This article is part of the Meditation Question and Answer Series. Other articles in this series include:

I’ve been meditating since I was 8 years old. At the time, my family moved from the tropical island of Trinidad to New York City. In the basement of one of the 6 apartments we lived in over an 18 month period, a group of adults gathered to do meditation and yoga. I don’t remember anything profound happening during the meditation, but I was hooked. I felt that it was a way to directly connect with Spirit.

Every year since then I committed to a daily practice of meditation. I would start out with good intentions and meditate for every day up to 3 months. At the 3 month mark, the material world would start to disintegrate. That’s pretty scary when you’re in your teens, and it was equally petrifying as an adult.

In July 2006, I re-committed to the daily practice and this time I said I was going to push through the “amorphous” barrier, no matter the cost. What I’ve found on the other side is an immersion in Spirit that is unequaled. I can only experience and be in It. I cannot try to “get” it or “hold onto” it. It just is. Mystics say that there is an experience after this of being It. That’s what I’m shooting for.

In the meantime, I would like to share what I’ve learned of meditation: from the very rudimentary, where do I start, to what do I do with all those thoughts milling around, to what happens when I feel so exposed, to how can I go deeper.

Throughout this week, send me your questions about meditation and I will answer them as best I can from my 16 years of experience and from what I’ve learned from my teachers.

Looking forward to all of your questions.

In Spirit,
Nneka