Since meditation is also a great way to relieve stress , anxiety and other ailments , I think the articles I have on meditation would fit great here .. These articles are great info for beginners
Until recently the word "Meditating" only caused things like raised eyebrows, ideas of magical tricks and even feelings of irritation with most people.
What many people do not realise is that Meditating deals with mental power and selfcontrol. People use Meditation to enjoy life better because they become more aware of things and more relaxed. People use Meditation to live less on the "automatic pilot", to live more in the NOW, in the present moment and to be more observant. Life is great, but we must learn to appreciate that. In our present society where life becomes busier and busier, our brain has to deal with a constant flood of impressions and we experience an increased longing for relaxation and rest. Meditation can help us a lot with this and it is no surprise that of late it has become trendy to meditate.
Meditating is any technique which enables us to relax our body and our mind and, besides, to free our mind of unnecessary thoughts and brainactivity.
Meditating is not an end in itself or a special experience, but just a very
efficient technique which helps us to control our mind and to relax our body. In general any form of Meditation rests on the following three principles: In order to concentrate our mind we focus on one thing or object. This focus could be our breathing, a word that we repeat, sensations in our body or even our thoughts. When Meditating we often concentrate on our senses. When we smell, feel, listen or taste we escape from our puzzling thoughts and we live again in the now.
When our thoughts start to wander we take them back to our object of
Meditation or focus. We do not try to hide our thoughts or suppress them. Fighting to bring rest to our mind has nothing to do with relaxing. The whole process looks like focussing a camera on an object. The object comes to the fore and all other things are present but they disappear into the background. Every time we are distracted by objects in the background we again focus on our object in the foreground. This process may be repeated an endless number of times during a Meditation session.
During our Meditating we ignore all irrelevant thoughts and sensations.
When we meditate we still hear the sound of passing traffic, we still feel
yesterday's hangover, we still think of the jobs we will have to do tomorrow, etc. The big difference is that these distractions do not disturb us any longer. During our Meditation we try not to judge, not to draw conclusions or to think of trivial matters. We accept the present moment as it is.
Meditating differs from other forms of relaxation in the sense that during
Meditation we are more awake, more alert and better focussed. We are relaxed and still alert. Research has proved that the longer we keep practising Meditation the more we become basically relaxed. At the same time we also become more observant and more aware, something that other ways of relaxation do not achieve because they do not train our powers of concentration. Therefore we should not confuse Meditating with a dream, with sleep or a state of trance, for with such activities we are not concentrated and alert, but during Meditation we are.
During Meditation we focus on what happens now, at this very moment. Every thought has by definition to do with the past or the present and diverts us from what is happening NOW. When we focus we give our mind but one single demand. Because we only have to deal with one command this costs us little trouble and little energy. We are not faced with an emergency or a stressful situation and therefore our body and our mind can start to relax. As we are relaxed we can enjoy our experiences in a more conscious way and we get more aware in everything we do. Think of what this can mean for all the beautiful moments of your life and how intensely you can enjoy nice hobbies and simple things like pleasant moments. You will admit that all the best moments of your life take place when you are not thinking, but experiencing and thus are living the
present moment.
Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of mind/body medicine, defines Meditation as any activity that brings us to the present and keeps us there.
The methods of Meditation we can also easily practice in our daily lives.
Meditating teaches us to become more aware and more observant, so that we spend more and more time in the NOW and the quality of our life improves. We achieve our end by simply BEING and not by doing something. That is the essence of Meditation.
