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Becoming REALized
Is meditation difficult? Meditation is as easy as breathing. I can teach anyone to meditate in about 5 minutes. The hard work is to continue doing it. Meditation only works if you use it. Meditation is not a switch you turn on and then be done with. You must keep flipping the switch of consciousness ON. It is a method of conscious consciousness. In that sense it is an effort, and what is called in metaphysics, a practice. How can meditation make my life better? In every way your life can improve when you meditate. Everything you do and speak and even think becomes more aware. Even your sensory perception improves. It helps in making decisions and choices. It helps you to become more present in your relationships. And in general, to become more present in everything you do. It also promotes a sense of being centered. As you become more centered and present you will ultimately become more authentic. Authenticity is the goal – to be your true and REALized self. Why is meditation becoming so popular? We are all trying to find more fulfillment and meaning in our lives. In the fastpaced world we live in, with the Internet and 24-hour news, and all of the constant stimulation, we can feel lost, or confused, or undirected. By meditating we can find our way home again, and get back to ourselves. We can experience clarity and real peace. We are all searching for truth and meaning, and meditation will take us there – directly. Awareness of meditation is growing exponentially as more and more people talk about it, especially well known people, such as Oprah, Richard Gere, Sting, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Orlando Bloom and Gwyneth Paltrow. Is there a right way to meditate? There are hundreds of ways to meditate developed over thousands of years from many, many traditions. However, all meditation, in theory, works. It’s important to find a style that resonates with you and that somehow feels familiar. There are still basic methods that will allow you to have an easier and more successful experience. However, there is no wrong way to meditate. You don’t have to sit in a certain position, or say a mantra, or light a candle. Just sitting quietly and becoming aware of the breath is a meditation. Can I still meditate if I can’t sit still? Stillness is what meditation teaches. It’s something that we have to practice. If a new meditator is having trouble sitting still there are many exercises that are designed for just this condition, like focusing on the breath, for instance. Don’t forget that almost everyone when first meditating feels that they cannot become still, or quiet the mind. This is a normal stage in developing your meditation practice. How will meditation affect my life? Right away, you will feel more present. This one thing changes everything. You become more conscious of how you deal internally with yourself, and your world. By meditating, everything from your work to your relationships, your business, your inner self-esteem and your sense of contribution to the world becomes richer. You can learn to be happy, really. You can be fulfilled, really. You will feel whole ... actually. By being more present you become more focused and on purpose in your life. Your direction becomes clear and possible. You will find your attention to everything you do is better and less distracted and life becomes inspired! Do I have to be religious to meditate? No. You just need to be open and present. I would make a distinction between religious and spiritual. Becoming awake in our life is a spiritual experience which meditation accelerates. Is there a link between meditation and creativity/intelligence? When you meditate you are linking up to a kind of stream of universal consciousness, like a river of ideas and creativity. We can link directly into this stream by simply meditating. Research shows meditation is a great technique to improve creativity and develop the neocortex which is the creative part of the brain, and that meditation creates more elasticity in the brain resulting in a more creative approach to problem solving. Top companies encourage creativity by offering meditation in the workplace. For instance, The Walt Disney Company was an early adopter of meditation because of the remarkable increase in creativity they saw among their artists. Google offers an entire meditation program called “Search Inside Yourself” that includes an on-site labyrinth for walking meditations. Is meditation good for my health? In a hundred ways your physical health can improve by meditating. Just the function of deep breathing will affect the autonomic nervous system, which is the stress producing system of your body. One of the terms we use to describe illness is disease; in metaphysics we say, dis-ease. You see? Not at ease. Stress exacerbates any illness, chronic or acute. By meditating you are teaching the body to relax and de-stress. By teaching your body a new method of relaxation-on-demand, you can help your body heal. Studies have shown meditation benefits health in many other ways, including:
What do I do if I can’t stop thinking while I’m meditating? This is really the nuts and bolts of it. Meditation is the practice of becoming aware of our thoughts, thought by thought. We can get lost in thought, like a kind of daydreaming, and float away. Or literally fall asleep and actually dream. But meditation is the opposite of this. It is absolute awakeness: full attention, full presence to whatever is in front of us or within us, right now, just like it is. Meditation is full of exercises for practicing this. Because it’s hard. This is the work of it. But you will find that the benefits are so great that the work is worth every minute. By awareness of the breath, concentration, focusing the mind, and other techniques, you will learn to master your mind while meditating, and discover peace of mind. What does breathing have to do with meditation? Breathing is used to focus the mind. It is often one of the first things that is taught in meditation. It’s good because you don’t need anything outside yourself to meditate. The breath becomes the mantra, the breath becomes the physiological relaxation technique, the breath becomes the focus, the breath is the teacher. How do I start meditating? The simplest way I can answer this is to tell you to simply stop, and quiet your mind. I call this pausing. Even in between my sentences as I’m writing them right now, I am in a mini-meditation. I am pausing. I am recalibrating. I am sourcing something bigger than my own brain from thought to thought. Then, you’ll need to find the time and place to do it. And then, show up for it. Dedicate yourself to it for a few minutes each day and watch your life change! When do I start? Start right now. Start with this breath that you are taking right now. Start by becoming present in this moment. Recognizing that, this is a meditation. That’s what is so powerful about meditation – and so liberating. You can do it right now. You don’t need anything or anyone or any concept to do it. You just become present. Based on the book Opening
to Meditation: A Gentle,
Guided Approach, © 2015
by Diana Lang.
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