Why Meditate?
MEDITATION does not need to be a trance-like state in which you become oblivious to the world around you. Nor does it involve blanking out the mind. Instead meditation is, in essence, about learning to focus in the present so that the mind becomes clear and the body relaxes. So long as you consciously focus on one thing and let all else fade into the background, almost any simple activity can serve your meditative practice. See What Meditation Is
Learning to be in the present and focusing on just one thing is proving to have remarkable effects. And this is what is attracting so much contemporary scientific and medical attention. For recent research shows that meditation tones body and mind and unites both in delightful harmony. A harmonious body and mind means better health and a more balanced appreciation of all life's many ups and downs. See What Meditation Does
Since Harvard Medical School researcher Dr Herbert Benson’s discovery in the mid 1970s of the ‘relaxation response’, which meditation triggers in the body, scientists have become increasingly fascinated with meditation’s healthful potential. In further research 25 years later at the University of Wisconsin, for example, MRI brain imaging has traced the way meditation physically impacts on the pre-frontal cortexes changing the way the brain actually functions and over time permanently pumping up the joy and shrinking fearful responses; research indicating meditation can create not just a healthy body but a happier mind as well, just as that remarkable pioneering psycho-philosopher the Buddha claimed 2500 years ago. See What Meditation Can Do For You
Our lives are becoming ever more crowded and stressful. As work pressures increase, our health, relationships and emotional lives become impoverished. Work-related stress is a major hazard throughout the industrialized world fuelling poor work performance, occupation-related illness and consequent litigation. Such stresses are now becoming the concern of employers and managers sensitive to the need to reduce their vulnerability to hazards. Here too meditation is a proven means of reducing workplace stress and providing a healthier workplace culture. See Meditation At Work
So are there short-cuts to great meditation experiences? Ten top tips for instant happiness? A single meditation session can lower your stress levels and calm your mind. And maybe that is all you need. But if you want the full benefits of the experience, as with any exercise for the body or learning experience for the mind, practice is required. With each practice though your reactions will become more finely tuned as the subtleties and delights of meditation reveal themselves and the longer term benefits become ever more evident. Now let’s start with our top ten tips to get you started and to keep you at it. See Ten Top Tips for Great Meditations
At last I have a medicine cabinet free of colorful cure-alls: gone are the pills, the lozenges, pessaries, suppositories and all the other voodoo products that give the illusion of wellness for the neurotic hypochondriac. Now I listen freely to Kevin's meditation CDs (which I practice before and after performances). There's no limit as to how often I can listen to them and I can't overdose on his voice or the feeling of calm I now savor. I cannot guarantee however, that Kevin's meditation techniques are not addictive.
Rachel Berger, comedian and author.