Meditation Blog

Meditation - the key to Wellness and Healing

2007-06-13T10:44:00.000+07:00

Power of the Mind

The medical profession has long recognised the power of the mind over the body, and whilst everyone acknowledges the fact, the vast majority of people still haven't put two and two together, and figured out that you can make yourself a whole lot healthier, by using your own natural powerhouse of healing - your Mind!

But you can't just sit down and hope to put right everything right by wishing ill health away - you first of all have to put your mind in touch with your body, and on a far deeper level than normal. There are many techniques for doing this, and they all fall under the heading "Meditation."

Healing

I've explored most aspects of Meditation in my previous Blogs and Articles, but "Healing," whilst a natural follow on for those well practiced in Meditation, needs to be looked at in a completely different light. Regulating one's body through Meditation, and boosting its ability to heal itself by removing negative influences like Stress and Anxiety, is not the same as "Healing."

There is much documented evidence of people being able to bring Healing to themselves and others, and we're now talking Healing that science hasn't yet been able to define or explain. We're talking about the ability to tap into a level of energy outside our normal understanding, and channel it in a way that Heals and effects Cures, that defy rational explanation.

Prayer & Belief

Prayer can have the same effect, and mankind has developed a myriad of religions with an unlimited range of customs and practices, designed to bring blessings from an all powerful entity (energy - force - spirit - essence) directly to them and others. Prayer is therefore another form of Meditation and the benefits can be considerable, but Meditation and Healing are not bound by religious beliefs and practices. They are simply techniques that tap directly into an all powerful source, with no attempt to define its nature or origin.

Meditation - a New Direction

Everyone has the ability to tap into this source, but as with all things in life, some will become exceedingly adept, and others will never accept that they can or even explore the possibility. In the West we seem to have developed a culture where responsibility for our health and wellbeing is assigned to the medical profession and pharmaceutical companies, but Meditation - perhaps the oldest of Eastern techniques for bringing Wellness and Healing - has become established as a recognised and viable alternative for those willing to take responsibility for their wellbeing, development, and potential.

Of course it doesn't stop there - Meditation opens the door to a whole new world of "Natural" therapy, medicine, and healing - and the best place to start is with a personally guided course.

Meditation - Healing for the Mind and Body

2007-03-31T15:04:00.000+07:00

East Meets West

Meditation of one style or another can be found in most of the major religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Eastern religions tend to concentrate on Meditation as a means of developing spiritual enlightenment and as a pathway to experiencing ultimate reality, whereas in the West it's primarily used as tool for self development, and as a means of reducing stress and improving one's health and wellbeing.

The many different religious traditions in the world have given rise to a rich variety of meditative practices which include the contemplative practices of Christian religious orders, the Buddhist practice of sitting meditation, and the whirling movements of the Sufi dervishes. Although Meditation is an important practice in many religious and spiritual traditions, it can be practiced by anyone regardless of their religious or cultural background.

Meditation and Health

As Western medical practitioners begin to understand the mind's role in health and disease, there's been rising interest in the use of Meditation in medicine, and meditative practices are increasingly being recommended in clinics and hospitals, as a tool for improving health and quality of life. Meditation is also seen as a valuable addition in comprehensive treatment plans, and as a means of helping people with debilitating, chronic, or terminal illnesses.

During Meditation, the brain's activity (as mapped by a device known as an electroencephalograph) alters significantly. The most well-known brain waves evident during Meditation are called Alpha waves, and these accompany relaxation of the entire nervous system. Gamma, Delta and Theta brain waves accompany types of Meditation associated with various altered states of consciousness.

Scientific studies show that the regular practice of Meditation can be a powerful healing tool. People who meditate regularly have been shown to feel less anxiety and depression. They also report that they experience more enjoyment and appreciation of life, that their relationships are improved, and that they have a greater sense of calmness, empathy, and acceptance of self and others.

Regular Meditation can be used to treat a range of disorders, including Anxiety - Chronic Pain - Depression - Headaches - High Blood Pressure - Insomnia - Migraines - Stress - Life Threatening Illnesses. It can also be used with other forms of medical treatment and is an important complementary therapy for both the treatment and prevention of many stress-related conditions.

Based upon clinical evidence as well as theoretical understanding, Meditation is considered to be one of the better therapies for panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, substance dependence and abuse, ulcers, colitis, chronic pain, psoriasis , and dysthymic disorder. It is also considered to be a valuable therapy for hypertension (high blood pressure), prevention of heart attack, prevention of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries), arthritis (including fibromyalgia), cancer, insomnia, migraine, and prevention of stroke.

It is also seen as a valuable complementary therapy for the treatment of allergies and asthma since stress plays a considerable role in the advancement of these conditions. Additionally, meditative practices have been reported to improve function or reduce symptoms in patients with various neurological disorders. These include people with Parkinson's disease, people who experience fatigue with multiple sclerosis, and people with epilepsy who are resistant to standard treatment.