EEC- theta waves, delta waves and alpha waves become more active and beta waves (associated with active thinking) decrease. The left and the right brain halves start to cooperate better. The activity in the front cortex and the pariental lobe decreases. Physical Advantages of Meditating It stabilises the autonomous nervous system It reduces the heart beat It reduces the speed of breathing Blood pressure drops drastically The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) increases EMG activity increases Cardiovascular effectivity goes up Breathing effectivity increases The skin receives more blood Stomach function and bowel function improve The endocrine function is heightened Muscle flexibility increases The intake of oxygen gets stronger Mobility and flexibility increase The hand-eye co-ordination increases Reaction-speed increases Body posture is improved Strength and resistance increase Stamina increases There is a heightened energy level and vitality People's weight is stabilised at an ordinary level The ability to sleep increases and the time people need to fall asleep decreases Pain is weakened Stability is improved Depth perception increases There is a heightened degree of relaxation There is a lessened degree of muscle tension The production of serotenine increases Menstruation pains are softened
There are several key things you can do that will significantly enhance your
meditation. They may seem subtle at first, but remember, meditation itself is
all about cultivating the higher, subtler parts of your being. Take it from
experience - together these seven keys will make a big difference. So please
give them a try!
Key#1: Find a Special Place
Set aside a special place that is used only for meditation. If you have a
spare room, great, but its fine to set aside a corner of your bedroom. This
will be your sacred space for self-discovery, so youll want to make it as
inspiring as possible.
You might like to:
Cover a low table with a clean, light cloth
Place a candle on a table, and a vase with fresh flowers if possible.
You may also want to light some incense. Together, these items will help
create a meditative atmosphere.
Key#2: Prepare Physically
Your spiritual journey takes place in and through your physical body. Heres
how you can help prepare it for meditation:
Take a shower before meditating. If it isnt possible to take a shower,
wash your face and hands.
Wear clean, light, loose fitting clothes.
Take your shoes off before meditating. Your feet deserve a break too!
Key#3: Sit Relaxed, Sit Straight
Theres no need to sit in a special yogic posture to meditate. If you can
sit comfortably on a cushion on the floor, this is best. Otherwise a meditation
stool or chair is fine. The important thing is to be still and relaxed, to
have your back erect, and to have the flower and candle close to eye level.
People often ask if its okay to meditate while lying down. We dont recommend
it; the most likely outcome is youll fall asleep. Always remember to begin
your meditation with six or seven power-breaths long, slow deep breaths
that release the myriad of thoughts and focus your attention within.
Key#4: Slow and Steady Wins the Race
In the beginning, five minutes of meditation a day is enough. Meditation is
like an inner muscle that you are slowly but surely making stronger. If you
overwork a muscle, it becomes sore; if you meditate for more than five minutes
and feel tension in your head or get a headache, you know youve gone beyond
your capacity. Try not to be concerned with expectations of what your
meditation is going to do for you or what your meditation experience should be.
Just steadily, soulfully and sincerely practice and make yourself alert to the
messages that will begin to arise from within.
Key#5: Choose the right time
Make an appointment with yourself and practice at the same time each day.
Just as you feed your physical body several times a day at certain times,
meditation nourishes your inner life so set at least one special time each day for
your meditation exercises.
The best time to meditate is early in the morning, before you enter into
your daily activities. This way, the peace you get from your meditation will
permeate the rest of your day.
Many people also like to meditate when they get home from work, to help wash
away the stress of the day. You might also want to meditate just before
going to bed. This will help you to sleep more soundly.
We dont suggest meditating right after a big meal. Like a bird, your inner
being will be trying to fly higher, but your body will be weighing it down.
So wait an hour or two before meditating.
Key#6: The Power of Music
Music is often referred to as the language of the soul. Peaceful music of
the heart will create a meditative atmosphere and tremendously enhance the
quality of your meditation. Play it softly during your exercises; merely
listening to and absorbing the music will help you to feel the deep inner stillness
of meditation.
Key#7: You
In the end, the most important ingredient in this whole process is you. It
is you, who experiences, you, who is discovered, you, who is the student, you,
who is the real teacher and you, finally, who is revealed.
Remind yourself of this often because this is the greatest gift of
meditation: faith in oneself.
There is not just one way to meditate. You must find the way that is best for you personally. Meditating can be done in various ways and there is an
indefinite number of Meditation techniques that you can use for an indefinite number of goals. It does not matter what Meditation technique you choose, the foundation of all techniques is focus and attention. Insight gives us a strong motivation to start working on your problems. With the necessary creativity you can apply Meditation to all aspects of our life.
