A client said to me, “I’m just trying to be more mindful. Most people don’t even know what that is.”
You know what? I think he’s right. If I had to sum up mindfulness in one sentence, it would be: To think about what you’re thinking about.
The purpose of mindful meditation is to become aware of the present moment without any pressure to do, think, or be anything other than what you are doing, thinking, or being at that very moment.
No need to worry about the past because it has already happened. No need to contemplate the future because it hasn’t yet happened. Just bring awareness to this very moment, as it is, without any judgment, because our present moment is always changing.
Sri Swami Venkatesananda suggests that you can ruin the practice of meditation by stating the benefits of meditation, because you introduce a goal into something meant to be goal-less.
He says, “The moment you introduce a goal to meditation, it is gone. Happiness in life comes not by manipulating what you want to achieve but by paying attention to something seemingly totally unconnected with it.”
I would agree. However, I might be getting way of head for those of you who are already scratching your head and wondering, “I don’t even know what this meditation thing is and why it’s important to do, let alone how to ruin it!”
For those of you out there, here are the first steps, the essential how-tos, the building blocks to success. Your simple guide.
In this one article here, I will not only list reasons to meditate, but make the practice of meditation easy.
The List of Reasons Why You Should Meditate
1. Heal your mind and your body. Because your body and your mind are intimately connected, it’s important to know how your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions affect the physical well-being of your body. Prolonged stress without relief, for example, can cause headaches, upset stomach, high blood pressure, heart problems, and high cholesterol and can contribute to depression and anxiety symptoms. Want more on this connection? Read WebMD’s article on the stress’ effects.
2. Escape the noise. Our lives are filled with noise. All three kinds of noise:
- Physical noise like people’s talking, music, television, or anything externally that distracts your immediate train of thought.
- Psychological noise of your judgments, thoughts, beliefs, assumptions, and internal biases you bring to every conversation or situation.
- Physiological noise like a headache, stomachache, or other bodily functions that may disrupt your current train of thought.
Meditation is a practice to free you from all three. It helps you create a quiet space for yourself where you put your judgments, stereotypes, and biases aside and distance your mind from any physical symptoms you may feel at the present moment.
3. Improve mood and immune function. Research suggests mindfulness meditation helps with a whole host of conditions. For instance, mindful meditation seems to help ease the symptoms of anxiety, and practitioners in one study had a better immune response to the flu vaccine than those who did not meditate.
Another study found that cancer patients who did mindfulness meditation for seven weeks had 31% lower stress symptoms and 67% less mood disturbance than those who did not meditate.
The National Institute of Health’s Center of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine has done research on the effects of meditation on various ailments, including eating disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, HIV, depression, and lower back pain. Results in all these studies looked good.
The Purpose of Meditation
Meditation doesn’t have to be involve you sitting Indian-style wearing a robe (though there is a reason this image is part of the tradition–which I’ll touch upon in Part 2).
Really, to get started, all you need is the intention to quiet your mind.
Why quiet your mind? That noise we talked about before, remember?
Also, by quieting your mind, you are then able to actually HEAR yourself THINK.
If you’ve followed all my posts here, you’ll know that I wholeheartedly believe in the power of your thoughts. They control your every emotion and action. So you better know what you’re thinking!
I tell my clients–and now I’m telling you: You need to think about what you’re thinking about. It’s a very important aspect of change. But it’s not easy to do unless you quiet your mind.
OK, OK, you get it. But after all this talk about quieting your mind, how do you do it? Stay tuned! If your taste buds have been tempted, you won’t want to miss Part 2 of Meditation Made Easy!
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January 13th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Yoga (Application) which was based on the control of the body physically and implied that a perfect control over the body and the senses led to knowledge of the ultimate reality. A detailed anatomical knowledge of the human body was necessary to the advancement of yoga and therefore those practising yoga had to keep in touch with medical knowledge. (Romila Thapar, A History of India, volume one).
I suggest : Mind and brain are two distinct things. Brain is anatomical entity whereas mind is functional entity. Mind can be defined as the function of autonomic nervous system (ANS). It is claimed that mind can be brought under conscious control through the practice of meditation. But how? ANS is largely under hypothalamic control which is situated very close to optic chiasma (sixth chakra or ajna chakra). Protracted practice of concentration to meditate at this region brings functions of ANS say mind under one’s conscious control.
ANS is further divided into parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS). On the basis of these facts I have discovered a mathematical relationship for spiritual quotient (S.Q.). Spiritual Quotient can be expressed mathematically as the ratio of Parasympathetic dominance to Sympathetic dominance. PSNS dominates during meditative calm and SNS dominates during stress. In this formula we assign numerical values to the physiological parameters activated or suppressed during autonomic mobilization and put in the formula to describe the state of mind of an individual and also infer his/her level of consciousness.
