Health Conditions That Are Benefited By Meditation

Drug Addiction
The Transcendental Meditation technique has proven to be a successful coping strategy in helping to deal with drug addiction," a useful tool in psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI) by helping to control the immune system, and an effective manager of stress and pain.

Prolonging Life Expectancy
A strong link has also been established between the practice of TM and longevity. Only two factors have been scientifically determined to actually extend life: caloric restriction and lowering of the body's core temperature. Meditation has been shown to lower core body temperature.

Stress Control
Most of the people who get on meditation do so because of its beneficial effects on stress. Stress refers to any or all the various pressures experienced in life. These can stem from work, family, illness, or environment and can contribute to such conditions as anxiety, hypertension, and heart disease. How an individual sees things and how he or she handles them makes a big difference in terms of how much stress he or she experiences.

Research has shown that hormones and other biochemical compounds in the blood indicative of stress tend to decrease during TM practice. These changes also stabilize over time, so that a person is actually less stressed biochemically during daily activity.

This reduction of stress translates directly into a reduction of anxiety and tension. Literally dozens of studies have shown this.

Pain Management:
Chronic pain can systematically erode the quality of life. Although great strides are being made in traditional medicine to treat recurring pain, treatment is rarely as simple as prescribing medication or surgery.

Anxiety decreases the threshold for pain and pain causes anxiety. The result is a vicious cycle. Compared with people who feel relaxed, those under stress experience pain more intensely and become even more stressed, which aggravates their pain. Meditation breaks this cycle.

Childbirth preparation classes routinely teach pregnant women deep breathing exercises to minimize the pain and anxiety of labor. Few call it breath meditation, but that's what it is.

Meditative techniques are also a key element in the Arthritis self-help Course at Stanford University. More than 100,000 people with arthritis have taken the 12-hour course and learned meditation-style relaxation exercises as part of a comprehensive self-care program. Graduates report a 15 to 20 percent reduction in pain.

In one study overseen by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, 72 percent of the patients with chronic pain conditions achieved at least a 33 percent reduction after participating in an eight-week period of mindful meditation, while 61 -percent of the pain patients achieved at least a 50 percent reduction. Additionally, these people perceived their bodies as being 30 percent less problematic, suggesting an overall improvement in self-esteem and positive views regarding their bodies.

Meditation may not eliminate pain, but it helps people cope more effectively.

Cancer and Other Chronic Illness
Meditation and other approaches to deep relaxation help center people so they can figure out how they'd like to handle the illness and proceed with life. Dr. Ainslie Meares, an Australian psychiatrist who uses meditation with cancer patients, studied seventy-three patients who had attended at least twenty -sessions of intensive meditation, and wrote: "Nearly all such patients can expect significant reduction of anxiety and depression, together with much less discomfort and pain. There is reason to expect a 10 percent chance of quite remarkable slowing of the rate of growth of the tumor, and a 50 percent chance of greatly improved quality of life."

Heart disease.
Meditation is a key component of Ornish therapy, the only treatment scientifically proven to reverse heart disease.

High blood pressure.
As soon as Dr. Benson learned that TM reliably reduced blood pressure in meditators, he taught the relaxation response to 36 people with moderately elevated blood pressure. After several weeks of practice, their average blood pressure declined significantly, reducing their risk of stroke and heart attack.

Infertility
Couples dealing with infertility may become depressed, anxious and angry. To help them cope, Alice D. Domar, Ph.D., a psychologist at the Mind/Body Medical Institute, taught the relaxation response to one group of infertile couples. Compared with a similar group of infertile couples who did not learn deep relaxation, the meditators experienced less distress-and were more likely to get pregnant.

Psoriasis:
This disease causes scaly red patches on the skin. A pilot study at Dr. Kabat-Zinn's clinic suggests that compared with the skin patches of people with psoriasis who receive only standard medical therapy, the skin patches of those who also meditate clear up more quickly.

Respiratory crises
Asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) all restrict breathing and raise fears of suffocation, which in turn makes breathing even more difficult. Studies at Dr. Kabat-Zinn's clinic show that when people with these respiratory conditions learn breath meditation, they have fewer respiratory crises.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), Tension Headaches
Meditation can ease physical complaints such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), tension headaches and other common health problems.

Meditation gives people a psychological buffer so that life's hectic pace doesn't knock them out. Practicing meditation is like taking a vacation once or twice a day. When you nurture yourself, you accrue tremendous spin-off benefits.

For example, when you are under high stress, it can worsen symptoms of PMS because stress can cause the muscle tension associated with PMS complaints such as fatigue, soreness and aching. On the other hand, when you meditate regularly, you dramatically reduce your body's response to stress, and that can ease the discomfort associated with PMS. The results may not be apparent for several months. You will probably need to meditate regularly for several months before your body responds positively.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcers, and Insomnia
Meditation can also improve irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, and insomnia, among other stress-related conditions. Eighty percent of the people who use meditation to relieve insomnia are successful.

Meditation can help prevent or treat stress-related complaints such as anxiety, headaches and bone, muscle and joint problems. Meditation also provides an inner sense of clarity and calm, and that, in itself, may help ward off certain illnesses.

Fibromyalgia
According to one study, meditation may relieve the discomfort of fibromyalgia, a condition that causes fatigue and intensely painful "trigger points." When 77 men and women with fibromyalgia followed a ten-week stress-reduction program using meditation, all reported that their symptoms improved. And half described their improvements as "moderate to marked."

MINDFULNESS (VIPASSANA)

In mantra and breath meditation, you focus on a word or your breath and try to empty your mind of everything else. This mental clearing is what most people mean when they refer to meditation.

But there's another kind of meditation, a practice Buddhists call vipassana or sometimes called mindfulness, or insight meditation. It is the art of becoming deeply aware of the present instant. Mindfulness means fully experiencing what happens in the here and now. It is the art of focusing our minds on what's happening in and around us at this very moment. Mindfulness helps you turn down all the noise in your head- the guilt, anger, doubts, and uncertainties that upset us moment to moment. It is a technique that encourages you to stop and smell the roses.

The key is not so much what you focus on but how you do it. What is more important is the quality of the awareness you bring to each moment. That awareness should be meditative in the sense of being a silent witness, accepting and nonjudgmental. It, however, does not imply resignation to abuse or injustice. It teaches acknowledgment of the moment-to-moment reality and prepares those who use the technique to respond to that reality less impulsively and more effectively.

There are two kinds of mindful meditation - formal and informal. Yoga is a good example of the formal type. In a yoga class, participants focus intently on their breathing and the postures, moving slowly from one position to the next, exquisitely aware of their feelings during the process. Practitioners are taught to concentrate on their breathing and its passage through the body as they dismiss any distracting thoughts. Though it sounds simple, mindfulness takes practice, and the longer you practice, the easier the process becomes. Breathing is the vehicle of transition from our conventional, anxiety-ridden, goal-oriented experience of stressful living into a natural state of functional calm and tranquility. Tai chi offers a similar dimension of mindfulness. Informal mindfulness involves turning the headlong rush of daily living into a collection of discrete moments of experience, each savored fully. For example, Dr. Kabat-Zinn hands each of his students a single raisin and asks them to eat it. Ordinarily people would simply pop the raisin in their mouths, chew a few times and swallow, largely unconsciously. But mindful, meditative raisin eating is much different. It begins with looking intently at the raisin, considering its shape, weight, color and texture. Next comes placing the raisin in the mouth, focusing on how it feels on the tongue as the mouth welcomes it with salivation. Then the mindful raisin-eater chews the raisin slowly and thoroughly, focusing on its taste and texture. Finally, swallowing the raisin involves following it all the way down to the stomach.

Once you commit to a mindfulness trigger-such as hanging up the phone, sipping a cup of tea or eating fruit snacks, starting the car or petting your dog-it's not difficult to work a dozen mindful moments into each day.

TAOIST MEDITATION: MICROCOSMIC ORBIT MEDITATION

This is the classic Taoist meditation method for refining, raising, and circulating internal energy via the 'orbit' formed by the 'Governing Channel' from perineum up to head and the Conception Channel from head back down to perineum. Activating the Microcosmic Orbit is a key step that leads to more advanced practices. Taoists believe that microcosmic orbit meditation fills the reservoirs of the Governing and Conception channels with energy, which is then distributed to all the major organ-energy meridians, thereby energizing the internal organs. It draws abundant energy up from the sacrum into the brain, thereby enhancing cerebral circulation of blood and stimulating secretions of vital neurochemicals. It is also the first stage for cultivating the 'spiritual embryo' or 'golden elixir' of immortality, a process that begins in the lower abdomen and culminates in the mid-brain. This is probably the best of all Taoist methods for cultivating health and longevity while also 'opening the three passes' to higher spiritual awareness.

Taoists often refer things in symbolic languages. (See the section on Human anatomy from the Taoist perspective for a description of the symbolism used in referring to the human anatomy.) 'Opening the Three Passes' is another name for this meditation method and refers to the three critical junctions which pave the way for energy to travel up from the sacrum through the Governing Channel along the spine into the head.