What Meditation technique works best for you is purely individual and a matter of trying out. I do advise you to start with spending a lot of time on exercises that train your focus and your concentration. These abilities you will need with all forms of Meditating and will already have a marked positive effect on your life.
After Meditating in the same way for a long period of time, do not hesitate
to experiment with different techniques. In the course of time you may have made so much progress that in your present state of development it is better to start using techniques that are more fitting in your new situation.
Many styles of meditation practice exist today. They generally involve
focusing on energy centers in the body, concentrating on an image, chanting, or breathing exercises. Regardless of the style, they all share a common goal to silence thought. When thought ceases a connection to the world of light, wisdom and pure consciousness occurs.
There is yoga meditation, holistic meditation for health, and Divine Light
meditation. In Asia there is Confucian, Taoist, and Hindu forms of meditation.
All these types of practices are Outer Path Meditation. This type of
practice is attached to an object, or state of being. The outcome that is desired is a good feeling or feeling of tranquility. However, as with all things, states of being are in constant flux. And once the desired affect wears off or is more difficult to attain the individual becomes less enchanted with the practice. In the practice of this meditation one creates some happiness, but once this is achieved there is also its counterbalance unhappiness. This will always happen when your practice is based on an object or a feeling that you are
attached too. When the person looses the object, or cannot keep it, they will loose their feelings of happiness as well. Meditation that is attached to
some object or idea is called Outer Path Meditation.
Another form meditation is Common Peoples Meditation this is any method of meditation that is used to improve performance. People who do this meditation are looking to get something. It is sometimes called concentration meditation. There are people who do meditation as part of their marital arts practice.
Thinking if I do this in this manner I will obtain greater results. It is
also a popular method to teach writing, drawing, and painting. Some people use this type of meditation as they work with their therapist. Some use it to relieve mental and physical stress. All of these activities can be helped with the use of this form of meditation, but it cannot help you completely attain your true nature. The reasoning behind this statement is because performance meditation has its concentration on the I, me, my states of being. This is not the way to become free of suffering. That is because, by its very nature, want-something meditation always makes subject and object, good and bad. If you practice with this state of mind you are practicing Common Peoples Meditation.
Mahayana Meditation is based on the six fundamental insights of Mahayana
teachings: insight into the existence and nonexistence of the Dharmas; insight into the nature of form and emptiness; insight into existence and the Middle Way; insight into the nature of phenomena; insight into the interpenetration of all phenomena; and insight which sees that phenomena themselves are the Absolute. The practice of these six insights can be expressed by the teaching of the Avatamsaka-sutra: "If you wish to thoroughly understand all the Buddha of the past, present, and future, then you should view the nature of the whole universe as being created by the mind alone."
Mindfulness is another form of meditation. It is meditation in action, and
it is how we integrate meditation into all aspects of our daily lives until
our whole life itself has become meditation. It is based on the Buddhist
principle that whatever you focus on, you become. Buddhist believe that the mind is fluid. Whatever thought forms you hold in your mind will determine its shape.
Lao Tzu (c.604-531 B.C.E) from The Hua Hu Ching, (52)Chakra Meditation
involves concentration on energy centers that are found in the astral
(subtle-physical) body. These energy centers are located along a nonphysical energy tube called the sushumna. The sushumna in the astral body corresponds to the spinal column in the physical body, starting at the base of the spine and ending at the third eye, between the eyebrows and a little above. Seven primary chakras are found at different points along the sushumna. Chi (energy) sits at the base of the spine in the first chakra.
During chakra meditation, chi is pulled from the first chakra up through the
sushumna to the third eye. The desired affect of chakra meditation is to
reach a point called Samadhi, or an enlightened state of being. Once a person has reached Samadhi a number of time the practitioner is well on their way to becoming enlightenment itself. When first learning this form of meditation it is best to focus at least 5 minutes on each chakra. The more advanced you become the longer you can stay at each point.
