The way most people come across meditation is by looking for a way to relax. The problem is that it is not a relaxation technique. If you start out expecting nothing but calm and comfort, you may be in for a surprise.

It’s relaxing?

Sure, usually.

Will it reduce your tendency to stress in the first place?

Definitely.

But also reading, jogging, exercising, feeling gratitude…

Meditation works on deep levels of your mind. Expand your awareness by bringing repressed thoughts into your awareness. Contrary to what the Freudians will tell you, not everything that is suppressed is a bad thing. Expanding your awareness gives you greater control over your thinking.

Relaxation is a side effect.

So if your main reason for meditating is to feel calmer, you’d better be prepared for the rest.

Now, I will say that not everyone will experience this. Some people meditate for years and feel only a light, pleasant relaxation. If that’s all they want, then good for them.

But most meditators reach the stage where they break through to something new. It’s like opening a door in your house that you never noticed and finding a ballroom on the other side.

This is wonderful. The only word that comes close, for me, is transcendence. A wave of new thoughts, memories, experiences and perspectives floods your mind.

it is sublime. This epiphany enriches every corner of your mind.

That’s why I started meditating in the first place. I kept finding barriers in my life. One of the main ones in my adolescence was that I was irritable, even angry.

Every day some trivial experience got under my skin and made me lash out. (Verbally.)

I didn’t like who I was, so I turned to meditation.

Thank goodness I did, because it expanded on what I was capable of. In every moment, I had a choice. Yes, I could get angry. Or I could feel happy or calm. The options were mine.

This is transcendence: realizing that there is an easy way to fix the problems in your mind.

Most of your problems go away when you stop doing X and start doing Y. That’s easier said than done…until you expand what your consciousness is capable of.

But if you are meditating to relax and suddenly your mind blooms…

Well, it scares some people. Not because it’s bad, but because it’s intense and unexpected.

They just wanted to relax, they never signed up to become enlightened.

If this happens to you, you have two options:

Stop meditating. If you want to relax, start knitting or something.

Or keep meditating. Be careful and take it easy as you integrate these new avenues into your mind.

One feels good. The other is like gaining superpowers.