For some time I have been following many enlightened peoples journeys, the one thing they all seem to have in common is meditation! This practice seems to have numerous benefits that even science research is now promoting. I feel if we all could practice this a little more we as a community would all benefit.
I was speaking to an old dear friend recently, Mick Thwaites, my captain from long ago, we both retired hurt from our sport with knee problems, thing is he now runs 400km races in 48 hours! He does unbelievable things, he has crossed the world and runs in amazing places. Soon he will undertake the EMU 6-Day Race in Balatonfüred, Hungary, in May. Naturally I assumed you stop at a location to sleep and eat etc, no was the answer we run for 6 days, I was speechless. (Bio of Mick)
Why does this have to do with meditation? As always I wanted to find out how this was possible and knew that spiritually and mentally he he must be training more than just the body, the mind. Meditation! That was a part of the process, during, before and in training. Specifically he told me about a movement of runners taking on some teachings of Sri Chinmoy. He was a runner and a spiritual guru. Together some of these runners are now able to do simply unbelievable feats of endurance. You can search and find his and many stories like this.
In my investigations I found a Sri Chinmoy center here in Australia and they have some great guidelines for meditation for beginners. I am going to try these and some others from different origins to help myself. Hopefully you can too!
Meditation guidelines for beginners – the ABCs
For the beginner – overcoming early difficulties
Meditation exercise 1. – The Spiritual Heart