Hey there! We’ve been so busy posting travel hacks, fun food spots, and #wifelife experiences, but now it’s time to get back to why we even started blogging in the first place! Today at Eat Pray Wife, we want to focus on our faith and how we can connect with God on an even deeper level. For starters, yes… you read that right. Meditation. Not prayer, not asking God for help or thanking Him for coming through, but sitting and experiencing God through Meditation. 

People get a little weird about this word, Christians especially… It’s not a bad word though, and it’s definitely not a bad practice! Meditating is actually a really great way to take that extra step with God and get to know Him on a much deeper more personal level. Of course, we can learn about Him by:

1. Reading Scripture
2. Studying Theological Textbooks
3. Listening to Expert Lectures
4. Praying in Groups or Solo

But, if we are only relying on these methods, then we are definitely missing out. Before I share what meditation looks like in my life, I want to dispel a few myths. 

Myth: You must sit on the floor, cross legged with your hands resting, while humming to meditate. 

Myth: You can only meditate during yoga.

Myth: Meditation is only relevant if you are of the Buddhist religion.

Myth: Christians don’t meditate. 

Okay, great. Now that we have all of that out of the way, open your mind and really try to understand the concept of meditation. I feel like this is something that looks different for everyone. After all, isn’t that how our relationships with God work?? My personal relationship with Him is completely different than my husband’s relationship with God, or my best friend’s relationship, and even yours. That’s kind of a big key in having a personal relationship with Him, that it is real and authentic and completely unique to you. This is how I choose to look at meditation. It’s unique and different from person to person. 

When I first started learning of the concept of meditation, it was ironically while I was sitting cross legged in a yoga studio… I know, I know. The irony pains me! It was such a cool experience though because I was learning (kind of for the first time) that it was okay to just sit in quietness and listen for God and to experience His presence while doing nothing. There were no worship lyrics in the background, no flashy lights and fog machines. I wasn’t thinking on a particular verse or sending out prayers to Him. I was just sitting. I was completely still, relaxed, and focused.

Yeah, that word focus is hard for us. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been saying your prayers at night and fallen asleep before Amen… It’s okay, it happens. With meditation though, you want to place yourself in an environment where you can remain alert and focused. I think that’s why people tend to sit cross legged with a straight back and hands resting on their knees. It’s a very alert position, one where you can’t drift into a slumber. Back to my first experience with meditation. My teacher was a Buddhist, so I was a little nervous about what this whole experience was going to look like since we worship completely different Beings. But, I went with it, and she was super cool with me meditating with my God and her focusing on hers. She actually made a point to explain how in a class with 10 people, it’s unlikely that we all share the same faith. She encouraged us focus on our own experience and to connect with our God.

This is where it gets tricky for a lot of people, and trust me, I used to be those people. I didn’t think that I could learn anything about my faith from someone of another faith. But why not? It’s not like non-Christians are stupid. Sometimes, they even know more about certain teachings than I do. I’m not a theological scholar, and I have to be willing to admit when I don’t know the answer to certain questions. Anyways…. If you’re totally turned off by the post because of the last paragraph, please hang in there. Disagree with me if you want to. Have your own ideas,  that’s important. But don’t stop reading just because you disagree. Finish the whole post, and then make your final decision. 

During this time of meditation in my little class, I completely let my mind go. For the first time in my entire life, I was able to just exist. Up to this point, I had never experienced a moment where I was thinking about one thing, and one thing only. As women, we tend to always be thinking about 30 things at once. In this moment though, I wasn’t. I was focused on God. I was listening for Him, and I felt His presence in a way that was both spiritual and physical. I was warm, and I felt so safe and secure. I remember feeling incredibly small but significant at the same time. I tried hard not to pray and start talking to God. I just wanted to experience His presence and His voice if He would share it with me. We stayed like this for maybe 10 minutes, but to me, it felt like time wasn’t happening at all. I was just at one in His presence.

Since then, I’ve started practicing meditation on my own in a private environment. It’s such an intimate experience, one that I hope you will seek. There really is nothing quite like it. I don’t know if I do it right or if I look silly, but I know that none of that matters. For me, meditation looks like me stripping myself of all security blankets, existing in complete vulnerability, with my eyes, ears, and mind focused 100% on God and His existence. If you’re still unsure about meditation and if it can exist within the Christian faith, I encourage you to read these Bible verses. It has really changed the way that I look at God and how I experience Him. Finally, I feel like I can experience Him without any prompting. Like He is just there with me, hanging out, doing life right beside me.

• Genesis 24:63 – Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
  Joshua 1:9 – This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
• Psalms 1:1-2 – Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
• Psalms 119:15 – I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

For  more information on this topic, I encourage you to check out this link from Bible.org. They do a really good job of defining and explaining meditation and how it relates to the Christian faith. They break it down and show exactly what it is, why we do it, and how it affects us. This is all that we have for you today. I hope you enjoyed this post and continue to grow in your relationship with God, day by day.

– the Wife