Method:


The first step is to still the body, calm the mind, and regulate the breath. With this settled mind, sit alone in a quiet room, senses shut and eyelids lowered. Turn your attention within, and inwardly visualize a pocket of energy in the umbilical region; within it is a point of golden light, clear and bright, immaculately pure. Focus attention on the navel until you feel the 'pocket of energy' glowing in the umbilical region. The breath through your nose will naturally become light and subtle, going out and in evenly and finely, continuously and quietly, gradually becoming slighter and subtler. When the feeling is stable and the energy there is full, use your mind to guide energy down to the perineum and back up through the aperture in the coccyx.
Steadily visualize this true energy as being like a small snake gradually passing through the nine apertures of the coccyx. When you feel the energy has gone through this pass, visualize this true energy rising up to where the ribs meet the spine, then going through this pass and right on up to the Jade Pillow, the back of the brain.

Then imagine your true spirit in the Nirvana Chamber in the center of the brain, taking in the energy. When this true energy goes through the Jade Pillow, press the tongue against the palate. The head should move forward and tilt slightly upwards to help it. When you feel this true energy penetrating the Nirvana Chamber, this may feel hot or swollen. This means the pass has been cleared and the energy has reached the Nirvana Center.

Next, focus attention on the Celestial Eye between the eyebrows and draw energy forwards from the midbrain and out through the point between the brows. This may cause a tingling or throbbing sensation there. Then the center of the brows will throb - this means the Celestial Eye is about to open. Then move the spirit into the center of the brows and draw the true energy through the Celestial Eye. If you see the eighteen thousand pores and three hundred and sixty joints of the whole body explode open all at once, each joint parting three-tenths of an inch, this is evidence of the opening of the Celestial Eye.
This is what is meant when it is said that when one pass opens all the passes open, and when one opening is cleared all the openings are cleared.

You may wish to stay and work with this point for a few minutes, before letting energy sink down through the palate and tongue into the throat to the heart. This may feel as though there is cool water going down the Multistoried Tower of the windpipe. Do not swallow; let it go down by itself, bathing the bronchial tubes.

Then the vital energy will bathe the internal organs and then return to the genitals. This is what is called return to the root.

From the heart, draw it down through the Middle Elixir Field in the solar plexus, past the navel, and down into the Ocean of Energy reservoir in the Lower Elixir Field, where energy gathers, mixes, and is reserved for internal circulation. Then begin another cycle up through the coccyx to the mid-spine behind the heart and up past the Jade Pillow into the brain.

Breathe naturally with your abdomen, and don't worry whether energy moves up or down on inhalation or exhalation; coordinate the flow of breath and energy in whatever manner suits you best. However, if you reach the stage where you can complete a full Microcosmic Orbit in a single breath, it's best to raise energy up from coccyx to head on exhalation and draw it down from Upper to Lower Elixir Field on inhalation.
If you practice this way for a long time, eventually you can complete a whole cycle of ascent and descent in one visualization. If you can quietly practice this inner work continuously, whether walking, standing still, sitting, or lying down, then the vital energy will circulate within, and there will naturally be no problem of leakage. Chronic physical ailments, Taoists believe, will naturally disappear.

Also, once the inner energy is circulating, the breath will naturally become fine, and the true positive energy of heaven and earth will be inhaled by way of the breath and go down to join your own generative energy. The two energies will mix together, both to be circulated by you together, descending and ascending over and over, circulating up and down to replenish the depleted true energy in your body.

This true energy harmonizes and reforms, so that the vital fluids produced by the energy of daily life again produce true vitality. When true vitality is fully developed, it naturally produces true energy, and when true energy is fully developed it naturally produces our true spirit.

If you have any physical problems or discomforts in a particular section of your body, focus your energy at the pass closest to the discomfort and let it throb there for a while. This will help heal and rejuvenate the injured tissues. For example, if you have pelvic problems, focus energy on the coccyx pass; for lower-back pain focus on the lowest lumbar vertebra just above the sacrum; for upper-back and shoulder pain focus on the fifth thoracic vertebra, and so forth.

This meditation may also cause the head to rock or the body to tremble, which, Taoists believe, are signs of progress.

Time: Thirty to forty-five minutes, once or twice a day.

Lovingkindness meditation

by Bodhipaksa

Although the concept of emotional intelligence is relatively new in the west, Buddhist practitioners have been in the know for over 2,500 years. > This simple meditation practice – the Development of Lovingkindness – helps us to develop a healthier relationship with ourselves and with other people.

1· Sit comfortably and with your back relatively upright, so that you have a sense of poise and dignity.

2· Notice the physical sensations in the body, starting from the feet and working up to the head, and relaxing each muscle as best you can. When the mind wanders (which it will do), gently bring it back to the sensations in the body. Some distraction is normal and it's best to accept it patiently.

3· Then become aware of how you are feeling. What emotions are present? You don't necessarily have to label them, just be aware they are present. Keep your awareness centered on the heart. These emotions will be your focus during the rest of the practice. If you realize you've been distracted, come back to your body, and then to your emotions.

4. Then on each out breath begin repeating a phrase, such as:

"May I be well,"
"May I be at peace," or
"May I feel confidence."

You can think of your heart being like a still forest pool, and the phrase being like a flower that you gently drop into the water. Let go of any sense of expectation you may have. Simply stay present with your emotions, and be open to the influence of the phrase.

5· Then call to mind a friend, and use a phrase (the same one you used for yourself or one that is more suitable for them) to wish your friend well. Note that you're not thinking about your friend here, but simply bearing the thought of them in mind, as a sense of presence or even a mental image.

6· Letting the thought of your friend fade away, call to mind someone you don't know well and don't have any strong feelings towards, and wish them well, using a phrase. It's normal to experience a little boredom while doing this, but just keep coming back to your body, to your feelings, and to wishing this person well.

7· Letting the thought of this "neutral person" fade away, call to mind someone you know personally and have conflicts with – perhaps a family member – and wish him or her well using a lovingkindness phrase.

8· Next, call to mind yourself, your friend, the neutral person and the person with whom you have difficulties, and wish all four of you well, using a suitable phrase such as:

"May we be well," or
"May we be in harmony."

Look for a sense of expansiveness as you take your well-wishing to all four people at once, and then expand your well-wishing yet further, to everyone around you. You can continue expanding the range of your well-wishing as far as you wish, including not just people but animals, until you are embracing all life in your heart.

9· When you feel it's time to end, let go of any phrases or images you've been using and just sit quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the fruits of the practice and letting yourself become more aware of the world around you.

A Nature Meditation

By Robert Elias Najemy

You are sitting by a quietly flowing stream in the countryside. It is spring and life is green and moist? Sitting on a rock, the sights and sounds of the flowing water begin to work their mysterious way into your nervous system.

Gradually, with the simple repetition of the water's song and the harmonious beauty of the natural surroundings, the thousands of electronic impulses of your brain begin to discharge into the tension-absorbing air.

All of the concerns, problems and projects, which had filled your mind to bursting capacity begin to disappear.

There is nothing to try to figure out now, nothing to decide.

The flowers silently console you with their perfect peace and harmony.

The fresh air tingles in your lungs and your head becomes clear.

You feel somehow sedated, as if the forces of nature have conspired to put you to sleep - to put you at ease.

The wind massages your body with caresses of coolness as the sun unties your muscles with penetrating warmth.

There is nothing to do, nowhere to go and nothing to think of. Just lie back and absorb the peaceful vibrations which flow into every part of your being, whispering, «be at peace, relax my friend, all is well now».

A delicious sleep falls upon you; not really sleep but a half-conscious-half-sleep state, in which the trees, sounds and breeze begin to come inside and mix with all of the thoughts and feelings. It is as if the door of your mind has been opened and all of those conversations, actions and perceptions lying unresolved, floating at various depths in the sea of the mind begin to float upwards and outwards.

Reality now is a mixture of the inner and outer.

The peace and security of being in the womb of nature allows us to surrender to the sun, water and wind, while the earth-draws out our stresses and frustrations.

We swim semiconsciously at the level where the conscious blends into the unconscious.

We dance in our sea of consciousness, sometimes floating up to the surface catching the sensation of the breeze, or the warmth of the sun. Then we dive downward into a stream of upward floating thoughts, images, sounds - all the dislodged refuse from nervous stresses and unresolved problems.

We watch them as they float by and then dive deeper sensing by now there is something at the bottom of the sea, which is attractive to us.

Occasionally we get caught by an upward floating sensation of worry, resentment, an image or an attachment, and before we know it, we are at the surface again thinking, wondering, worrying, being rocked by the waves of attachment.

But the dance goes on, we begin to sink again, for by now we see that we cannot really dive because diving is too intense - there is too much effort - we get hooked too easily on upward floating garbage.

We instinctively learn the dance of the water, sinking, watching, letting go, being carried on the vertical currents of fresh water from the depths of our consciousness, like a seagull with wings spread gliding the air currents flowing against it without a movement, without an effort, letting the air do all the work.

By this time, we are no longer concerned about where we are going. The water becomes clearer, free of debris. We have gone beyond the levels of stress release, past wreckage of old memories, relationships, failures and traumas. We have danced through the caverns of resentment and worry.

The water becomes very clean, very still, very peaceful.

We are coming to the source of our life current, the spring of pure consciousness. Here we may encounter pure light or energy. Only subtle vibrations exist here. Our bodies become recharged with life. Our consciousness is renewed as we have cleared the way for a burst of fresh energy to flow up purifying the sea of consciousness, regenerating the mind, giving new life to every cell of our brain.

If we do not become enamored by the sensation of light, by the bliss of this energy which charges through our system, then we may sink a little deeper into the vast nothingness from which the spring of life flows.

Here there is not even energy; no body, no mind, no light, no sound - absolute nothingness - total vacuum - only tremendous potential unmanifest Divine Consciousness, from which all life and material creation flows.