The last mediation is Mantra meditation. Mantras were sacred words or
phrases which, when repeated in meditation, bring the individual into a higher state of consciousness. The sounds that are produced during mantra meditation are a form of energy, which creates a connection to the worlds of light and spirituality. You can chant a mantra our loud, in a whisper, or just mentally let it vibrate within your mind. Perhaps the most famous mantra is OM MANI PADME HUM which translates as "the jewel in the heart of the lotus" or "Enlightenment is within everything." Chanting a mantra repeatedly for the duration of your meditation session will, over time, develop your abilities of meditation and concentration.
In meditation there is no failure, only feedback. Meditation helps you to improve your health, your life and your achievements in many ways. On the other hand the technique of Meditation requires from you, discipline, practice and patience. Most of us are not used to silence, being alone, sitting still for long periods of time and being directly confronted with our own body and mind. Meditating enriches your life, but it takes some time to get used to it. Just like with sports and study we must master the technique and we pass through several stages. You become more alert and more attentive and the result is that you do not only experience the pleasant aspects of life more intensely, but also the things you used to hide away or the things you used to run away from. Fortunately this is just an ordinary and temporary stage and most people do not experience any problems when they start to Meditate. If you do experience problems when you are Meditating, try to accept them. Think of the words: what you resist persists. View the discomforts as a challenge that help you to deepen your Meditations instead of destroying them. Many of the experiences can give you important messages about your body and your mind. View every problem as a challenge or as a message that you still have to learn something. Of course I advise you to use your common sense in dealing with your problems and if the discomforts really become too big you should stop in time or take things a bit easier. I have summed up the most frequent discomforts. Sleepiness The idea of Meditating is that at the same time we are relaxed and alert. But it often happens that as a result of being so relaxed people fall asleep or have to fight sleep. In the first place you should ask yourself where your fatigue comes from. If you do not get enough sleep or you are very tired as a result of a busy week, we advise you to take a nap and catch up on your sleeping. We are not tired for nothing. In other cases you had better just continue Meditating. Be aware of the possibility of falling asleep and after some time you will experience that it occurs less and less frequently that you get sleepy during a Meditation. It may help to Meditate in a sitting position instead of a lying position and to keep your eyes open during a Meditation. If you should ever feel very sleepy or musty in the morning or after your work you should try to take a cold shower before your Meditation. Works miracles! Boredom For many people it is not so easy to do nothing at all. Ask yourself if you are really bored or if just your mind is bored. In fact also boredom is nothing more or less than a thought or a feeling. If you get bored during a Meditation you are not in the NOW and the best way to deal with this is acting as if you discover a thought and then return to your object of Meditation. Just as you do with many insight Meditations you can also give the idea of being bored a name. Look at how your body reacts when you are bored and make it a challenge. It sounds simple, but we know it is difficult. Still we advise you to view your boredom in this way. Experience shows that the more often you Meditate the less often you will experience boredom. Restlessness Many people say that they are not patient enough to Meditate. The paradox is that these are exactly the sort of people that need to Meditate, especially when they feel restless. First of all it is important to know that at the beginning of a Meditation the mind is often still very restless. During the first few minutes we are really tested by our mind with thoughts like: I am not in the mood for it, today is not such a good day, there are problems at my work or in my private life, what am I going to do after my Meditation, etcetera. After five to ten minutes you will discover that your mind becomes more and more calm and clear. This means that we must not give up and trust that after some time our difficulties will be over. If once in a while there are really great problems with Meditating because you have an over-active mind you should first of all consider switching over to a simpler Meditation technique that is more concentration oriented. Another solution is making your restlessness a challenge. You can observe thoughts, give them a name, and observe the reactions