Meditation is the art of looking within and science of doing nothing. We don’t use anything in meditation. We just try to concentrate to meditate at some point in human anatomy known as ‘chakra’ in Indian System of Yoga. The current of mind is flowing outward through the senses and unconsciously. The mind comes at rest gradually through regular practice of meditation. Then comes self realization and enlightenment. Protracted practice of meditation under qualified guidance will help to manage all sort of psychological problems.
Emotional Quotient can also be expressed mathematically as the product of I.Q. and Wisdom Factor. E.Q. stands for Emotional Quotient. An intelligent person may not be wise. But a wise man will always be intelligent. An intelligent person having certain level of positive emotions can be said as wise. An intelligent person lacking wisdom will turn autocrat. A wise man will always be a democrat who respects others existence.
Some may raise doubt that how could be the Wisdom quantified? The answer is simple -if Mental Age of I.Q. can be quantified then Wisdom can also be quantified, of course, comparatively with more efforts. Wilhelm Stern had given the formula of I.Q.. It is, Mental Age/ Chronological Age x 100. Spiritual Quotient (S.Q.) leverages both E.Q. and I.Q.
Radha Soami Faith is a branch of Religion of Saints like Kabir, Nanak, Paltu, Soamiji Maharaj and others. You may call It a New Wine in Old Bottle. We should not expect any miracle overnight.
In this discussion, it appears, that experts from various disciplines are participating someone of course from psychology. He /she can understand my views more clearly.
Maslow has given Hierarchy of Needs. At the top of it is need for self-actualization or self-realization.
In our society we should learn To Live and Let Live and help to satisfy others need. When the lower order needs, physiological and sociological both, are satisfied then only a person think to satisfy need for self-realization in true sense. Else he/she may spend all his/her life to satisfy at the most the for self-expression instead of self-realization.
It is, therefore, the duty of every responsible person, at the least, of our society to give serious thought over it.
For the satisfaction of need for self-realization i.e. establishment of harmony of individual consciousness with that of universal consciousness we need following three things:
1. Mater or Guru (A Self-Realized Soul)
2. Secret of Levels of Universal Consciousness
3. Method for traversing the path.
Anirudh Kumar Satsangi
January 13th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
[...] are many reasons to meditate and even if you only vaguley know what those reasons are, you may still be drawn to the practice [...]
February 27th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Thanks Anirudh… I appreciate your thorough response and insight.
What I would offer as a therapist, is that as people begin their journeys at different phases in the process of becoming self-actualized, we must, as we say in the psychology world, “meet them where they are.”
The information in this article may lack depth for a someone more progressed on the path of self-actualization. And for some, it may resonate perfectly, because it fits where they are right now in their journey – perhaps just “testing the water” so to speak. This is what I love about this type of discussion – that we all have something to offer on our various journeys to become self-actualized.
Thank you!
March 9th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
[...] Steve Bell posted a noteworthy aricle today onHere’s a small snippetThe purpose of bmindful meditation/b is to become aware of the present moment without any pressure to do, think, or be anything other than what you are doing, thinking, or being at that very moment. No need to worry about the past because b…/b [...]
March 12th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Thank you Ryan for your kind appreciation. I am sending another comments as below:
Meditation as Psychoanalytic Technique
Psychoanalysis is primarily a method of psychotherapy developed by Sigmund Freud. According to psychoanalytic theory, anxiety is due to the presence in us all of certain threatening sexual or aggressive urges, wishes or motives springing from the id. These urges come into conflict with the realistic barriers imposed by the ego and the taboos of society incorporated in the superego. We repress the urges and conflicts – hide them from conscious awareness in the unconscious mind. We cannot consciously think about or verbalize a repressed desire. But the urge is still there in the unconscious mind, driving for expression though always in conflict with the ego and superego. We are afraid to express the id impulses. This fear is called anxiety. Various normal and abnormal defense mechanism develop in us to reduce anxiety. Abnormal neurotic behaviours occur when the defenses distort reality to such a degree that an individual’s ability to function is impaired.
The aim of psychoanalytic therapy is to lessen anxiety and the need for exaggerated defense mechanisms through self-understanding and knowledge of the sources of anxiety. Psychoanalysis emphasizes free association, the phenomenon of transference, and the development of insight. Psychoanalysis helps a person understand himself better. The goal of psychoanalysis is for patients to acquire self-understanding and knowledge of the sources of anxiety.
We will now see how practice of meditation works effectively as psychoanalytic technique. During meditation the mind is at first apt to wander. But let any desire whatever arise in the mind, we must sit calmly and watch what sort of ideas are coming. By continuing to watch in that way the mind becomes calm, and there are no more thought waves in it. Those things that we have previously thought deeply have stored into unconscious mind and therefore these come up at the surface of conscious mind during meditation. This is sort of catharsis. We may call it ‘auto-catharsis’ or ‘catharsis within’. Meditation provides us insight, self-understanding and increases our will power. Meditaters are fearless. It is cost-effective too.