Some things appear to be so simple that you may almost think that they are not worth doing. Meditation falls into this category.
Meditation is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood methods in today’s culture. Many people think that meditation must be done in the cross-legged lotus position with the goal of complete mental blankness. I have also heard some individuals talking about how the goal of meditation is enlightenment. Another common misconception is that meditation comes from Buddhism and is therefore an essentially Buddhist practice. None of these are true.
To begin with you don’t need to be in any particular body posture to practice meditation. As long as you are comfortable and you keep your back straight it doesn’t matter if you are sitting in a chair or standing.
Next you don’t have to aim for some mystical ‘enlightenment’, just focusing on your breathing with the goal of being aware of JUST your breath for a time is enough to put your mind and body in a meditative state.
Finally meditation is probably older than the first villages and towns that were formed over 8000 years ago. You can trace it back at least as far back as 2000 B.C. by looking at a seal (i.e. clay tablet) found at an ancient city excavated by the river Indus in Pakistan. If you look at the seal(below) you will see there is a man sitting in a classical yogic position. Since this culture arrived fully formed on the Indus and then began to decline, it is reasonable to assume that the city may have been a colony from an already established civilization. (It's writing is yet to be translated)
This means that whatever form of meditation was being used by this culture it was probably being used for some thousands of years before the colony was founded. Since Buddhism didn’t begin till about 500 B.C. ascribing meditation to it is more of a cultural misconception than anything else. (you can see a less well made clay tablet with a man in a yogic posture at this location)
For stress relief and management, meditation is in a league of its own.
Recent studies and scientific research has shown that meditation can literally rewire the brain in a way that reduces the experience of stress. In other words, with meditation you can change your brain structure so that stress simply cannot affect you the way it used to. Unlike stress relief activities like taking a bubble bath or watching TV, meditation increases your mental abilities giving you more focus and awareness. So with meditation you can not only get some quick relief from stress but it is also the perfect tool for keep your mind sharp. What follows are summaries of two recent articles in Time magazine that explain some of the research done on meditation and it’s benefits.
Article: "How to Get Smarter One Breath at A Time"
Highlights: A highly successful Wall Street executive uses meditation to maintain his mental sharpness while his peers have burnt out. Regular meditation practice increases the density of the brain involved in decision-making, attention and memory. It also slows down the thinning of the cerebral cortex that tends to occur with age. A study comparing the mental sharpness of people who meditated verses people who took a nap or watched TV showed that the meditators win. Meditation increases emotional intelligence improving social skills.
To read the article click here
Article: "Just Say Om"
The author of this article is a little sarcastic and judgmental (as he/she admits). The article is well researched in terms of the studies and research done on meditation.
Some of the highlights are: Meditation can retrain the mind to have a higher threshold for stress; changing a persons reaction to stress from ‘fight or flight’ to one of acceptance. Meditation reduces the need for drugs, alcohol and reduces depression. It has been used successfully by the daughter of a holocaust survivor and helped her get off her anxiety medication for good. Meditation helps increase immunity, reduces breast cancer tumors, improves recovery time, helps a person maintain better health and can even reduce and/or help control serious pain. Celebrities who endorse meditation include actresses Heather Graham (on the cover on Time above) & Goldie Hawn, director David Lynch,basketball coach Phil Jackson, Hilary Clinton and Al Gore. Companies that endorse meditation and offer it o their employees include Deutsche Bank, Google and Hughes Aircraft.
Errors in the article: assumes meditation is Buddhist in origin, believes TV is equivalent to meditation in stress relief ( article above shows that TV decreases mental sharpness compared to meditation). Seems to have a general disdain for anything he/she is not already familiar with.
To read the article click here
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