of your body to restlessness. Accept your restlessness. It is all part of the game and if you begin to fight it or to resist it, things will only get worse. Maybe your restlessness gives you the message that you should finally tackle a certain problem, conflict or situation in your life. If you are able to turn your irritation about your restlessness into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness often becomes less. When your body feels aches When you are Meditating it is in general good to resist the first impulse to change your posture as a reaction to physical aches. We turn our attention to the feeling of the ache and try to welcome it as a challenge instead of a discomfort. It gives us a chance to observe our automatic reactions and the process of being distracted and getting irritated. Observe how our body and our mind react to each other. Learn to accept the discomforts and learn to remain relaxed in spite of them. If you accept the pain it changes its character and its identity. If you really have to, you may change your posture. But do this with full awareness. In general most people who start Meditating suffer from physical discomforts in their back, their legs and their knees. The tips that you can find on this page may then be a bit hard to put into practice because we still have so little experience with Meditating. In such cases you should not make things too hard for yourself and if necessary you can Meditate on a chair or a cushion. Be sure that as soon as you start to Meditate more often most of the aches will disappear after a while. If you experience a worsening of aches, injuries or other physical complaints that you already had before you started to Meditate , that is not strange. The relaxation reaction has the side-effect that the body will produce fewer natural pain-killers. Our sharpened awareness and presence also result in a situation where we experience everything more acutely, including aches. It is all part of the game and it helps us to listen to our body more attentively, to accept things better and to be able to undertake action. When thoughts are painful When during Meditations there are always very painful thoughts entering your mind this can be extremely unpleasant. When we are Meditating we suppress the things that we do not want to see, know or feel less and less. Sometimes these suppressed thoughts come to the surface when we are Meditating. This is often only a temporary problem and it often stimulates us to learn how to deal with these thoughts and how to solve these problems. View this process of Meditating as having a tooth drawn out. Sometimes painful, but when it is over the pain is gone. We use the observing of our thoughts during our Meditations as a way of looking at our pain without getting totally absorbed by it. You can observe painful thoughts, give them a name and observe the reactions of your body. Accept the thoughts and use this temporary pain to soften the continuous pain. If you can turn the perspective of being carried away by the painful thoughts into a challenge, you will see that your restlessness becomes less. Unfortunately we have to make one important side-note. For 95% of all people Meditating is useful or at least not harmful. But people that suffer from schizophrenia or other serious mental diseases should be careful with Meditation. There is a danger that people that suffer from this kind of diseases will get even more entangled in their own inner reality as a result of Meditating and that Meditating can worsen the sickly behaviour. We advise these people not to Meditate, to consult a doctor or to Meditate only under very professional supervision. Uncontrolled muscle movements and spasms It sometimes happens that when we are very relaxed we experience vibrations, spastic movements and the trembling of muscles or parts of the body. In such cases we look a little like a swan that after a fight kicks the tension and energy off its body with its wings. In general this is fine and not something that you should worry about. When it is over you may experience a feeling of liberation or total relaxation. Let the movements happen and do not try to control them. If you should experience it as very unpleasant, slow down a little and if necessary stop the Meditation session. Visions and other sensations If during your Meditation you should experience visions, a trance experience or other sensations, that is often a sign that your concentration is deepening. But do not forget: during Meditations you are supposed to be awake, alert, focussed and relaxed. Visions and experiences where your mind leaves your body are called Makyo in zen. Let the feelings pass away, observe them, accept them but do not be carried away by them. Physical sensations like twinklings in your skin, noise and rumbling in your stomach are signs of relaxation because when you are very relaxed the blood supply in these areas increases.
When can I expect the Positive Effects of Meditation?
