Sally Kempton’s Meditation for the Love Of It is reverent. It is a work of such love, such adoration for this practice that I often felt immediately called to meditation after a short spell of reading. It is in that call that I found the most value in this book.
Meditation is internal work that runs entirely counter to our normal activities. It is, therefore, easy to get caught in the trap of worrying that we are wasting time when we sit down to meditate: 1) because we are sitting down, and 2) because we have no way to gauge our experience with anyone else’s to know if what we are doing is what we “should” be doing.
If you long to develop or deepen your meditation practice, but find that you are often stuck worrying about whether or not everything you are doing is a waste of time, Sally will help you to get over it. She shares beautiful stories of many of her own experiences, as well as experiences of her students, illustrating the near infinite possibilities of experience within the practice of meditation to help you contextualize your own experiences. She provides roadmaps and exercises, many as beautiful as they are practical.
The greatest revelation that came to me was the reminder to slow down. You can’t approach your practice with impatience. Revere it, take time settling in, embrace ritual. And play. Embrace the challenges as part of the process. Take the time to explore the depths of your consciousness secure in the knowledge that every experience you have there is valid.
In the same way that throughout childhood you did not notice your daily growth, but by the end of the year you were a foot taller, you do not have to feel great changes during each and every practice to know that they are occurring subtly behind the scenes.
BEST FOR: yogis who are looking to deepen their meditation practice, and who have an open mind to spirituality or spiritual language as useful metaphor.
KELLY BENNING YOGA 