Why You Need to Meditate

The side effects of meditation are positive and countless. Studies have demonstrated that those who meditate on a regular basis have reduced illness, stress, and need for rest.

But one of the most compelling reasons to meditate is that the process of meditation itself is sublime. Meditation is not dependent upon the result, but the act of meditation itself is a blissful one, transporting one to a state of contentment and tranquil awareness during the training of meditation itself, not just at the end of training. Actually, because the means equals the end, the training has no beginning and never ends.

All of us in modern times experience a constant onslaught of stress. We are bombarded by uninvited energies in the form of such things as television, noise pollution, arguments, and angry or envious people. In order to counteract this enormously overwhelming force of negativity and distress, we need a superior power, gathered within ourselves; and meditation connects us to this internal reservoir of cleansing, enlightening energy.

In former times, nature surrounded people in their daily routines and rituals of existence. There were no artificial sound vibrations from telephones or machinery; there were no stresses and diseases resulting from urban industrial complexities. There was the sound of water, the hum of the wind, the beauty of the stars in the sky, and the scent of the earth. There were natural tempos in every aspect of life, as people planted seeds, nurtured them into foodstuffs, and as they observed the cycles of nature they felt a connection to them. Nowadays we can live our entire lifespan without ever contacting nature in a direct way. We live in artificially controlled climates, we gather food from fast food restaurants or from stores where it is packaged in a factory; we invite a total divorce of ourselves from our natural origins and our organic, original pace of life.

Meditation allows us an easy, convenient, portable method to enter into those lost natural rhythms and aesthetics, by closing out the world around us, letting go of our bodies, and clearing the mind of all the artificial stress it gathers knowingly or unknowingly during the course of lives.

Meditation costs nothing, it has no harmful side affects, and it won’t add calories or cholesterol to your body. Nor is it addictive in the sense of drugs and alcohol. But it does provide practitioners with an elevated sense of well-being, often compared to a natural “high” more powerful than those induced by drugs, and this component of meditation is one that can be fully embraced for positive, healthy benefits.

The human body is a complex creation, and in the brain the body naturally produces drugs that are hundreds of times more powerful than pharmaceutical narcotics. As one meditates, the body secretes mysterious hormones and chemicals that actually provide an incredible rush of energy and happiness, and this is only one of the amazing side effects of meditation practice.

Meditation is different things to different people. Some use it in place of, or in addition to, psychotherapy. Others find it most valuable as a tool to enhance sports or work performance, and to increase the memory and other mental functions. Some people rely upon it to help them deal with grief or the aftermath of trauma or tragedy, and to regain a contentment and appreciation for life’s beauties. And there are those who use meditation as a creative tool to inspire them in the arts. Meditation gives us stronger and more sustainable vigor, sexual energy, and calm, as it provides a restfulness that is comparable to deep, exceptionally restful sleep.

There are countless reasons to meditate, and one way to make the world a better and more peaceful and harmonious place, is for all of us to dedicate some time out of our stressful lives to pause and drink from the mental oasis of meditation practice.


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Why Try Meditating Outside?

Meditating outdoors? Does it really matter where you meditate? I think it can. For some of us, being outside makes for not just a different meditation experience, but a more profound one. There are some good reasons for this.

perhaps meditating in a quiet room with no sounds and nothing to distract is the easiest way, especially for beginners. It's hard enough to quiet your mind without constant input from your surroundings. On the other hand, life is constant input, so if you want the peacefulness that comes from meditation to enter your life beyond your practice, perhaps learning to meditate despite surrounding sounds and movement is just what you need.

<b>Meditating Outdoors</b>

There's a high bank on a river where I lived years ago. It was a five-minute walk from the house. There's a level grassy spot at the top, looking down on the water fifty feet below. That is where I would go to sit. Often there was a breeze I could feel on my skin and hear in the surrounding trees. I also heard the water as it strained through some dead trees near the river bank. I smelled the dirt around me, and the odor of fish coming up from the water.

