Meditation Exercise: The Celestial Triad
For this meditation exercise, I've overlayed this animation onto the church's symbol; the Celestial Triad Spiral, to represent the movement of the planets around the Sun along with the star's movements around the galaxy.
Instructions:
Disclaimer: The below meditation methods are used by me personally, and I have learned these techniques from various practioners of different meditative styles. It really comes down to doing it how YOU feel comfortable. If you're already experienced in meditation, feel free to use your own techniques!
1: Find a comfortable surface to sit - a bed, cushion, yoga mat, etc. If possible, keep back straight and legs crossed. Relax shoulders but keep neck straight.
2: Focus on the center pulsating light. Exhale fully and take a slow, deep breath through your nose, breathing with your stomach and not your chest. Once your lungs are comfortably full, hold it for a few seconds (Whatever feels comfortable to you. Don't overdo it!!)
3: While still focusing on the pulsating orb, begin to exhale slowly through your mouth. After you fully exhale, pause for a moment and then repeat the breathing exercise. As you breathe, keep your eyes entirely focused on the pulsing orb.
4: As you watch the orb and continue the breathing exercise, you may notice your mind starts wandering all over with a deluge of thoughts. That's just your brain trying to relax, but it isn't used to the lack of stimuli bombardment we usually get daily. This increase in activity is simply your brain winding itself down. Don't fight it. You can even embrace the thoughts and just allow them to come and go - this will actually make it easier to clear your mind.
5: After your thoughts have run wild for several minutes, they'll begin to diminish, vanishing one-by-one. It is completely normal if you can't totally empty your thoughts, so don't fret if it seems like you can't shut your brain off. Just keep repeating the above steps, maybe even throw in the mantra "I am one with the Universe. I am not separate." and chant it verbally or in your head.