In this installment of my “Meditation Coaching Demo” series, I work with 2 meditators who are at different stages on their meditation journey. The first session is with a yogi who has over 30 years of experience in meditation. His depth of experience allows us to explore some extremely subtle phenomena of advanced meditative states. In the second session, I work with a yogi on the fundamentals of the practice, specifically facing the challenging mental states when establishing the practice of mindfulness.

Advanced Meditation Coaching Demonstration #7 – Eric Troth

Background: Eric is an experienced meditator having practiced meditation in various forms for over 30 years. He was practicing Vipassana for the first 15 years and had exposure to various other methods since that time. For the last 7 years, Eric has practiced with Thomas Hubl and his meditation is mostly a simple practice of just sitting – presence meditation. Eric practices every day for twenty to thirty minutes, and sometimes an hour.

Years ago Eric did a fair number of 5 and 10-day retreats. He has also done a couple of weeks of Zen with Diane Hamilton, as well as a 10-day retreat with Thomas Hubl.

In the past, Eric felt he was doing a more “masculine” approach to practice that was more willful and striving. More recently he has shifted to a more “feminine” approach which is more oriented towards relaxing, accepting, and allowing while resting in presence.

In this meditation coaching session, I work with Eric on an extremely subtle level of “Cittanupassana” (contemplation of consciousness and mental formations). We look at the difference between a more precise observation of mental states vs. a more open and expansive awareness. We also explore the “spiritual bypass” at the root level in the mind.

Eric and I also reflect on the beauty of “spiritual communion, where we hold a refined level of “self-observation” while simultaneously fully meeting the another in a deeply connected “We-Space.”

Basic Meditation Coaching Demonstration #8 – Roman Panek

Background: Roman joined me for this session from the Czech Republic. He has a high-pressure job in the aerospace industry, and his meditation practice helps him to balance the pressure with his life. In addition to meditation, Roman also practices Aikido which includes awareness training.

Roman has been practicing meditation on his own for some time but with no formal study with a teacher. He practices mindfulness-based meditation, following Sam Harris’ instructions in the “Waking Up” meditation app. Roman does his awareness training in Aikido a couple of times per week and does a formal meditation practice once per week.

Additionally, Roman does a 2 min. mindfulness practice at least a few times every day. Roman has been dealing with Attention Deficit through his life and finds that mindfulness helps him greatly with this.

In this meditation coaching session, I work with Roman on how to work with the hindrances of the practice. We draw a distinction between indulging and resisting when caught in the difficult mental states of desire, aversion, sleepiness, restlessness, and doubt.

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