The Nervous System

Resting the mind has a dramatic effect on brain activity. When the brain moves into an Alpha wave state, many physiological changes occur, starting with the autonomic nervous system. One of the main roles of the autonomic nervous system is to regulate glands and organs without any effort from the conscious mind.

The autonomic nervous system is made up of two parts called the "Sympathetic" and the "Parasympathetic.' These systems act in opposite yet complementary ways. The Sympathetic nervous system stimulates the body, while the Parasympathetic calms it down.

Chronic stress or burnout can occur when the Sympathetic nervous system dominates for too long. During an Alpha wave state, the Parasympathetic half of the autonomic nervous system takes over, and this results in lowered blood pressure and heart rate, a reduction in stress hormones, and slowed metabolism.

If Meditation is practised regularly, these beneficial changes become relatively permanent, and whilst you can always pick up a book and try to master Meditation by yourself, a guided course with personal attention and support from an experienced teacher, will bring you far better results in a much shorter time.

Guided Meditation - The Best Approach

2007-03-19T12:10:00.000+07:00

Meditation is easy to understand and practice and the benefits are enormous, but choosing the right approach and learning which techniques will work best for you, can't be determined by reading a book or magazine, or listening to a CD etc.

If you go this route and decide to give it a try, the chances are that you won't get anything like the results you're looking for, and it won't be long before you consider it a waste of time and call it a day. This has nothing to do with the way in which the information's presented (although obviously it makes a difference) - it's to do with going it alone, and not having anyone to guide you, work with your feedback, or provide insight and understanding. I'm not saying you can't get anywhere on your own - I'm just pointing out that the odds are against you!

People turn to Meditation for countless different reasons, and the question on everyone's mind before they get started is "Will It work For Me?" The answer is "Yes - it Works For Everyone," but regardless of the effort you're prepared to make, without the right teacher behind you, not a lot will happen.

There's a huge amount of information out there, but most of it boils down to the same basic principles, philosophy, and practices. Every writer has their own way of putting things across, and every teacher adds their own personal style and interpretation. Faced with unlimited choice, it's much easier to find yourself on the wrong path altogether, and never get the information you need or learn how to use it.

Joining a group will put you in touch with like minded people and provide a social outlet, but it's highly unlikely you'll receive any individual instruction - it'll just be a matter of grabbing what you can from whatever's happening. The best approach by far is to find a teacher that's prepared to work with you individually, modify their program to meet you personal requirements, and help you to branch out from there.

The following guidelines should help you locate one that's right for you.

1. Make a list of what you're hoping for Meditation to help you achieve. Narrow it down - don't be too general.

2. Check out a number of courses and make a note of the ones you feel might be suitable.

3. Get in touch with the teachers, and ask if the course will meet your requirements.

4. Confirm how long the course will take, how much it costs, if there are guarantees, and whether there's a refund policy.

5. Find out if there's ongoing guidance and support.

Guarantees are difficult to define, but you need to feel confident that your teacher will work with you and do what it takes to get you the results you're looking for - not just give you a set of exercises and leave you to it. Additionally, you'll need to be sure that there's ongoing guidance and support once the course is finished, to help you get the most from what you've learned in the future.

When you take a course you're buying a service, and if the service doesn't come up to scratch you're entitled to say so and expect your money back. A teacher should be confident in their ability to help you achieve what you're looking for, so steer well clear of any that tell you "it's entirely up to you!"

Get the right teacher and the magic and power of Meditation will bring you everything you wish for, and change every aspect of your life for the better.

Meditation - A Beginners Guide

2007-03-11T23:03:00.000+07:00

What Are We?

The question "What Are We?" is one that mankind has been grappling with for centuries.

We think of ourselves as solid, but if we take out the water we're just a small pile of dust. From a purely scientific viewpoint we're no more than a vibration, with our atoms vibrating at a rate that gives us the appearance of being solid.

But if you examine each cell you'll find inside a galaxy of the minute, and at the core there's just energy. Nothing solid, nothing tangible - just pure energy!

What is this energy? Where does it come from? What is it part of? These aren't simple questions that most ever consider or seek the answer to.

Where are we in the scheme of things?

Let's look at things from the perspective of the minute, the infinitely minute, and the infinitely huge.

As humans we’re the best example of evolution on our little speck in the universe known as Earth. How we function and think allows us to control things in a way that no other species on our planet can, and in that sense we're streets ahead of all other living things on it.

But we measure size, weight, speed, ability, brain power, and virtually everything else in terms that are relative to ourselves.

An ant can lift and transport several times its own body weight, and relative to its size, cover a distance at a rate that makes our top sprinters look like they're standing still and our marathon runners look like they're short winded. ”Are ants made of the same building blocks that we are?”

