Do You Know How to Meditate?

Most people think meditation is about relaxing, and they don't think there is any more to it than that. And to be clear — relaxation is extremely valuable and sacred. Your nervous system needs rest. Your body and mind would collapse without it. But if relaxation is all you think is possible through meditation, you’re standing at an entrance and calling it the journey. You want the orange juice, and you’re eating only the peel.

There are countless “types” of meditation. Breathwork. Body scanning. Chanting mantra. Visualizations. Chakra meditations. Eye gazing. Even counting sheep. There are infinite ways to quiet the mind. And people build identities around them. “I do holotropic breathwork.” “I do japa mantra.” “I do Transcendental Meditation.” You name it and there is a lineage of diligent devotees. The thing is, the school of meditation doesn’t matter so much as the depths you reach. It’s not the style, it’s the layers. Patanjalî's yoga sutras lays the progression out very clearly.

• You watch thoughts

• You label thoughts

• You stop getting pulled by thoughts

• Your attention stabilizes

• You can focus on one thing

• That becomes meditation

• That becomes absorption

MEDITATIVE LAYERS:

The First Layer: The Surface (Gross Level)

This is where most people stay. You focus on your breath, you notice sensations. You repeat a mantra, or stare at an object. You sit or lay quietly for a while and feel calmer, maybe clearer. Maybe you fall lightly asleep and feel your thoughts slow down. This is where meditation becomes a tool for stress relief. And again — there’s nothing wrong with this level, it is part of the journey to within. But this is still the outermost layer.

The Second Layer: The Subtle

If you repeat your practice enough… something shifts. Under no force of your own you stop just watching the breath and start sensing the energy behind it. You stop just feeling the body and start noticing the experience of sensing itself. You begin to observe:

• the mind thinking

• the patterns behind the thoughts

• the way attention moves

Now you’re no longer just relaxing, you’re recognizing consciousness.

The Third Layer: Bliss

There’s a point where effort drops. The chatter of the mind faded to silence, and what’s left isn’t emptiness. It’s a kind of fullness. Peace. Stillness. Ease. Not emotional happiness — something deeper. There are no thoughts, no sensations, no feelings up or down. A state where nothing is missing and all is content.

The Fourth Layer: The “I”

And then it gets even more interesting. You start to notice, who is experiencing all of this? The non streaming of thoughts. The weightless feeling of the body. The calmness. Who or what is aware of all this? This is where meditation stops being something you do and becomes something you are inside of. Beyond this, eventually, even that dissolves.

No object. No focus. No “you” watching anything. Just existence itself.

So when people say: “Meditation doesn’t work for me.” What they really mean is; “I’ve only experienced the first layer.” Or, they’ve been taught by people who only know about the first layer. The fact is that meditation is not simply one thing. It’s a spectrum. A process. A fluctuation. A journey. A descent inward. You can use it to nap, or you can use it to become awakened. Both are valid, but they are not the same thing.

This is why we can't just “teach meditation.” We instead teach awareness. We teach breath as a gateway. We learn from our practice how to move from body (physical) → energy (breath) → mind (spirit)→ self (bliss). Because your practice isn’t just to feel better or be more spiritual, your practice is about learning to discipline and ultimately release yourself.

with Love,

Aja