London - Madonna Gaulding, author of The Meditation Bible, gives you a beginner’s guide to easy serenity - while shopping.
BENEFITS: Believe it or not, it is possible to meditate while shopping. You can become mindful of what you project on to objects. This will help you see that acquiring things does not bring happiness, as well as tackling addictions to shopping.
TO START: Go to a shopping centre alone without money or credit cards. This visit is for meditation only.
STEP ONE: Walk down the row of shops and notice the things you want. Ask yourself why you want that jacket. Do you think it will make you feel better about yourself, sexier or more attractive? If you buy and wear it, what do you think it will say to others about you? What qualities and powers are you projecting onto it?
STEP TWO: Recall the last time you bought something you felt you had to have. How do you feel about the item now? Did it deliver all you hoped? Or is it forgotten in your wardrobe?
STEP THREE: Contemplate the fact that all material things are unreliable and subject to decay. They can never bring you real happiness or heal feelings of inferiority or loneliness.
STEP FOUR: Begin to assess everything you want to buy in this way. Make sure you enjoy your possessions for what they are, but don’t project on to them more than they can deliver. - Daily Mail
* The Meditation Bible by Madonna Gauding (The Godsfield Press).