Tag: Meditation (Page 2 of 2)

Appearances can deceive

June 29, 2008 /

I love this quote from The 5-minute Meditator, a book about ‘spot meditations’:

A person in a Buddhist centre, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed for an hour, may be completely unfocused and not meditating at all. He could be daydreaming, falling asleep or thinking about everything at random. Conversely, someone who is fully present while preparing food or walking to the shops is meditating beautifully.

This is valid not only about meditation. There is the classic You can’t judge a book by its cover, before you can judge something you need to take a closer look at it.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

Scientists probe meditation secrets

June 17, 2008 /

When browsing the net about meditation I came across an article at BBC: Scientists probe meditation secrets. The article says that scientists are beginning to uncover evidence that meditation has a tangible effect on the brain.

Research into the health claims made for meditation has limitations and few conclusions can be reached, partly because meditation is rarely isolated – it is often practised alongside other lifestyle changes such as diet, or exercise, or as part of group therapy.

The BBC article is interesting, it says that:

It is a new area of research, but indications are intriguing and suggest that meditation may have a measurable impact on the brain.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

Meditation T-shirt

June 8, 2008 /

I browsed YogaDirect.com and found a yoga T-Shirt with text about meditation. The text made me smile:

“Meditation – Better than sitting around all day doing nothing…”

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

Five Steps Closer to Calm

May 11, 2008 /

I subscribe to the Daily Insight newsletter from YogaJournal. On May 5th it was about Five Steps Closer to Calm. It says:

If it’s hard for you to still your mind to meditate, the senior teachers at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health have developed a five-step approach that could help. Follow these steps and allow yourself to fall into a deep meditative state that will reveal a closer connection to the present and help calm you when you’re upset.

The five steps are:
1. Breathe—Focusing on your breathing is an essential practice that draws your awareness inward and helps you experience the presence and flow of energy.

2. Relax—The more you relax, the more you deepen awareness of sensation.

3. Feel—Let your sense of feeling move beyond physical sensation. Acknowledge who you are as a being of energy.

4. Watch—Sense who you are as a witness; be a scientist observing phenomena arising in and around you.

5. Allow—Sense who you are with no preferences. Be present to the process of your life unfolding moment by moment.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

The 5-minute Meditator

March 23, 2008 /

I have finished a book written by Eric Harrison and titled The 5-minute Meditator, I like it a lot. It is the perfect book for people who ‘have no time to meditate’. The book has about a dozen ‘spot meditations’ lasting from half a minute to five minutes. Short meditations are just as effective as long ones, that suits me perfect since it is easier for me to do several short meditations than a long one.

Meditation is about choosing where you direct your attention. If you focus on something that is simple and sensual, you relax.

The basic instructions are: focus on the sensations of the present – sight, sound, taste or touch – and let your thoughts pass by in the background.

Eric writes that just a few minutes of deep breathing each day can make a difference to our well-being. I do a simple practice of three deep breaths that works very well for me.

You do not have to make yourself relax. You just stand back and let it happen. Meditation is the art of doing nothing. Your body and mind will naturally settle if you give them half a chance. The less you try to do, the better it works!

That sounds easy but it takes practice before it works. Eric says this about staying present:

To stay in the present, focus on one thing in the present. We call this the meditation object. It is your anchor, it is what you persuade your mind to return to when it wanders away.

One thing to focus on is our breath, easy and always available. Eric mentions that a visual object can be much easier to focus on than the breath so your mind is less inclined to wander. The choice is yours, pick an object that is available and do a short meditation.

I work as a coach and I use a short meditation before sessions to unwind, relax and become focused on the session to come. It helps me become more present.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

Meditation for Beginners

December 26, 2007 /

ZenHabits has a guest post titled Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Quieting the Mind.

Although a great number of people try meditation at some point in their lives, a small percentage actually stick with it for the long-term. This is unfortunate, and a possible reason is that many beginners do not begin with a mindset needed to make the practice sustainable.

I do meditations on an irregular basis but intend to be more consistent during 2008 and do it on a regular basis. That is where the post above comes in handy since it provides 20 practical recommendations to help beginners (and us that got stuck…) get past the initial hurdles and integrate meditation over the long term.

This was originally posted at another (now extinct) blog of mine.

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