Viruses have the ability to evolve into new and more potent strains no matter what we do to destroy them. ”Do viruses have a life force?” What is the design behind them? Are they any less entitled to existence than anything else?

How about Cancer? - Certainly not something anyone wants to play host to! Is Cancer made of the same building blocks that we are? What makes it so resilient and capable of destroying its host?

Well a Cancer cell if it could think, would view its host as infinite. Its host wouldn't just be the size of the world - it would be larger than the Milky Way with all its billions of stars.

Where is Earth in the scheme of things?

Through quantum physics we understand that the cosmos is constantly expanding - more rapidly than we can begin to comprehend – and whilst we think of the world as being large in relationship to ourselves, Earth occupies less space within the cosmos than a grain of sand on all the beaches of the world put together.

In the fullness of time Earth will cease to exist (at least in the same form) and everything mankind has achieved, strived for, and accomplished, will cease to exist as well.

Form is an interesting subject, and one needs to comprehend that whilst form can change - and in terms of our perception cease to exist - everything becomes part of something else in due course.

In other words nothing really changes. The whole remains the “Whole” and it’s only everything within it that is constantly changing. What is the “Whole?” Well at the moment it’s beyond our comprehension, but perhaps the day will come when science provides an answer.

What about time?

Once again this is relative, and we measure it in a way that allows us to put a life span on ourselves and everything else.

A Mayfly lives only a day - just long enough to breed - but to a Mayfly that's a life lived and fulfilled. If we live beyond 80 and are still in good health we figure we're doing ok, but time out there in the cosmos is something else altogether.

The cosmos is so old that the entire history of Earth is contained within the last letter of the last word on the last page of the history book of time as we understand it. But that's using our measurement of time. To forces and energies that simply "are" and "have always been," the cosmos is no older than a blink of an eye.

The Essence of Meditation.

At the heart of Meditation is the concept that we’re no more than a fragment of the life force that permeates the cosmos. The concept that only form changes, and that the life force we and every other living thing carries, remains part of the whole once the form is no more.

This isn't about reincarnation, and neither is it about religion. It's also not meant to challenge ones beliefs, but extend the boundaries and confines of what one's been taught or accepts.

Meditation puts us in touch with the natural energies and forces that are simply a part of us and everything around us, and enables us to harness and use them to achieve harmony and balance and improve every aspect of our health and wellbeing.

Meditation - Prescription Free Stress Relief

2007-03-08T14:29:00.000+07:00

Stress is something we all have to deal with in one form or another, and most of us cope pretty well, but the struggle to keep up in today's society takes a heavy toll on our health and wellbeing. Stress related disorders both physical and mental have never been more common, and it's all too easy to find yourself reaching for the pills and looking for quick fixes, while your motivation disappears, your performance diminishes, your relationships become strained, your ability to cope vanishes, and your health suffers.

Whilst most people manage to keep themselves in check and just get on with things, a large and rising number find themselves out on their own - unable to deal with the pressures of everyday life. Knowing you're on a downwards spiral doesn't seem to help. Fatigue, inability to focus, agitation, lack of appetite, the need to overeat, anxiety, high blood pressure - these are the obvious signs. But the ability to think clearly is one of the first things to go, followed closely by the motivation to do anything about it.

Our mental hospitals are overflowing with people who have somehow gone over the brink or opted out, and our general hospitals are full to the brim with people suffering from illnesses and disorders that instead of being shrugged off or dealt with by light medication, have taken hold due to their weakened mental state and depleted immune system.

Whilst doctors and health professionals recognise Stress as one of the most substantial threats to mental, emotional, and physical health, the traditional way of dealing with it is to send patients home with a bag full of pills. From the pharmaceutical industry's perspective this is exactly how it should be - unlimited and growing demand! But with this type of thinking the patient is out on a limb, with nobody to help them address the problem or understand what's happening, and just the hope that the tablets will put everything back in order.

Scientists have long acknowledged Meditation as the ideal way of dealing with disorders brought on by fatigue and stress, and for many years have been recommending it as the preferred therapy, but however enlightened our doctors may be, few have the time to actually listen to their patients or engage them in a more holistic approach. But it's not just the medical profession who are at fault. In today's fast paced world, everyone is looking for instant results, and people are quite happy to place responsibility for their health and wellbeing in the hands of prescription writers.

The medical profession established long ago, that the quality of one's thoughts and feelings are directly related to how the body functions, and for those who fall sick, the speed of their recovery or whether they recover at all, can be as much to do with their mental state as the care they're given. Meditation is recognised as a simple and effective way to use the power of the mind to rid itself of negative influences, transform your life, and heal and rejuvenate your body.

There's nothing complicated about learning and practicing the techniques of Meditation, and a guided course is by far the best way to get started. The 5 week online course I've designed is very easy to understand and follow, and by being there every step of the way to answer questions, work with feedback, and provide guidance and support, I'm able to make each one completely individual, and make sure that everyone receives the maximum benefit.