our day brings a presence to all we do.
In presence we get to feel what is around us, the development of this awareness may be a bit scary at first and lead to some unexplainable behaviours (if energy is not considered) but as we get familiar with this sensation and begin to trust it – it is the most empowering relationship we can develop.
With the Gentle Breath Meditation we can be in the world but not of it so to speak.
‘It was the most beautiful feeling I had ever experienced.’ That is the beauty of being with our body. Even when I feel what I have polluted my body with there is the beauty of it to return to, amazing.
Thank you Karin, and as Leike has shared it is about feeling the beauty and the gentleness that we so naturally are within.
And the Gentle Breath Meditation helps us to re-connect with our essence, our inner beauty, ‘True meditation for me is about connecting to a quality of gentleness or tenderness that is innate in our body and surrendering to this quality that is already there.’
I agree a meditation practice that is for everyday life, and not for seeking bliss or checking out, this is the Gentle Breath Meditation. It is life transforming to bring our breathing awareness to the purpose of life, to feel its support, to move with it, to observe it.
Lieke, I like how you have talked here about how true meditation is not about an escape from the world, but rather a way to connect to the loveliness that is within so that we can bring that out in the world that we live in.
Connect to the loveliness within, https://www.unimedliving.com/meditation/free/free-gentle-breath-meditations-an-introduction.html.
Agreed, my understanding and purpose with meditation has transformed in the past decade, from being something to escape life to being a check-in to life in a way that allows me to be all of me in life.
One of the greatest joys in my life is introducing/reconnecting people to that innate stillness that is within all of us… Within the gentleness of the reconnection is that doorway to what humanity seeks and has always been seeking, and it is so simple.
‘It is the most beautiful feeling I know – to be one with my body and mind together.’ Yes it is, it gives the solidness of our being into our daily life and when life starts to be intense and we loose our breath, we can always come back to it and move as one through life again.
The Gentle Breath Meditation brings you back, to connect with who you truly are.
Life is a meditation if we learn to move through it with both body and mind as one and in harmony (working together) with the each other. Without this we ‘get a-head of ourselves’ (literally!) and learn to live in separation – a paralysing state of being in which we compartmentalise the different parts of our physicality so that they are all working at odds to each other so that we create a situation where the body becomes slave to the wanton desires of the mind. We then take this compartmentalisation into life and the way we approach it and then wonder why we feel so lost and unsettled. Meditation is the art of reacquainting ourselves with our WHOLE being so we do not leave any part of ourselves behind.
“When I go out of my body into my mind, I feel I lose my innate intelligence, which includes feelings of what to do and what not to do, what to say, and what is safe to do and what is not.” When we lose our innate intelligence we are like ships without a rudder.
Meditation is not something to be hidden, to be reserved for spiritual seekers and the ‘enlightened’ and it certainly isn’t something that should take you away from life! The Gentle Breath Meditation and the other forms that Universal Medicine offers are nothing like any other meditation I’ve done in the past. These actually bring you to a sense of yourself, to your body and to life. They can even be done while in life doing daily tasks. All meditation is to me now is a moment of connection that is then how I live the rest of the day.
Committing to life and bringing out all to it is one of the most enriching things ever. I have found that the The Gentle Breath Meditation supports with this process and from experience that other meditations actually make one feel less in their body and hence less ready and supported to bring their all to life.
My experience of Gentle Breath Meditation is that it lets me know what it’s like to be connected with my own breath and body, and during the day, at work, out on the street, I can bring myself to that same quality by paying attention to the breath, the way I move my body, and unlike other meditation I have tried before, it allows me to be in life, instead of reinforcing the idea that the world out there is disturbing and ugly and I need my safety cocoon away from it.
We can check in with our breath at any point during the day, and see how our body is feeling, the Gentle Breath Meditation ‘ lets me know what it’s like to be connected with my own breath and body, and during the day, at work, out on the street, I can bring myself to that same quality by paying attention to the breath, the way I move my body’.
“What I wonder is: do we really consider what we are doing or trying to achieve when we are meditating? It is important to know.” – For sure I think this is a key point to contemplate and consider to ask ourselves what we are seeking of something, to really be honest with ourselves about the intent or purpose behind what we’re doing and if that is genuinely helpful or not, without judgement just to be more aware of what we’re choosing.
Such a great point to explore, what is meditation for us, what is the prupose and why do we do it. In many cases it can easily be to escape the things in life we don’t like and yet when we introduce true meditation as part of life to be in constant connection with life we open up something very very special.
The gentle breath meditation changed my life. Connecting to that quality of gentleness and tenderness you speak of Lieke, and ‘establishing a quality and a connection that brings my mind and body together as one’ makes living life a completely different experience. The trick for me is to learn to build the consistency of this quality in everyday life, not just for a one off 5-minute respite. I know that every choice I make will either enhance this quality or slap me straight back into the head and disconnection again.