COMING BACK TO THE SURFACE

The sound of chirping birds greets you as you slowly float to the surface. The branches dancing in the wind wave «hello». The sounds of insects buzzing and water splashing salute you with a «welcome back friend, you are part of us now».

It takes a while to remember where you are. You were only gone 20 minutes, but it seems you have been in this spot all your life. The mind is clear, refreshed and in the present.

There is nothing to do but take off your clothes and go swimming.

Have you ever been to this quiet stream in the countryside?

Most everyone has - either to a stream, river, mountain, sea, or forest. And how well and rejuvenated we feel when we return. Somehow everything is more alive, more harmonious.

It may not take long, however, to discharge all that energy and clarity. Once again we become upset, nervous and bored.

Can we go to the stream every day? It certainly would be nice, and life would be much less complicated. Of course for most of us it is completely impractical in terms of time, money and availability of such places - especially to those of us who live in the city.

Well, Mother Nature has a secret for us. We don't have to go anywhere at all. The stream of life, that place of peace and source of strength, knowledge and harmony - lies right inside every one of us.

What is meditation? It is nothing more than visiting this stream on a daily basis. Simply it is the sinking dance into our sea of consciousness, releasing the submerged stresses and coming to the point of inner stillness where there is no object of consciousness - but consciousness itself.

Done regularly, this inward dance leaves us fresh, more alert, relaxed, creative, healthy, and more in tune with ourselves and our environment.

The truth of these statements has been proved both subjectively and objectively through experimentation. Studies have been made on meditators and non-meditators over the years with respect to blood pressure, pulse and reaction time as well as with states of fulfillment and creativity expressed subjectively by the participants.

Hundreds of thousands of people today in all walks of life are finding that no matter what their goals, motivations, responsibilities or problems may be, they are able to act more clearly, more efficiently and more successfully with the aid of regular meditation.

Ultimately, the only way to know if meditation will be useful for you is to give it a try. To spend some time each day in the «dance of the soul».

For more information on meditation visit Holisticonline meditation infocenter.

The Tao of Breathing

by: Tom Takihi

One of the impressions I have gained recently in speaking to Zen friends about practice is a certain attitude towards breathing in zazen. For the sake of brevity, and just for fun, I wish to refer to it as "samurai breathing". I think it has its origins in the martial arts.

The "samurai breath' goes like this: one must push down hard on the outgoing breath, concentrating on the hara (solar plexus) and in doing so, push aside any thoughts, feelings, sensations, that get in the way, smashing through them like a karate expert would smash their hand through a brick.

If you practice like this, it will give you a considerable feeling of power, like winning a contest (with yourself), and also give you a sense of purpose in a goal-seeking way (like paying off the mortgage). This type of straining zazen creates a heroic struggle out of zazen and a sense that you are trying very hard, but it is ultimately self-defeating. Perhaps it is part of the process of learning that we have to go through this struggle before we realize it is not productive.

When I see people practicing like this, I have a mental picture of someone on an exercise bike peddling furiously, somehow believing that they are going to get somewhere if only they try hard enough. I then imagine someone coming up to them and whispering in their ear, "Excuse me, it doesn't matter how fast you peddle, you won't get anywhere on that bike. " This is like the story of polishing a tile, believing if only it is done hard enough, it will become a mirror, or believing that one will become a Buddha after years and years of zazen, rather than realizing that we are Buddha right from the very beginning.

When I began my zen practice many ago in Japan with Kabori Roshi, I was like the person on the bike furiously peddling to get somewhere. I listened with keen interest to other students talking about various breathing techniques, which I believed, if only I could get them right, would propel me towards realization in no time. Needless to say, I tied myself up in knots trying to breathe the "right" way, even making myself sick in the process. After several months of this, I went to Kabori Roshi and told him about it in sanzen (Rinzai for dokusan). All he said was "Just breathe naturally". I remember feeling a mixture of relief, confusion and disappointment at his comment. How could it be that simple?

Kabori Roshi was like the kindly person whispering in the ear of the stationary cyclist, "Excuse me, no matter how hard you try, you won't get anywhere on that bike." The message got through a little but, looking back, I wasn't quite prepared to really give up my belief, that if only I pushed harder, I would get somewhere.

This happens all the way along in zen practice. Teachers keep telling us there is nothing to attain, but we don't quite believe them, even though we may mouth the words to others. In everyday life we see people all around struggling to find happiness and peace, believing it will come when they finally get what they want, without seeing that this very moment holds all that one could desire. It is easy to see this delusion in others, but can you see it in yourself?

Coming back to the analogy of the exercise bike, it is not the practice of peddling we have to give up but the belief we are going to get somewhere if we do fit. As we give up this belief, (which is underpinned with the fear of failure) we can enjoy just peddling, and in zazen if we give up this belief, we can just breath naturally and our breathing includes the breathing of the currawong warbling in the crisp morning air.

The "samurai breath" after all turns out to be conceptual breathing, a fixed notion of what breathing ought to be, unlike the breath of the Tao which is open and just comes and goes of its own accord. When our breathing attempts to fit some conceptual pattern of how we ought to breath, we interfere with it, and are out of touch with ourselves. The mind/will should take its lead from the breath, rather than the breath taking its lead from the mind/will. When the mind/will takes its lead from the breath, then the mind/will and the breath are in harmony. When sailing, you trim the sails according to the strength and direction of the wind, not the other way round.

Aitken Roshi, when he was a student of Soen Roshi, asked him "When I do zazen should I use effort or not?" Soen Roshi replied, "The question reminds of Joshu's question to Nansen in Case l9 of the Mumonkan - 'ordinary mind is the Tao'".

Joshu asked Nansen, "What is Tao?" Nansen answered, "Ordinary mind is the Tao." "Then should we direct ourselves towards it or not?" asked Joshu. "If you try to direct yourself towards it, you go away from it", answered Nansen. Joshu continued, "If we do not try, how can we know it is the Tao?" Nansen replied, "Tao does not belong to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is illusion, not knowing is blankness. If you really attain the Tao of no doubt, it is like the great void, so vast and boundless. How then, can there be right and wrong in the Tao?" At these words, Joshu was suddenly enlightened. Mumon, commenting on this said, "Even though Joshu may be enlightened, he can truly get it only after studying for thirty more years."

Should we direct ourselves towards it or not? Should we use effort or not? Does Nansen mean just "go with the flow of the Tao" as this cliche has become known, as on some personal growth weekend where everyone lies around drinking herbal tea, looking dreamy-eyed and talking about the oneness of the universe? I remember Aitken Roshi once saying to a student, "When are you going to stop going with the flow and get into action?"

"Going with the flow" is just the conceptual opposite of "samurai breathing". Dull and complacent zazen with no vitality or resolve, which is more accurately going with the flow of Taoist fantasy and natural therapy mysticism.

What is the right attitude then with which to breath? The right attitude is to have no fixed attitude. However from a practical point of view it can follow certain guidelines. I think of right zazen as like holding a baby in one's arms. You hold a baby gently otherwise you will hurt it. You also hold it firmly otherwise you will drop it. Light but steady. Should you use effort or not? Try holding a baby.

One Minute Meditations for a Happier Life

by Shirley Ryan

Meditation has been used for centuries to train the mind, and the list for its uses are extensive. Not only does meditation increase wellness in general, it reduces stress, anxieties and cultivates positive emotions. In addition, with consistent use, it reshapes the cortex of the brain resulting in an increase in attention span, sharpening of focus and improved memory.

Sounds like just what the doctor ordered you say? But practically, how does one fit this into a busy schedule? Meditation using mindfulness is the most practical way to meditate. In the simple act of training ourselves to become more aware by slowing down our sense of time passing, we can learn to monitor our moods and thoughts before they spiral downward. We can, in other words, make ourselves happier. Simply being mindful (paying attention) during your daily activities is a kind of mediation.

This kind of meditation is being in the moment, exercising a set of mental activities that sees things with impartial watchfulness. It does not take sides. A mindful meditator is both participant and observer. It is observing all phenomena - physical, mental or emotional - whatever is presently taking place in the mind. Ever eat an orange and really savor the process from peeling through tasting it? Let's see how mindfulness works.

Behold (without judgment) the beauty of the orange as you hold it up to the light and witness the color, moving it to your nose to breathe in the sent of the rind itself. Perfect roundness rolls over your fingertips as the sphere moves from your left to your right hand. Feel the dibbled texture as it slides over your fingertips. All of your senses are alive as you hear the peel pull away from the skin. A cool spray of juice prickles your skin as the sent of the orange creates an aroma that makes your mouth water. Pull the segments apart and bite into it letting the juice run into your mouth. Savor the sweet liquid as it becomes a part of your awareness. This is mindfully eating an orange with full awareness of its presence in your life. The process of mindfulness is simply short bursts of attention to one thing. We do this normally in our everyday life. As you begin to assimilate the process, and become more proficient the attention moves to all things.

Some tips for meditation using mindfulness:

1. Choose one simple thing a day that you can spend time with to give your full attention. (Start with something easy like: washing dishes or the car, deadheading plants, folding towels, brushing the dog, running, making a sandwich, eating anything, brushing teeth, etc.)

2. Make an appointment with yourself for this practice. (Later you can just spontaneously choose, but for now set a time in your calendar or it will not happen.)

3. Tell someone that you are practicing meditation in short spurts once a day. (This commits you to the process and sets the stage for you to change your behavior and view of yourself.)

