Berkeley Spiritual Practice and Meditation Help
Developing a real spiritual practice that works in your life
Meditation: getting started
You may be one of the many people who are curious about meditation. You may want to know how it can benefit you in your life, but don’t know where to start. Sometimes it’s hard to see how you could fit meditation into your busy schedule.
I love helping people develop a spiritual practice that is suited to their particular needs--emotional, spiritual and practical. You and I can sit down together and look creatively at your life and find those moments when meditation can easily fit into your life. Sometimes even 5 minutes in a morning shower, or 10 minutes of complete attention while playing with your children can be the foundation of a stable, long-lasting spiritual practice. Even a daily commute on BART can be a great place to start for some people.
The point is that it is always possible to discover the time you will need to begin. Meditation can not only bring more joy and fulfillment to your life and to those close to you--it can also make your work more effective and enjoyable.
Meditation: a simple practice
At some point you may find that you have a comfortable place you can sit down for 5 or 10 minutes where you won’t be disturbed. It can be a chair in your bedroom, a park bench, or even sitting in your bathroom! Then all you need to do is breathe. It’s that simple. The one thing that turns this into meditation is simply noticing that you’re breathing, really feeling it. Notice how it feels to inhale and exhale, where ever you notice it in your body. Does it tickle your nostrils? Does it cause your belly to rise and fall? Does it make your chest swell and drop?
This is a beginning of a real revolution--simply being present for what you are experiencing at this very moment. After all, what we really have is a series of “right now”s. All you have of the past are memories, all you can really know about the future is guess work. In between these two mind events is the simple present, the right now. And the great advantage of right now is that it doesn’t trick us. It doesn’t allow wandering off into “what if’s,” or what was. It’s just fresh and immediate, and when you are fully in the present, you’ll find that you are at ease. There’s a phrase for the way this feels, “Nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to be.” When you give up trying to be somebody you think you should be, you end up just being yourself. What a great relief!
The benefits of meditation
Staying in the present can feel like being in love--food tastes fresher, colors are brighter, everything is suddenly vivid and you feel alive as you never had before. You may start this habit of being present with your breath, but it can become a habit that you can gradually remember to use all the time. You may discover to have an enormous appetite for the fullness, the juiciness, of the present moment. When practiced regularly and over time, you may even find you are asking yourself, “What’s all this talk about what I’m always missing?”
Transpersonal therapy
I have been doing transpersonal work for many years. If you want therapy to address your need for contacting a profound spiritual dimension within you, this work may be right for you.
I draw on many different systems, such as Buddhist psychology, Diamond Logos, Huma Somatic Psychotherapy, and Internal Family Systems work. We can explore how our egos can be wonderful and necessary helpers, but best serve our happiness when they are in the service of a larger spiritual dimension. Together we can design a course of therapy that will best fulfill your desire to explore the deeper parts of your being.
If you would like to explore transpersonal therapy, or want some help getting started with a meditation practice, please feel free to call me to set up a free 30 minute consultation, either by phone or in my office. I have been practicing Buddhist meditation for over fifteen years. There are many meditation techniques, one of which might be just right for you. I would be happy to explore this with you. I love helping people give themselves a gift that offers so many rewards. You can reach me at (510)540-0813, e-mail me at ninashilling@msn.com, or simply click here.
Specialites
About Nina
Nina Shilling provides warm, nurturing therapy to individuals and couples. She welcomes spiritual inquiry and is LGBT friendly. Her office is near the Downtown Berkeley Bart station and all major freeways.