You sit in a dimly light room, close your eyes and focus on nothing but the sound of own your breathing and sometimes the sound of someone else words. It leaves you feeling grounded and connected to your body.
This is meditation, a practice where an individual focuses their mind on a particular object, thought or activity to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state.
The practice has been around for hundreds of years, but Corey Sheikh spiritual guide and founder of INFINITE Life, an Ottawa-based wellness centre, said “the nature of true meditation is finding what is changing.”
Sheikh’s own meditation journey started after a battle with addiction and mental illness.
“Meditation came at a time in which I was struggling to deal with anxiety and symptoms of depression. I had experienced these for many years, attempting many of the traditional means of healing and care, to no avail,” he said. “After only a few weeks of meditation I saw the positive changes and effect on my ability to release from attachment to thoughts and feelings, giving myself a new found sense of freedom.”
It was not long after this in which he had a profound out of body, spiritual experience which opened him up to a realm of experience he never thought was possible.
“This ignited a path of seeking to uncover the source of meditation, through countless hours of practice in various modalities through some of the most well-known world teachers. Seven years later, I am teaching a way of life in which leads to what I call Meditative living.”
PN – period after ‘illnes’s” class=”inline-comment collapsed”>Why does he feel meditation resonates with so many people?
Meditation is a means to which one comes to answer this question, and reap the rewards of the attainment of this goal. Peace, bliss and Love. It is what we are all seeking, no matter who we are, where we come from or the means in which we look to find the answer with.” CP – quote punctuation” class=”inline-comment collapsed”>
When coming out of his workshops or classes Sheikh hopes people will take away “that meditation firstly, is simple, and it is natural more importantly, it is not something that only “some” people can do, one must just be humble and willing enough to try, to explore and to desire to know themselves enough, for it to work.”
Sheikh teaches meditation classes right here in the Ottawa area along with holding workshops around the city including right here at Algonquin College.