4. While you wait for this time, practice breathing into the diaphragm in one minute intervals. Cleansing breathwork is an anchor to the present moment and an important part of being healthy. Breathe into the place between your ribs and navel. (Stop lights are a great place to practice this.)

5. Stretch regularly while sitting (Turn your neck as far as possible from side to side and up and down.), and standing (Reach to the ceiling.).

6. When the time comes, use all of your senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste (if appropriate), and intuition. Experience the object without judgment--just observe. (Soapy hand, slippery, wet, silky, warm water, etc.) Detach from whatever you are seeing or hearing--it just is and nothing more.

Nothing is excluded, thoughts, distractions, sounds, images, ideas, or feelings that arise, everything is welcomed. We simply allow whatever is there to be.

Consistently observe with bare attention both the breath and every mental phenomenon. Time is different now as it slows down our sense of its passing. This gives a rare opportunity to see the world and ourselves differently and to choose how we feel and act.

Mindful meditation is a good choice to develop a greater sense of self awareness and of how we fit within the universe. The universe responds favorably to the attention to your life, and the attention to all of its gifts to you.

Total Awareness

This advanced method is recommended for those students who have practiced other meditation techniques long enough to gain a feeling of floating bodilessness. Begin this method by sitting with eyes fully open. Softly gaze at a blank wall, or more preferably, look out a window at a distant vista. With the mind's eye (the eye of consciousness behind your body's purely physical eyes) define your field of visual consciousness as a circle. Imagine the top of your field of consciousness as the 12 o'clock position on a clock, and the bottom of your field of consciousness as the 6 o'clock position. With your mind's eye, not your physical eyes, slowly sweep your attention clockwise from the top 12 o'clock position down to the 6 o'clock position, then on to the 9 o'clock position, and then back up to the 12 o'clock position. Repeat this process in the counterclockwise direction. Mentally strain to observe the very outer edges of your visual field of consciousness where the light of consciousness turns into the darkness of empty space. Go on repeating this process until you feel you have had enough.

This is an powerful awareness exercise, not an eye exam, and that is why it is recommended only for students with a number of years of experience in meditation. After practicing this method for some time, you can begin to transform the method into one of sudden expansion of awareness. You can gain the ability to perceive the complete 360 degrees of the outer edges of your consciousness in one jump. This feels like stepping back, literally out of your own mind, and looking back into your mind from a close and friendly distance. You become identified with the Void, and the perception of deep space around the flame of consciousness makes the flame grow brighter. This esoteric method is difficult to fully explain, and there are aspects of it that you will have to learn on your own through practice.

One discovers from this technique that our visual field of consciousness is roughly football shaped, with greater width than height. This is because our brains evolved out of a need to look for food and danger more on the horizontal axis than on the vertically axis. To survive you need to be aware of what is on your right and left more than what is directly below your feet or above your head. This powerful awareness method has a deprogramming effect that allows one to appreciate the play of existence as an ever changing drama. You feel as if you are in it, but also out of it and beyond it.

Cathartic Dancing Meditation

Cathartic Dancing Meditation is a cosmic powerhouse that can be practiced by students in good health with a normal cardiovascular system. As it is a physically strenuous exercise, one should get a complete physical examination by a competent physician before experimenting with this technique. Explain the method to your doctor, and ask if it would be physically dangerous for you to do. He probably won't understand your motives for wanting to do it, but he can tell you if he thinks your heart can safely handle it. As with jogging or mountain climbing, you must practice this method at your own risk.

Cathartic Dancing Meditation is similar to Rajneesh Dynamic Meditation but is simpler, easier to do, and is more likely to keep you interested month after month, year after year. Neither method is really new. Sufis, Druids, and countless other esoteric and tribal cultures have used similar techniques for centuries. Most students will benefit from doing Cathartic Dancing Meditation daily for a period of between one to five years. After five years it has usually done its job, and the student can then concentrate on more subtle meditation methods.

Cathartic Dancing Meditation changes you from head to toe, and benefits all the other meditation methods you practice. It also helps develop a powerful hara center. I am reluctant to bring up the subject of kundalini (see definition near the bottom of the page) because of the common misrepresentations of its manifestations. I feel compelled to inform you, however, that this physically vigorous meditation method is the most powerful kundalini awakening technique I know of. Cathartic Dancing Meditation has three stages and lasts for 40 minutes.

Stage #1 (ten minutes) Start by standing with your eyes closed and breathe deep and fast through your nose continuously. If you are only physically capable of doing deep breathing for five minutes, then reduce the length of the first stage. Remember that you are doing this method to help your meditation, not to physically injure yourself. Allow your body to move freely as you breathe. You can jump up and down, sway back and forth, or use any physical motion that helps you pump more oxygen into your lungs.

Stage #2 (twenty minutes) The second stage is a celebration of catharsis and wild and spontaneous dancing. Totally let go and act as an ancient human dancing in tribal celebration. Energetic, nonverbal background music is recommended. African tribal drum music works especially well. You may roll on the ground and do strange spontaneous body movements. Allow your body to move within the limits of not hurting yourself or others. Screaming is encouraged. You must act out any anger you may have in a safe way, such as beating the earth with your hands. All of the suppressed emotions from your subconscious mind are to be released. If at anytime during the second stage you feel that your energy level is starting to decline, you can resume deep and fast breathing to give yourself a boost.

Stage #3 (ten minutes) This stage is complete quiet and relaxation. Flop down on your back, get comfortable, and just let go. Be as if a dead man totally surrendered to the cosmos. Enjoy the tremendous energy you have unleashed in the first two stages, and be a silent witness to it. Observe the feeling of the ocean flowing into the drop. Become the ocean.

This spontaneous dancing meditation technique is intended to grow with the student and change as the student changes. After a few years of vigorously practicing this method, the first two stages of the meditation may drop away spontaneously. You may then begin the meditation by taking a few deep breaths and immediately enter the deep tranquility of the third stage. If practiced correctly, this method is health giving and fun.

Almost all Westerners are head oriented and emotionally repressed. For us a chaotic, spontaneous, and emotionally cleansing technique like Cathartic Dancing Meditation is vital for serious progress to be made quickly. The physical benefits of this technique obviate any need for hatha yoga or traditional kundalini yoga methods. I strongly recommend that the Cathartic Dancing Meditation technique only be used in combination with traditional quiet sitting meditation methods. While active meditation methods can be very helpful, they are not complete systems in themselves. If you rely on active meditation techniques alone you will only be doing half of the internal work that needs to be done.

WARNING Obviously, one must practice Cathartic Dancing Meditation in a safe location and not near the edge of a cliff, or on a hard surface where one might fall and break one's skull. A large room or hall with thick carpeting is good. Outdoors in the early morning on a soft and well tended lawn with group participation is best. Do it on an empty stomach and avoid falling into dangerous objects such as windows. It is allowable to briefly open one's eyes occasionally to maintain your location. Create a safety zone around your dancing and spontaneous body movements. Be courteous to neighbors and delete the screaming if it will be heard by others.

Mirror Gazing and Eye Gazing

Mirror Gazing

Some students find that the use of a mirror virtually doubles the power of their meditation sessions. Sit in front of a mirror and gaze into the reflected image, setting your focus just above the head so that you view the wall behind you. Looking directly at the face or eyes may be too intense an experience for many students, and may lead to silly concern about personal appearance. Using this technique one only views the physical body as a shadowy peripheral silhouette. Continue gazing for twenty minutes, allowing the eyes to deeply relax their focus.

Enjoy the mirror gazing for twenty minutes, then stand for two minutes, maintaining the heightened awareness as you change position. Then resume sitting in quiet meditation for a further twenty minutes with eyes closed. This mirror gazing technique takes forty-two minutes, but may be extended to one full hour if desired, with eyes open and eyes closed sections remaining equal. Please practice this mirror gazing method no more than once a day. Strong meditation techniques are medicine and you should not overdose.

Mirror gazing is a form of tratak, the ancient yogic practice of fixing one's gaze on an object with total intensity. You may practice tratak by staring at a candle's flame, a distant tree, the picture of an enlightened teacher, or any object that is pleasant to view. While practicing tratak, one must remain motionless and allow oneself to become totally absorbed by the object you are viewing.

Eye Gazing

To practice this technique you must have a partner of the opposite sex, preferably someone you love. It is similar to the mirror gazing technique described above except that you look into the eyes of your loved one. Sit together, staring softly into your partners eyes for twenty minutes. Then stand silently for two minutes. Then sit in quiet meditation with eyes closed for a further twenty minutes. This technique can readily lead to romantic intimacy, so pick your partner carefully.

A Self-Inquiry Incantation

The use of meaningful incantations is quite different from mantra use, and can help bring consciousness to greater clarity. Words can help because our minds are organic hybrid analog-digital computers that process symbols, and words are symbols. The words that deepen meditation form a strategic questioning, not a mantra.

Ramana Maharshi was a beloved Indian teacher who reached enlightenment through self-inquiry, by asking the most fundamental question "Who am I?" Here is a self-inquiry technique that expands Ramana Maharshi's method to make it even more powerful. Speak out loud the following incantation with total intensity before and/or during formal sitting meditation sessions. By the term "total intensity," I mean the same level of intensity you would feel if you were just told that you only had one hour left to live. Be emotional, be Italian, use your hands and body language if it helps. Plead with the universe the following question.

What is this ball of consciousness? What is this ball of consciousness? What is this ball of consciousness? - You can repeat this question more than three times if the spirit moves you. Go with the flow.