You will experience the effects of Meditation right from the start. After each session you will feel calmer and clearer. For many people Meditating is great because it makes you feel fine straight away. However, most structural changes will come your way as soon as you meditate on a regular basis for a longer period of time. Do not forget that many behaviour patterns and physical processes are the results of years of living in a certain way. Changes in your blood pressure, muscle tension, the way you deal with pain and stress, inner calmness etcetera just require time. For some people the first structural changes appear after a few days or weeks, but for other people it may take months before their body or their mind changes. When the long-term advantages of Meditation come your way this often happens in a subtle way. You notice that you need less sleep, you feel very happy now and then without knowing the reason or you are complimented by a friend because he has noticed that lately you have been so relaxed and so much less irritable than before. Meditating is not difficult. Try to meditate for a longer period every day and trust that the results will automatically come your way. In any case you can count on it that after each individual session you will feel a lot more relaxed and you are sure to notice changes in the quality of your life in the long run. Do not forget to maintain your Meditation discipline when you start to experience the advantages. It stands to reason that when you meditate less frequently or even stop Meditating many of the advantages will disappear from your life in the course of time. But do not worry about that! Experience shows that once you have reached this stage and fully enjoy Meditation and its positive effects, the chance that you give up is extremely small.
Many people stop Meditating after a while because they do not start in the proper way. They choose the wrong course, read the wrong book, speak with the wrong people, sit uncomfortably or view it as an obligation. So idea is that everything is personal and that especially in the beginning you should experiment with various techniques and postures. Experience shows that if you just go on long enough, you are sure to see marked changes in your life. To prevent a wrong start here some tips on things that should NEVER do and things that you should NEVER FORGET to do.
The "Do Nots" of Meditating Things that you should never do: Be annoyed by other people that never Meditate Treat Meditating as a sort of obsession Check all the time if you have already achieved enlightenment Meditate every day after having had a great dinner Get angry with yourself if you have not Meditated one day Fall asleep during your Meditation Want to Meditate far too long in the beginning Play a Metallica CD which helps you to consult your inner being during a Meditation Choose a school of Meditation that makes you uncomfortable Worry whether you do it well enough Sit in a painful and awkward position Get stressed when once in a while or your are so busy that you may have to skip a session Meditate while you are under the influence of alchol or drugs Use a mantra that makes you nervous Be worried about the question whether you have a good Aura Day Be irritated by the noise made by the neighbours, your parrot or cars speeding past your window Wear uncomfortable clothes during your Meditation Block up or hide away thoughts and emotions that you do not like Meditate when you have just been diagnosed a schizophrenic
The Do's of Meditating: In the beginning experiment a lot to find out which postures and techniques are best for you If you ever feel an ache or a slight irritation or you are in a bad mood Wear comfortable clothes Create a fixed pattern in your Meditation exercises Never worry when once in while things do not go so well Find out how you feel about Meditating early in the morning on an empty stomach in perfectly restful circumstances Play a Meditation CD which will make your Meditation even more pleasant Evaluate your progress as little as possible.this has an adverse effect Change your Meditation technique once in a while Sit up straight, whether or not with the support of a cushion or the back of a seat Determine beforehand how long you are going to Meditate Look at everything from the point of view of a beginner Go with the flow Start your Meditation with some stretching or one of our breathing "warming up" exercises Not get frightened when you notice things like dizziness, twinklings, emotions or other reactions during your Meditation Always practise the Meditation philosophy of not judging, accepting and letting things go Consider it better to Meditate well and deeply, than long and badly concentrated View passing airplanes and the hammer drill of the neighbours a challenge instead of a disturbance
Adapted from The Secret Teachings of Plants, by Stephen Harrod
Buhner (Inner Traditions, 2004).
Buddhists have long worked to teach people to still the chattering
mind, understanding that this is an essential step toward inner
peace and greater consciousness. But some of those techniques can
create an antagonistic relationship with a part of us that is, and
is meant to be, an ally.
You cannot stop the linear mind, leaving nothing in its place. It
resents destructive approaches.
The work is simple. Do something else instead:
The key is sensing. As your body becomes more and more alive through
the activation of your senses, sensing is what you do instead of
thinking. Sensing takes the place of thinking. Awareness is focused
through your senses, attentively noticing all that you sense. It has
no time for thinking now. Your consciousness begins to move out of
the brain, leaving the analytical mind behind. You begin to find the
world that our ancient ancestors knew so well
~Meditation~
Knowledge Talks, Wisdom Listens.