Last week, we talked about how social distancing has a silver lining and could be used to change your life positively in many ways.

But for those of us who are struggling with many problems in life, including financial, health, or family-related brought about by the pandemic of the century, meditation can be a massive help in getting through this period.

We examine some specific meditation-related methods for overcoming the stress and loneliness that forced social distancing can bring in our lives.

1. You will be able to find the comfort of your Spirit.

Sahaja meditation helps us discover and feel our spiritual being. We exist in this world with multiple identities and roles, but the most important of them all is the deepest inner spiritual being. That inner being is very precisely defined and felt by Sahaja. With Sahaja’s self-realization process or the activation of our inner subtler energy system, several things happen simultaneously –

• We feel our inner being or Spirit on our central nervous system in the form of throbbing energy or a pulsating sensation on our fingers and specific chakras.
• Our awareness or consciousness is elevated to a higher plane where thoughts are reduced significantly, and we can experience substantive periods of deep, relaxing inner silence and calm.
• Most importantly, our focus and perspective change drastically. We begin to identify with this state, experience and the inner being more and more, rather than whatever our thoughts, emotions, and physical self are causing us to experience in our lives. This new awareness and sensory perception is dominant, instead of the nagging and troublesome feelings of fear, anxiety and stress.

Even though we continue to face challenges and problems, our identification and experience are with our spiritual being and the peace and comfort it experiences. This makes it highly beneficial to get through our problems, almost to the point where they may not seem like problems at all. It feels like we have a large reservoir of patience and energy to deal with everything in our lives.

2. You will be able to develop detachment.

The next important benefit with consistent meditation is a sense of detachment – no, this isn’t some form of mentally practiced or conditioned aloofness. It is not also about staying away from what’s happening or the people around us.

It is a genuine inner capacity that grows within us – we can look at people, situations, and problems in life without getting swayed or overwhelmed by them. The separation of ourselves from our problems is clear, precise, and positive – it feels like we’re at a safe distance from these getting to us or affecting us. We develop this real power of detachment and it happens because of the power of the subtle energy inside us that is activated. In general, regular meditation helps develop this power. Focusing specifically on the heart chakra and Vishuddhi chakra can further help.

3. Meditation helps discover the higher states within you.

Aside from elevating our attention to a higher plane of consciousness during our meditation, our priorities in life change to seek a higher purpose and more important things. In other words, we possess the ability to rise above just our own problems and lives. We develop a much wider perspective of the issues in this world and the maturity to see how our lives could easily be a lot worse than many others. This doesn’t stop us from dealing with or getting through our problems or what we have to do, but the pain is far less. 

Even better, when we get in the company of like-minded Sahaja practitioners, our problems seem to disappear. We enjoy the ocean of spiritual energy through collective meditation. And so, the impact or havoc caused by social distancing and pretty much every serious problem can be dented.

4. Discover and strengthen more universal and global relationships instead of narrow, local relationships.

Meditation helps us discover the universe’s infinite nature through a very real experience of the Collective UnConscious spiritual realm. This also helps discover the universal and global nature of people and our relationships. While being part of our local communities and countries is important, our relationships and interactions broaden. Specifically, if we’re missing interacting with our local friends and family during social distancing, it affects us far less. The new possibilities and relationships we can build with a lot more people across the world and cultures feel exciting. Suddenly, social distancing may even seem like a positive thing.

5. Enrich your life with high-quality content.

Make sure you’re reading our articles just as you are right now – this is the highest quality content. No, not really, just kidding, we want to be sure you’re still attentive and reading!

You could use this time during social distancing to read thought and emotion-provoking books. Or watch movies that make you introspect. These have a powerful benefit in examining your character and personality traits and how much you need to improve. Or you could watch the discovery or history or geography channel to discover Nature’s wonders. Powerfully stimulating your attention and emotions is a lot better than brooding over how life seems so bad without getting to be together with friends and family.

Where meditation comes in is in its ability to give you clarity of perception, focused attention, and the ability to still enjoy these things meaningfully, instead of having that feeling of loneliness or anxiety during social distancing.

Can you be peaceful in the company of yourself?

From centuries ago, yogis deliberately distanced themselves away from civilization, went to caves and tried to live decades of their life trying to find spiritual salvation and enlightenment. It was widely believed at that time that one had to shut down one’s senses and outward focus and learn to be with themselves for one’s spiritual progress.

With Sahaja, there’s no longer the need for such extreme measures. We can enjoy a spiritual path while being in our regular lives. All the same, it is good to test the strength of our ability to be with our Inner Self and check if we can navigate this period of being virtually alone. Does it bother us, even if we are meditators? How important is it in our lives to socialize and be with others? How strong is our inner self, and can it really stand the solitude?

These are questions we can take the opportunity to find answers to during this time.

Join our online meditation sessions to start or continue your inward journey, and if there is something special we can do for you, do write to us.