I am not this library of memories. I have no history. I have no biography.

I am the space. I have always been the space, and I crush these bonds of attachment now!

When speaking the words, "I crush these bonds of attachment now!," strike your upturned left palm with the back of your right hand, like a hammer hitting an anvil, upon saying the word "now!" Reverse hands if you are lefthanded. Do not overdo it and hurt your hands. Just hit forcefully enough to produce a soft cracking sound, which adds drama and helps wake up the central nervous system.

Resonate the words deep inside you without thinking of intellectual explanations of who you are. Just asking this question is purifying and ennobling. Self-inquiry is an innocent and fundamental endeavor, and you need an innocently naked mind to see reality directly without the distortions of memory and thought. You can use this questioning technique only at the beginning of formal sitting meditation sessions, or you can repeat the incantation every ten minutes during meditation sessions to help keep your energy focused.

Over time you will find the words become a trigger mechanism which allows you to instantly drop all peripheral involvement and come home to your primordial eternal being. We all have the same essential being, and that being is cosmic. No one is left out of this universe. If you are part of the universe, you are all of the universe! The small 'I' is dropped, and only the big 'I' remains. Then you can have a good belly laugh, and that is the way I end most of my own meditation sessions. I meditate until I start laughing from the hara center. Then I know I am cooked!

A gentler, less rigorous approach to this method is to mentally repeat the question, "What is this ball of consciousness?," about a dozen times without vocalization. This small amount of repetition will enhance and center your consciousness rather than dull it. For many students this softer approach is all that is needed.

Word exercises are not for everyone. If you try them and feel nothing, then concentrate on other methods first. As you slowly change your methods will change with you. A method that is unusable now may be of great help to you in the future

Sweeping House with a Kicker

A variation of the sweeping house technique is to add a breathing stage after the sweeping stage is complete. Place your right palm (reverse hands if you are lefthanded) on your upper forehead and place your left palm on the back of the right hand. Now take four to seven deep breaths through the nose and feel as if you are drawing the air all the way down to your belly. Fully exhale in a normal and relaxed fashion after each breath. This breathing technique is not the bastrika method used in traditional yoga. It is ordinary deep breathing done with intensity and fullness. After exhaling the last breath, sit motionless for a few moments with your hands still on your upper forehead. Cooperate with any upward flow of energy you may feel. This energetic method can be done every ten minutes during an hour long sitting meditation session to create a safe and effective kundalini technique.

WARNING Avoid the use of mantras and long repetitive chanting. Repeating the same words over and over is a method of forgetfulness that will bore the mind and leads to the light sleep state hypnosis problem mentioned earlier. I would define a mantra as the repetition of words, usually meaningless, for a period of two minutes or more. Mantras have traditionally been used for hours on end by students who become mentally calmed and dulled by their use.

Mantras have proven to be medically helpful for some, because they can unleash hormones that temporarily calm the mind. Mantras are healthier than taking tranquilizers, but are fundamentally different from meditation, which relies on the purifying fire of self-observation. Self-observation is a difficult task that requires courage and an endurance of character and spirit. Real meditation has the real payoff of leading to a naturally calm and expanded state of consciousness, not just an artificially silenced mind that remains fundamentally shallow.

Sweeping House

This easy technique is designed to quickly sweep the clutter of thoughts from your mind. It is one of my favorite techniques, and I am continually amazed at how much it helps with so little effort. It can be used at the start of formal sitting meditation sessions, or you can continue repeating the method every ten minutes during the meditation session itself.

Begin by placing both hands behind your head. Rest your hands at the point where the neck and head meet. Then quickly sweep your hands over the top of your head. Imagine that your hands are gathering up all your thoughts as they move across the top of your skull. When your hands reach just below your forehead, use a flicking motion to throw your hands away from your face. Feel as if all of your thoughts are being swept out of your head and thrown out into empty space. Repeat this rapidly between ten and thirty times as needed. While accomplishing the sweeping motion, feel that your center of consciousness is dropping down from your head to your hara center in your belly. Rest in your hara center as you continue to meditate.

What do you do while sitting?

The most basic approach to meditation is to relax, let go, and do nothing. Surrender to the moment and watch yourself as a silent witness. If thoughts come to mind, then observe the thoughts without adding to them by your active participation. Be a detached and passive observer and simply feel your most basic fundamental being. This inherently immense entity has been called "the ground of being."

The enlightened teacher J. Krishnamurti used the term "choiceless awareness" to describe his own meditation method. This means being conscious without the thought process choosing something smaller than your vast fundamental being to focus on. Consciousness is like a glass ball floating in the depth of space. Light and sensory input flows into the field of consciousness from all directions. When you think, you focus your attention on just one area of sensory input, or you create a thought from memory stored within the brain. With choiceless awareness, you are not thinking or remembering, just floating and letting sensory input flow through you from all directions without manipulating that input with the thought process. You live in the moment and become totally open. This openness attracts energy from all sides of the universe, which pushes you even higher.

Krishnamurti's choiceless awareness is the same "methodless method" that Zen monks call "mindfulness." Hindu yogis sometimes call it "one pointed vision." A more accurate term might be one object vision. This means that you observe yourself, the sky, the trees, and the entire universe as one object. You no longer see the world as a multitude of parts and disconnected events. Instead, you accurately perceive the observer and the observed as exactly the same thing, with no artificial wall of separation blocking the limits of consciousness. This singular entity becomes acutely aware of itself in all its vastness. The one cosmic being, as Krishnamurti said, is "beyond time" and is "untouched by thought." The revered sage Ramana Maharshi described it as "infinite" and "bigger than the human race."

Another useful method is to lend special awareness to the breathing process felt in the belly. Just behind and below your navel (belly button) lies the hara, which is felt as an ethereal ball of energy. The hara is a natural balancing point of your consciousness which can be thought of as the center of your being. Subjectively and poetically speaking, the hara is where man and universe meet. It is the gateway where we merge and become man-universe and universe-man. No one really knows what the hara actually is, but we can use it to our full advantage. Consciously developing a powerful hara center is the most important secret of meditation.

When your consciousness is centered in the hara instead of the head, your thinking process slows down and you can relax in the expanded world of being. Trying to stop distracting thoughts through will power alone leads to more thoughts and a self-defeating inner struggle. By transferring your center of awareness to the hara, thoughts gradually disappear on their own without inner conflict. That is why you see Buddha statues with a big belly. It is an esoteric message that the hara is the key to meditation.

Sit quietly and focus on your belly as it moves in and out as you breathe. Over time the hara point will become more noticeable as your meditation grows stronger. Sudden emergencies, such as near collisions on the highway, tend to activate the hara center. We often get a "gut reaction" from sudden danger. You can nourish the feeling of the hara by simply paying passive attention to it. This relaxed concentration is very close to doing nothing, yet it is still a subtle effort. Drinking herb tea or hot water before meditation sessions relaxes the gut and facilitates awareness of the hara. Overeating and consuming cold drinks tends to make hara awareness more difficult.

Here is a picture of Ramana Maharshi. If you look deeply into the photograph you can sense his hara point. Energy from all corners of the universe is flooding into his powerful hara center. Observe the look of sublime contentment on his face. Those interested in the phenomena of the hara may be amused by my unproven theory about the hara.

One can also concentrate on the heart center or the forehead center during formal meditation sessions. The forehead center may simply be the frontal lobes of the brain, which are known to become activated by meditation. I refuse to use the corny old "third eye" label. The hara, heart, and forehead center are all somehow connected, but I suggest you maintain healthy skepticism as to the old Asian explanations of exactly how they are connected. If you activate the heart or forehead center, the hara will automatically become energized.

The forehead center can be physically stimulated by gently rubbing the fingertips on the skull at a centerline spot just above the hairline. The forehead center internally feels like it is just behind the upper forehead, but I have found its most effective finger stimulation spot to be higher into the front of the hairline. If you use the full palm of the hand instead of just the fingertips, however, then placing the palm directly on the upper forehead seems to work best. This may vary from person to person as our skulls and exact brain locations are all a little different. I therefore suggest you experiment as you gain progress. Trying to stimulate the forehead center before you feel a great deal of inner energy is probably a waste of time. It is not the physical touch that does the work. It is the energy coming off the palm and fingers that reaches the target.

The Recliner Chair Method

Sitting for long periods of time in the traditional Asian cross legged position is uncomfortable for most Western students of meditation. This physical discomfort, which does nothing in itself to aid meditation, can be entirely eliminated through the use of a recliner chair. The Recliner Chair Method is the most healthful method of sitting as it avoids blocking vital blood circulation in the legs, yet has 100% of the benefits of sitting on the floor in the full lotus position with back held rigidly straight.

Every living cell in your body produces energy, and when you increase blood flow to your legs you increase the amount of energy produced by your leg muscles. This is significant because during meditation sessions you become acutely aware that your entire physical energy output is one unified phenomena. Using this method, students who cannot comfortably sit for twenty minutes on the floor are often able to sit for one full hour or even longer without back pain, numbness, or leg cramps. I highly recommend the Recliner Chair Method as the first choice sitting method for all Western students of meditation.

Contrary to popular belief, sitting with the back held rigidly straight does nothing to aid meditation. The energy that rises up the back during meditation sessions is like water in a garden hose. If you gently bend a hose into a mild arch, the flow of water will not be affected in any perceptible way. With the Recliner Chair Method, the back is held fairly straight in relationship to itself, but rests at an off-angle in relationship to the floor rather than exactly perpendicular to the floor as in the full lotus position.

