The main barrier for most people to reaching deep meditative states is using too much effort. From our schooling upwards, we’re always taught that putting in more effort will yield greater results but with meditation it works the other way around.
Yes, we have to put the effort in to get into the chair to meditate in the first place. But once our eyes are closed it becomes about seeing how little effort we can use with our technique.
To reach deeper states, we don’t concentrate harder, but instead see how loose a grip we can hold on our meditation anchor. We’re looking to ease ourselves into deep states of rest rather than forcing ourselves.
And to do that we repeatedly just return to our mantra whenever we feel ourselves thinking or wanting to take control of our meditation experience.
The result is a systematic release of stress and tension from our nervous systems allowing us to operate nearer our full potential more of the time.