A simple meditation: All you need is a stone

Yes, technically this is a shell. But it will work too 🙂

Looking for a simple meditation? 

Here’s one I’ve fallen into again lately: Stone meditation.

Because I think I invented it I’m sure it must not be original to me. Probably somewhere in the recesses of my long ago past I read about it. And tried it. And forgot about it. 

Until it resurfaced shiny and new one day. And I claimed it as mine.

Regardless of its origin, here’s how stone meditation works:

1. Find a small stone or rock that fits comfortably in the flat of your palm.

2. Make sure you like the feel and the heft of it. You’ll be holding it for 10 to 20 minutes.

3. Sit comfortably erect. I prefer a quasi-lotus position, but you can place your legs in any position you can hold in a relaxed way.

4. Close your eyes and set an intention for your meditation.

This can be anything, from healing anguish to peacing out to engendering love within you. 

5. Now let that go . . . 

6. Breathe in . . . then out . . . going slower with each round of breath.

7. Gently feel the rock in your hands.

That’s it.

Do this for 10 to 20 minutes. Feel the rock. 

I like to hold the stone with both hands, slowly sensing the surface through my fingertips.

I may turn it over and around, or simply slide the tips of my fingers along its surface in a repetitive motion.

After a while you will cease your exploration of the stone. You will be holding it inertly. 

You will feel the essence of it without needing to sense it through your fingertips anymore. 

As it rests there in your hands it becomes a powerful nothing that was once a something. 

If you want you can revisit your intention and focus it into the void there between your fingers, the void that was once a stone but is now a solid anchor.

You can imagine this stone as a repository for your intention, one that will act as an amplifier . . . one that will release that intention into reality once it’s gathered sufficient force.

I’ve done this.

But more often than not, I’ve gone into stone meditation not seeking a thing. Once I arrive at the stone stillpoint I simply settle there. 

Expansive. 

Quiet. 

Poised. 

Breathing.

Aware of the memory of the stone’s contours but now using it more as a bridge into interior space.

And I’ll sit there.

Until ready to emerge from meditation.

Stone meditation works because it gives your body-mind something to focus on. That it is purely tactile is a bonus. It’s an easy focus . . . an engaging one too.

Beware. You may develop a fondness for this particular stone. You may even want to carry it with you throughout your day, to touch it and recall the stillpoint whenever needed. 

If you do this — if you carry it with you into your life — you can touch it to your heart when the day gets harried, when you crave a connection with the infinite. 

You needn’t even make such a dramatic gesture (touching stone to heart). Just touch it. Touch the stone and you will feel a bit of the fullness you experienced in meditation. It’s grounding. 

Freeing too. 

It frees you for a moment from the grip of tension. And that allows you to re-enter your day with renewed vigor.

Maybe feeling a little experimental too. So you can lightly experiment your way into a better place, stone or no stone.

For you —

Evan Griffith
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Want to read something that has nothing to do with stones? Check out this little book: 

Burn Baby Burn: Spark The Creative Spirit Within