In addition to our solid physical body that has weight and form, human beings have a second body of energy created by the active energy content of the total human nervous system. The electric like energy of the second body is constantly being washed out through our hands and feet. This energy loss can be stopped by locking the hands and feet together, creating a closed loop of energy that builds up over time. This conserved energy is needed to strengthen the second energy body and push us higher into meditation. The Recliner Chair Method is more effective than the full lotus position in recycling second body energy, and is therefore the fastest acting and most powerful sitting method available. [see explanation of the second energy body in The Realms of Consciousness]

With this method you sit in a recliner chair that is set to a medium reclined position. Shoes and socks should be removed for best results. If your feet get cold, drape a towel or light blanket over your feet to keep them warm. The bare soles of your feet should be pressed against each other and your legs relaxed, knees pointed out to the sides of the chair. Hands can be locked together, laying comfortably in your lap, or better yet, pressed against the center of your chest, one on top of the other over the center of your emotional heart. By using this technique, energy that is normally washed out through your hands is channeled directly into your heart center, which fortifies both your heart center and your hara (belly center) simultaneously, as all of your centers are connected. The exact internal wiring of your centers and their electrochemical relationships to corresponding nerve bundles in the brain are not currently understood. Fortunately, you do not have to scientifically understand the phenomena of internal psychic centers to enjoy their benefits.

The Recliner Chair Method can be used in conjunction with any of the sitting meditation techniques described on this web page, and usually eliminates the need for the sit-stand method mentioned earlier. On occasion, I have had such intense meditation sessions using this technique that I lost track of time and meditated for two hours straight without the slightest physical discomfort. At the end of the session I easily stood up, with no numbness, soreness, or physical discomfort of any kind.

The Sit-Stand Method

Another defense against sleepiness is to break up your formal meditation into three fifteen minute sessions that are easy for your body to tolerate. Sit in quiet meditation for fifteen minutes. Then stand for two minutes. Then sit for another fifteen minutes. Then stand for two minutes. Then sit for a final fifteen minute session. This forty-nine minute technique can be done once, twice, or three times a day for intense practice. You can time yourself by making a tape recording with the sound of a bell or a gong to let you known when to stand up, sit down, and begin and end meditation sessions.

The sit-stand method largely eliminates the problem of cramps, soreness, and numbness in legs often experienced by students attempting to sit for longer periods of time than the body was naturally made to sit. The standing breaks increase blood circulation which helps wakefulness. Comfort is maintained and we avoid the light sleep state hypnosis problem mentioned earlier.

The transitions between sitting and standing in this method are an opportunity to practice meditation in action. Normally, unless we are physically ill, our waking lives are spent in motion and activity. Meditation must not be thought of as something that is only done in a physically rigid state, far removed from the world of work and play. The goal is to become meditative continuously, so that your very being becomes cosmically conscious permanently and irrevocably. When you stand up and sit down during meditation sessions, feel the inner flow of meditation continue. Observe that your body is moving, but your basic existential identity remains the same

Sitting Meditation

Classic sitting meditation is a vital part of all meditation traditions and has taken many forms, some more effective than others. Some traditional approaches demand that the student sit motionless for hours on end, as if becoming a frozen human statue is the key to enlightenment. A more scientific approach does not make the human body our enemy, but rather works with our natural physiology to allow more intense meditation with less effort and discomfort. Masochism is not an effective path to self-realization.

Begin by finding a relatively quiet place to meditate where you will not be disturbed. All forms of classic sitting meditation should be done in silence, with no background music. You can sit cross legged Asian style on a meditation pillow on the floor, or use the Recliner Chair Method described below. Eyes may be fully open, half open, or slightly open, letting in just two small slits of light. Meditating with eyes fully closed is fine as long as the room remains brightly lit, so that enough light passes through the eyelids to keep your brain alert. I use a powerful 500 watt halogen torchiere lamp to illuminate my meditation room, and this lamp projects a pleasing yellow-orange glow on my closed eyelids.

Meditating in a darkened room presents fundamental physiological problems. When you sit quietly with your eyes closed in darkness, your brain interprets this situation as a signal to start shutting itself down for sleep. Sleep inducing hormones such as melatonin are released at the same time your heart rate and circulation are reduced due to lack of movement. You feel swept away on a sea of quiet relaxation. This pleasant experience may be light sleep state hypnosis, not meditation at all, and thus does you little more good than taking a nap. Meditation means that you are relaxed as if sleeping, but your consciousness is fully and intensely awake. Therefore, if you meditate with your eyes closed, the room must remain brightly lit, so that a significant amount of light passes through the eyelids.

The Sit-Stand Method

Why meditate?

Meditation brings a sense of fullness and completion, and is the only permanent source of tranquility available to human beings. All other forms of serenity are temporary and dissolve into conflict and chaos over time. The euphoria of drugs quickly lead to misery and self-destruction. The wholesomeness of love, so beautiful and ethereal, is a relatively short lived and fleeting experience. As J. Krishnamurti said, meditation brings order and "That order is the order of the universe. It is irrevocable and doesn't depend on anything." Meditation is the eternal essence of nature taking on conscious form within the mortal human frame.

Meditation is an adventure of self-discovery. How can you live without knowing who or what you are? If someone asks you who you are during the day, you may state your name, as if a temporary label actually means something important. Ask yourself who you are when you are in deep sleep, unconscious, and without even a dream to prove that you exist at all. Ask yourself who you were ten months before you were born, and who you will be just one moment after your body dies. Meditation increases awareness of the natural phenomena that is actually going on behind your own eyes. Self-knowledge has intrinsic value, even without the indescribable bliss nature generously unleashes in those who practice meditation with sincerity and patience.

What is Meditation?

Most dictionaries define the Western (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) meaning of the word 'meditation,' but usually do not describe the Eastern (Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist) concept of meditation. The most appropriate dictionary definition I could find reads as follows. "If you meditate, you give your attention to one thing, and do not think about anything else, usually as a religious activity or as way of calming or relaxing your mind." This definition implies that meditation means thinking about something, be it religious or mystical in nature, and that a constant thought process goes on while one meditates. The purest Eastern definition of the word 'meditation' means not thinking at all, but rather focusing consciousness on the cosmic whole, "the all and the everything," as George Gurdjieff called it, without thought, judgment, or distraction.

We can define 'meditation' as the art of consciousness becoming aware of itself on the grand and cosmic scale. Meditation cannot be called a science as yet, because science requires objective testing with objectively proven methods and results. Meditation is on the road to becoming a real science, however, and not just an intuitive art veiled in mystery. [see brain scans prove meditation changes the brain]

Meditation in Islam

Meditation in Islam is the core of Muslim mystical traditions (in particular Sufism). Meditative quiescence is believed to have a quality of healing and creativity.[18] The Muslim prophet Muhammad, whose deeds devout Muslims follow, spent long periods in meditation and contemplation. It was during one such period of meditation that Muhammad began to receive revelations of the Qur'an.

There are two concepts or schools of meditation in Islam:

Tafakkur and Tadabbur, literally meaning reflection upon the universe. Muslims feel this is a form of intellectual development which emanates from a higher level, i.e. from God. This intellectual process through the receiving of divine inspiration awakens and liberates the human mind, permitting man’s inner personality to develop and grow so that he may lead his life on a spiritual plane far above the mundane level. This is consistent with the global teachings of Islam, which views life as a test of our practice of submission to Allah, the one God.
The second form of meditation is the Sufi meditation, it is largely based on mystical exercises. However, this method is controversial among Muslim scholars. One group of Ulama, Al-Ghazzali, for instance, have accepted it, another group of Ulama, Ibn Taymiya, for instance, have rejected it as a bid'ah (Arabic: بدعة‎) (religious innovation).
Sufism relies on a practice similar to Buddhist meditation, known as Muraqaba or Tamarkoz which is taught in the Oveyssi-Shahmaghsoudi Sufi order. Tamarkoz is a Persian term that means ‘concentration,’ referring to the “concentration of abilities”. Consequently, the term concentration is synonymous to close attention, convergent, collection, compaction, and consolidation.

Muslims meditate during the second stage of Hajj at "Mount Mercy", from noon to sunset

Christian Meditation

Christian traditions have various practices which can be identified as forms of "meditation." Monastic traditions are the basis for many of these practices. Practices such as the rosary, the Adoration (focusing on the eucharist) in Catholicism or the hesychast tradition in Eastern Orthodoxy, may be compared to forms of Eastern meditation that focus on an individual object. Christian meditation is considered a form of prayer. Meditation is distinguished from contemplation in that the latter involves use of the intellect, focussing on the divine mysteries. Hesychastic practice, involves recitation of the Jesus Prayer, thus "through the grace of God and one's own effort, to concentrate the nous in the heart." Prayer as a form of meditation of the heart is described in the Philokalia—a practice that leads towards Theosis which ignores the senses and results in inner stillness.

In 1975, the Benedictine monk, John Main introduced a form of meditation based on recitation of a prayer-phrase. The World Community for Christian Meditation was founded in 1991 to continue Main's work, which the Community describes as: "teaching Christian meditation as part of the great work of our time of restoring the contemplative dimension of Christian faith in the life of the church."

