Camille Maurine - Meditation Secrets for Women

This book grew out of a lively conversation with my husband Lorin that began when we met in 1983 and continues to this day. We both teach meditation and often discuss the interplay of meditation with love, work, play, creativity, and health. One of our central subjects is how meditation can be integrated into the challenges and joys of modern life.

We both feel immeasurably blessed by the ancient traditions, particularly those of Asia. But the field of meditation has been not just a mans world but a monks world. For thousands of years monks have been the primary custodians of the knowledge of meditation and the creators of its techniques, so naturally it has been designed to meet their needs. Consequently, most teachings on meditation are still shaped by attitudes that worked in the distant past, in the Far East, for reclusive and celibate males. Far too little is known about what works for women, especially contemporary women. Meditation is slowly being adapted to the West, but the time has come for a new focus, one that specifically addresses womens needs and strengths.

Since the mid-1970s I have been teaching meditation primarily in the context of movement, combining inner awareness with outer expression. Over this time countless women have shared their discoveries as weve explored the depths of female experience. Lorin has been a meditation teacher since 1970. When he coaches people, Lorin likes to find out about their livestheir longings, their loves, their innate wisdom. Rather than impose rigid techniques, he helps them customize their practice to suit their individual nature.

Lorin is always researching what works. One morning right after Id been meditating he asked, What do women need to know to thrive in meditation?

As I answered from the meditative state, he wrote down what I said on five-by-eight cards and spread them out on the rug. Later, as we gazed at the cards, I mused, You know, these really are secrets. These principles are not what people usually think of as meditation, but they are vitally important for women. Most teachings just do not comprehend the female body and psyche. Lorin then suggested, Why not write about this so that more women can know? At first I dismissed the idea because I had my hands full with other creative projects. But then, an alarming number of friends and clientshighly educated and spiritually oriented womenbegan confiding to me that they were taking antidepressants. Their depression and anxiety seemed to be eloquent expressions of a larger cultural dynamic: the urgent need for women to reclaim their inner ground. I became ever more impassioned and rededicated to these issues, Lorin and I continued our seminar, and before long I was ready to write.

Meditation Secrets for Women is a synthesis of our discussions. The whole process has been a remarkably seamless and complementary flow between us. I believe these secrets are essential for every woman who wants to meditate, whether youre a seasoned inner traveler or new to the journey. It is my hope that through them you will gain access to more joy and meaning, both in meditation and in life.

Lorin and I are grateful to all the women who have generously revealed their inner world to us. Their stories have fueled and inspired this work.

Camille Maurine

Marina del Rey, California

Summer 2000

The sensuous ebb and flow of the breath,

The warmth of the sun on the skin,

The touch of light on the eyelids, like a kiss,

The soothing sound of leaves rustling in the breeze,

The satisfying release of bodyweight into the support of the Earth

Nothing in particular to do or be,

Just savoring the texture of life in this moment

Relaxing, melting, softening into lusciousness.

Sinking down, letting go, deeper, deeper

Breath spreading, massaging everywhere inside, a gentle caressAh

Muscles release, a sigh of relief, all the way to the bones.

Here, now, the movement of life, touching me,

Healing me, revealing its simple truth

I am immersed in the embrace of life.

Yes, I hear the Yes.

And my response, Yes.

I am this movement.

I am home.

This is meditationluxuriating in the sensory world, resting in the simplicity of your own being, enjoying yourself shamelessly.

What? you ask. I thought you had to discipline yourself to meditate. I thought you had to detach from pleasure, override desire, empty the mind. Our response, from more than fifty years of experience between us, is a resounding no.

Nature designed us to blossom in the bodily state of pleasure. When we give over to this basic need, every cell, every fiber of body and soul, can receive and come alive. Something way down insidethat primitive place underneath our everyday human personalityis met and satisfied. Touched and fed with pleasure, something awakens, like an animal purring into health and power, or a tender plant blossoming into glorious vibrant color.

The simple pleasure of being completely at home in the body puts us in rapport with the ongoing rhythms of nature. We have a tangible sense of ourselves as an organism within the larger natural environmentconnected, contained, safe. As we relax in enjoyment within ourselves, we feel free to release, deep inside, into a condition of easy flow. The pulsings of breath and blood slow into a soothing dance. Our senses dilate; we feel closer to the processes of life.

This openness to the touch of life is at once deeply healing and nutritive. The body opens up to receive, and we are informedinformedby the vast, fecund, life-giving natural world. And we know:

Life is here. I am here. I am alive.

Your meditation time is the perfect place to cultivate this natural connection. It may seem like an indulgence, a luxury, but such connection is a vital necessity. For women to be healthy in meditation, their practice must be based in this primary sense of pleasure. No denial of the body, of the instincts, of emotion, your meditation should be a deeply intimate relationship with yourself, with breath, with life. Deep pleasure is like a stem leading down into your feminine roots, connecting you to the rich, fertile ground of being and drawing life force back up so that your individual essence can bloom. With pleasure at its foundation, your meditation is a coming to your senses, a coming home.

Meditation is time carved out for yourselfsacred spaceto feel that underlying yes from life, the affirmation of your being. In this spacious welcoming, you may feel the yes of your own response to life welling up from the depthsnot from discipline but from pleasure, not from demand but from love.

An Invitation

What woman doesnt yearn for time for herself, without having to be anything for anyone else? To rest, to restore, to settle in. To catch up with all the thoughts that fly in and out all day. To sort out her feelings from the tangle of everyone elses. To be in touch with herself, her body, her rhythm. To clarify her own sense of things. To get back to her essence

We hear about this yearning all the time from the women we work with. But when we mention meditation, resistance rears its head:

I want to meditate, but I just dont have the time.