The Old Testament book of Joshua sets out a form of meditation based on scriptures: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it, then you will be prosperous and successful" (Joshua 1:8). This is one of the reasons why bible verse memory is a practice among many evangelical Christians

ENERGY HEALING MEDITATION

In this simple healing meditation, you send the powerful healing Life Force directly to the area in need of help. This Life Force is the energy behind all healing. Wherever this energy is flowing and in balance, there is health and well being. Wherever this energy is blocked or out of balance, illness manifests.

Steps of Energy Healing Meditation
1. Sit reasonably straight and close your eyes.
2. Breath slowly, as silently as possible. (Holding your breath after inhaling or exhaling is not recommended.)

3. As you inhale, feel yourself breathing the healing Life Force in through your solar plexus. Picture this Life Force as a very refined, light energy.


4. As you exhale, gently direct this light energy to the afflicted area. If there is not a specific ailing area, disperse this light energy throughout your body as you exhale.
5. Continue until you feel the area has received enough Life Force.

MINDFULNESS MEDITATION

The following meditation is said to be the meditation taught by Gautama Buddha about 2500 years ago. The primary focus is your breathing. However, the primary goal is maintaining a calm, non-judging awareness, allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without getting enmeshed in them. This calm, accepting, spacious awareness is your Core Self... your Essence.

Steps of Mindfulness Meditation



Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.

Direct your attention to your breathing.

When thoughts, emotions, physical feelings or external sounds occur, simply accept them, giving them the space to come and go without judging or getting involved with them.

When you notice that your attention has drifted off and become engaged in thoughts or feelings, simply bring it back to your breathing and continue.

Remember... it's ok and natural for thoughts to arise, and for your attention to follow them. No matter how many times this happens, just keep bringing your attention back to your breathing.
Benefits of this meditation:



Maintaining your calm inner awareness, balance & clarity in the midst of any situation.
A gradual shift to a higher level of consciousness... centered in the peace, joy & freedom of your Spirit.
Increased insight & clarity... seeing things truly, as they are.
Stress reduction.

INNER LIGHT MEDITATION

This is a meditation for connecting you with your Inner Spirit.... your essence or core Self. It uses the light that is already within you as an object of focus. It's a fairly simple meditation, but is quite powerful, and potentially very deep.

Steps of Inner Light Meditation

Sit comfortably with your eyes closed.


Look at the "screen" that fills the space behind your closed eyelids.

There will be particles, images, or patterns of light on this screen. (Consider anything that is not pure darkness to be a form of light.) Gently focus your attention on the light.

Don't try to create or interpret images. Don't attempt to focus clearly. Simply look at the light with relaxed attention.

If you feel as though your consciousness is shifting, or you are slipping into a dreamlike state, allow it to happen. Whatever you experience is ok.

If you find you have drifted off into your thoughts, simply bring your attention back to the light.
Benefits of this meditation:



Direct experience of your calm, unbounded Inner Spirit.
Connecting with your Inner Spirit taps a wellspring of spiritual energy. This energy nourishes & enhances all levels of life... physical, emotional, mental & spiritual.
When connected with your Inner Spirit, life flows more effortlessly, & you begin to perceive the world as a more supportive, enjoyable place.
Regular contact with your Inner Spirit catalyzes a gradual shift to a higher level of consciousness... centered in the peace, joy, & freedom of your Spirit.
Relaxation and stress reduction.
Increased flow of fuel to the brain.
Gradual opening of the 6th chakra - the Inner Eye - giving clear insight & inner vision.


For a diagram & explanation of chakras, go to the Glossary Room. Go to the Spirituality & Alternative Healing Art Gallery to view some inspired & uplifting visual renditions of the Inner Light.

UNIVERSAL MANTRA MEDITATION

The following meditation comes from an ancient Indian text called the Malini Vijaya Tantra, which dates back about 5000 years. It is a very easy meditation, yet very powerful in its capacity to quiet your mind and connect you with your Essence or Inner Spirit.

This meditation uses a mantra as your object of focus. A mantra is a word or phrase that has the power to catalyze a shift into deeper, more peaceful states of awareness. The mantra we will be using for this meditation is: Aum. Aum does not have a literal translation. Rather, it is the essential vibration of the universe. If you were to tune into the actual sound of the cosmos, the perpetual sound of Aummm is what you would hear.

Although this mantra is sometimes chanted aloud, in this meditation, you will be repeating the mantra mentally... silently. Before we get to the actual steps, there are a few important points to be aware of.

* One of the keys to this meditation is repeating the mantra gently or faintly in your mind.

* The power of this technique comes from letting go and allowing your attention to dive into the deeper realms of awareness. Therefore, even though you will be focussing on the mantra, staying focussed on the mantra is not the aim of this meditation. Trying too hard to stay focussed would keep your attention from descending into the deeper realms. Instead, you will be repeating the mantra with "minimal effort", and giving your mind the space to wander a bit.

* I suggest that you resist the temptation to make something happen, and allow the mantra to do the work.


Steps of Universal Mantra Meditation



Sit comfortably, with your eyes closed and your spine reasonably straight.

Begin repeating the mantra gently in your mind.

Repeat the mantra at whatever tempo feels most natural. There is no need to synchronize the mantra with your breathing, but if this occurs naturally, it's ok.

Allow the mantra to arise more faintly in your mind... repeating it with minimal effort.

Continue repeating the mantra faintly, and allow for whatever happens.

If at any time, you feel that you are slipping into a sleep-like or dream-like state, allow it to happen.

If and when you notice that your attention has drifted completely off the mantra, gently begin repeating it again, and continue with minimal effort.

After 10 or 15 minutes, stop repeating the mantra, and come out of your meditation slowly.


Benefits of this meditation:



*Easily produces a shift into deeper, more peaceful states of awareness. (The degree of this will vary from session to session.)
*Increases the flow of energy to the brain.
*Clears away a good deal of physical/emotional toxins. Because of this detoxification, it is best to keep this meditation to 10 or 15 minutes a day when first beginning. After a month or so, it can be increased to 20 minutes, but that should be the maximum for anyone who does not have quite a few years of meditation experience. Also, it is advisable to drink a lot of pure water. (See point 6 about detoxification on this page: 8 Important Points for Making Meditation Easy
Accelerates spiritual growth.

www.meditationcenter.com

Sanctuari Meditation

If you have an entire room to yourself, make it your own.
Put a comfy chair by the window. Have a table or stand nearby. Choose favorite objects or pictures of places you love and put them on your table. Try to have a plant, fishbowl (something alive), candle and books available too. Most importantly, these things should be items important to you.

I like having something to hold during my meditations. I use stones or serenity beads. I light a candle- usually read a paragraph or two from a current favorite book on spirituality and I'm ready for my meditation.

My altar is on a dresser that I pass a hundred time s a day. There I keep a silk heart shaped pin cushion, some porcelain hand vases (I collect hands -- they are very spiritual to me), a candle and an orchid plant. I pause at my altar each morning and again during the day.

I touch the objects and truly feel I'm connecting with my soul as I acknowledge these meaningful objects that I love. I also have altar outside. I love to be there especially when it is warm and sunny. My outdoor altar is really odd, but I love it! It's a small shell shaped bird feeder on a stake in the middle of a small garden. I try to keep it filled with bird seed for the birds; that’s part of the ritual. Empty or full though, I pause there too. Again, connecting with my spirit and soul.

As you can see, creating these sanctuaries and altars can be simple- in fact they should be simple. As I find myself attracted, by divine intervention. to new things, I add them to my spaces. I suddenly have all new collections with special meaning to me.

So, whether you are well on your way on your spiritual path or only beginning, it is a good idea to create a private space for yourself where you can derive an immediate sense of peace.

When you enter this room or approach the altar you've prepared your whole body and soul will respond to it and be more ready for the meditation time you give yourself.

If, during your busy day, you need to reconnect with your inner peace just a walk by or a glance at your sanctuary will give you the connection needed until you have more time for yourself.

I highly recommend creating this private sanctuary as soon as you can. It will change and evolve as you do. Be ready to surprise yourself and have fun while you're at it. Give yourself this gift of space and objects!

Let me know what happens.

from www.learning meditation.com

Find Your Guide Meditation

Allow your body to gently relax. Move yourself around on your chair until you feel perfectly comfortable.
Now I want you to move your attention DOWN from your head to your chin and DOWN from your chin to your throat and DOWN from your throat to your chest. DOWN, DOWN to your stomach.

Now move down into that safe place deep within yourself, that place which is just below your navel. This is your sacred sanctuary, a place that only you know about.

From that place, I want you to move into the hallway in your mind. Along the hallway are many doors. One particular door is of golden light. You feel drawn by that door and you move through the door of light into a place of peace, comfort and protection.

Once through the door, you find yourself on a path through the woods. As you move along the path, you faintly hear the sound of water. Birds sing in the trees. The sunlight filters through the canopy of deep, green trees overhead. A warm, gentle breeze caresses your face and blows lightly through your hair. You feel as if you are being kissed by God. The smell of the forest and of wild flowers surrounds you, bathing you in an essence so sweet and so wild that your senses are reeling.

You come to a body of water. Because it is part of the enchanted forest, this water is pure, clean and clear. It is cool and inviting. You sit on the edge of the bank and dip your cup into the sacred water and you drink. You are comforted and refreshed.

You arise and continue moving on your path through these wondrous woods. Soon you come to a clearing in the trees. The clearing is surrounded by stately oaks, their branches extended to protect you. The color of the wild flowers stands out strong against the greens of the grasses and the brown-black of the tree barks. You breathe deeply of the sweet air. You know this place… you've been here before. Maybe in your dreams or maybe in life - it doesn't matter. You just know that it is your haven.

There is wonderful, soft green grass growing here and it invites you to sit down and rest. Now you begin to hear in the distance other-worldly music, Tibetan bells… flute music… soft chanting… You listen carefully, as you feel drawn to the music.

You look up and see purple mountains in the distance. As you look, a tiny golden Light appears. It draws closer and closer to you. It floats gently up the path toward your little sanctuary. Its light is soft and gentle. Yet it shines with a brilliance you have never seen.

As it reaches the outer edge of your sanctuary, it stops and becomes a large pulsating crystalline light. You watch. You wait. You give the light permission to enter your space.

The light draws forward and hovers just before you. The Light shimmers. Soft strands of gold stream forth like a flower blossoming. As each petal of this light unfolds, you see that something or someone is inside.

Then you see before you a wondrous being that you recognize as your spirit guide. You know it is your spirit guide because you feel a strong surging of love pouring out from it to you and you feel, deep in your heart, a strong answering outpouring of love from you to it. You feel completely safe with this being. It may or may not tell you its name, but it calls you by your name.

Spirit Guides will take any form that you need to understand right now. It can be in the form of a human, an animal, an object or some divine form. See it! imagine it! Know it is real!

What form is your spirit guide in? What shape is it? If it is human, is it male or female? What does it smell like? What color is it? What does it feel like?

Begin to carry on a conversation with this wondrous being. Ask its name. What is its purpose? Why has it come to you?

Let this being communicate itself to you and tell you why it is working with you. Ask it for its help and guidance. Ask your guide what you need to know about your life at this time. Tell your guide anything that is disturbing to you at this time. Ask it how best to call upon it in the future.

Ask it to let you know it is there, consciously, within the next few days, whenever you need help.

When you feel finished, thank your guide for the opportunity to meet and work with it.

As the golden light folds back up around your guide, send it off with your best thoughts and love. As it withdraws from your space, moving back up the path, you sit back down in your spot. You understand that in this inner sanctuary you invite any and all of your guides into your awareness.

This is exciting and you are fascinated with your experience, your experience of expanding your horizons. You breathe deeply, relaxing and reliving in your mind, what has happened. BREATHE.

As you do so, the path and the woods begin to fade and you find yourself gently coming back to the present… to this room, this time and this place. When you are ready, be sure to drink some water and maybe eat a slice of bread to ground yourself.

Right now, it would be helpful to you if you wrote down all you have experienced, exactly as it happened.

Bless you.

From www.learningmeditation.com

Intuition Meditation

Sit in a quite place. Make sure you are comfortable. Place both feet on the ground and begin to mentally prepare for you meditation.
Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breathing. Always focus on each breath. If you become distracted return to the breathing. Take a few minutes of this breathing relaxation to prepare for your mindful meditation.

Inhale…

Exhale...

Relax deeper into your chair. Think of nothing but breathing.

Picture in your mind a walkway. It is narrow and enclosed by blank, clean walls. Walk down this pathway until you come to an opening. It may be a door, or a gate, or a just a break in the wall. Go through the opening and find yourself in a deep, quiet, safe open space. It may feel like a forest or a cave or an valley. Whatever it seems to you, it is safe. It is safe for you to sit down and wait.

The place you have chosen is very quiet. It is all yours. There is no one else aware of your place. No one expects anything from you. Allow yourself to sit quietly as long as you like.

When you are ready become aware of another presence nearing you. It is of you, and brings various messages. Whatever you have been seeking, this presence is aware of and has a feeling to share with you. It has an essence to give you that will make you aware of the answers to your own questions.

Ask it any question you may have. Ask it to please answer you in whatever way it is able. Ask it for help, then wait. An answer will come. You will feel the answer inside yourself. Another presence may join you. Ask for additional information or ask for new feelings to answer another question. The answers will come to you.

Always know you are safe with each question, each answer, each presence. Stay with your thoughts in this place until you are ready to return. You will feel in touch with this inner messenger and you will trust the answers that came to you.

Know that you can return here any time. You may come back for new answers or to reaffirm the feelings you have just received. Thank those that came to you this day. Acknowledge the feelings that are part of you. Hold dear your sense of instinct and intuition. They are the conscious source of this intuition. Allow them to become part of your life.

Get ready to leave this place you created. It is your sacred place now and you will return often to gather more information for your life.

Walk back through the opening, back down the long pathway. You may be moving slightly more quickly now, Anxious to awaken with your new sense of yourself, anxious to see how this will become part of your life. Your breathing may become quicker. Notice your breathing. Pause a moment and open your eyes

From learningmeditation.com

Healing Meditation

Find a comfortable space, either sit or lie in a relaxed position. As you become settled, begin to focus on your breath.
Inhale, then exhale at a comfortable pace – an even breath.

Close your eyes.

Continue your rhythmic breathing. If you become distracted refocus on your breath.

As you sink into comfort and relaxation, see yourself basking in a waterfall of sunlight and crystal eldar water.

As the sun and water cascade over your body you absorb the healing oxygen carried within your blood vessels though your whole system.

The oxygen heals and releases the holding contraction of each muscle. Each muscle becomes taffy… soft and pliable.

All tension gives way to relaxation. The cascade of sunshine reminds you of the source of all energy.

Your whole being sings with release and renewal as the source refuels and fortifies your body and spirit.

In healing all is possible. As you heal your spirit and body your gifts to the universe emerge.

Your loving compassion explodes for sharing with your fellow travelers. As you heal yourself you heal all who cross your path. Your connection to others heals as you move to your new level of evolution.

You are the incarnation of universal healing. It begins with you.

The healing vision of cascading sunshine and water is yours whenever you want it to be. Come back to this space whenever you want to, know that this space is always available even for a moment.

Be aware once again of your breath.

Inhale… exhale as your re-enter the space around you. Open your eyes and carry your renewed energy to all with whom you come in contact.

From www.learningmeditation.com

Authentic Self Meditation

We are ready now for a period of relaxation.
Move your body so it can be in a comfortable position with your spine straight, your palms facing up, and your feet flat on the floor.

Slowly close your eyes and start to breathe slowly, deeply and rhythmically.

Take a moment to get settled.

Continue to breathe deeply as you proceed with your meditation.

I will help you attain a relaxation level where you will be mentally awake, but your body will be comfortably asleep. Count from one to ten. Remember, the higher the number the more deeply relaxed you become.

One…
Two…
Three…
Four… feel the sounds and energy in your body.
Five…
Six…
Seven… the boundaries of your body are gently disappearing.
Eight…
Nine…
Ten…

Your mind is awake and your physical body asleep.

Your mind has expanded beyond the boundaries of your body, free from physical tension and constraints where you can experience profound insights and life-transforming breakthroughs.

Imagine a place where you feel peaceful and truly yourself. Use all your senses.

My place of peace is in a meadow by a running brook, flowers are all around. Red rock formations are in the background, birds are singing. The sound of water splashing on the rocks, the smell of spring flowers. There is a slight breeze on my face. What do you see? What colors are there? What do you smell? What sounds do you hear? What do you feel touching you? What emotions do you feel? Feel the vibe, the peace that is here. Make it as real as possible.

And in this place of peace, imagine that coming toward you is YOU at your fullest potential. Use all of your senses. What are you really like? What qualities do you have within that reflect themselves to you now? What do you look like? Can you list the qualities of your fullest potential, the love and intelligence that you are? Can you feel the power, the goodness and the gift of life that you bring? Can you see this potential unfolding in everything you’ve learned so far? Do you see the mission and the courage and the path you are taking? Get a sense of it for a minute. Tune in. Can you talk to your full potential self? Can you get the message? Does your full potential self have a particular message for you now? How are you doing in your life?

You’ll find that you can come back anytime you want to enjoy the peace of this place and commune with your full potential self. As we count down from ten to one you will be aware of an inner calm, a profound connection to your true self. You will retain an inner knowing of who you are as you live your daily life. Count from ten down to one. When we reach one you will be wide awake both physically and mentally, rested, relaxed and alert.

Ten…
Nine…
Eight…
Seven… You’ll be wide awake and rested when we reach the count of one.
Six…
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…

You are wide awake and alert.

From www.learningmeditation.com

Peace and Serenity Meditation

Pick a quiet place. It would be nice if it was a nice sunny place. Sit quietly with both feet on the ground and relax. Close your eyes and think of a place you find very beautiful. Allow yourself to almost smile as you picture this place in your mind.
While still picturing your beautiful place, begin to be aware of your breathing.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Keeping the picture in your mind, relax more deeply, still aware of your breathing. Begin to walk into the place you have pictured. Walk until you’ve come upon a place you’d like to stop and sit down. Imagine yourself sitting in this place of beauty.

Begin to notice the area around you. It is what makes your place so lovely to you. Each detail adds to the picture of beauty in your mind. You are part of this beauty. Sit still and feel the peace. The peace of being part of so much beauty. Allow your mind to think about how right it is that there be so much beauty and peace in your world and that you fit into this picture you have created in your mind.

Keep breathing,

With each breath, relax deeper into this scene with you in it. Feel the calm serenity for as long as you like.

When you know it is time to leave this place, rise and begin to walk back. Allow your breathing to bring you back. Gently take a few deep breaths. Pause a moment. Remember one last time that you can return to this place any time you want. It may only be for a moment, but it will remind you of the sense of peace that is yours.

Open your eyes.

Feel the goodness of the meditation for a few moments.

You are ready for the rest of your day.

from www.learningmeditation.com
 

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