Meditating there wasn't only pleasurable because of the environment, but also different from meditating in the silence of my home. There was more of a sense of experiencing the world without thought, without over-analyzing. Why? Perhaps simply because there was more to experience. There were the sounds, which included birds, and the occasional splashing of some animal in the river. There were things to smell and the feel of the grass.

I usually close my eyes when I meditate, because I am a very visually-oriented person, and find it easier to meditate this way. When I finished my meditation by the river, I would open my eyes, of course, but what I saw was always different from what was there when I started. Of course it was the same, but I was seeing it differently, as if for the first time. While difficult to explain, this is easy to recognize if you have had the experience.

It's wonderful to look around as if seeing for the first time. You are seeing without preconception. I might see a deer on the opposite bank of the river, but the thought "deer" wouldn't cross my mind, meaning it wouldn't cloud my vision with any ideas about what a deer is or should be. The sounds and sensations were also "new." I think this more direct experience of life is a profound demonstration of how much we normally "live" through our thoughts, somewhat detached from reality.

If you haven't already tried it, why not get outside for your next meditation? Sit on a hill or in front of a garden, or try standing in front of a lake or pond when you meditate. The view will be wonderful when you open your eyes. There is nothing quite like meditating outdoors.


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What is meditation - how to meditate

Meditation is a group of mental training techniques .You can use meditation to improve mental health and capacities, and also to help improve the physical health. Some of these techniques are very simple, so you can learn them from a book or an article; others require guidance by a qualified meditation teacher.


WHAT IS MEDITATION

Most techniques called meditation include these components:

1. You sit or lie in a relaxed position.
2. You breathe regularly. You breathe in deep enough to get enough oxygen. When you breathe out, you relax your muscles so that your lungs are well emptied, but without straining.
3. You stop thinking about everyday problems and matters.
4. You concentrate your thoughts upon some sound, some word you repeat, some image, some abstract concept or some feeling. Your whole attention should be pointed at the object you have chosen to concentrate upon.
5. If some foreign thoughts creep in, you just stop this foreign thought, and go back to the object of meditation.

The different meditation techniques differ according to the degree of concentration, and how foreign thoughts are handled. By some techniques, the objective is to concentrate so intensely that no foreign thoughts occur at all.

In other techniques, the concentration is more relaxed so that foreign thoughts easily pop up. When these foreign thoughts are discovered, one stops these and goes back to the pure meditation in a relaxed manner. Thoughts coming up, will often be about things you have forgotten or suppressed, and allow you to rediscover hidden memory material. This rediscovery will have a psychotherapeutic effect.


THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION

Meditation has the following effects:

1. Meditation will give you rest and recreation.
2. You learn to relax.
3. You learn to concentrate better on problem solving.
4. Meditation often has a good effect upon the blood pressure.
5. Meditation has beneficial effects upon inner body processes, like circulation, respiration and digestion.
6. Regular meditation will have a psychotherapeutically effect.
7. Regular meditation will facilitate the immune system.
8. Meditation is usually pleacent.


THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPNOSIS AND MEDITATION

Hypnosis may have some of the same relaxing and psychotherapeutic effects as meditation. However, when you meditate you are in control yourself; by hypnosis you let some other person or some mechanical device control you. Also hypnosis will not have a training effect upon the ability to concentrate.


A SIMPLE FORM OF MEDITATION

Here is a simple form of meditation:

1. Sit in a good chair in a comfortable position.
2. Relax all your muscles as well as you can.
3. Stop thinking about anything, or at least try not to think about anything.
4. Breath out, relaxing all the muscles in your breathing apparatus.
5. Repeat the following in 10 - 20 minutes:

-- Breath in so deep that you feel you get enough oxygen.
-- Breath out, relaxing your chest and diaphragm completely.
-- Every time you breathe out, think the word "one" or another simple word inside yourself. You should think the word in a prolonged manner, and so that you hear it inside you, but you should try to avoid using your mouth or voice.

6. If foreign thoughts come in, just stop these thoughts in a relaxed manner, and keep on concentrating upon the breathing and the word you repeat.

As you proceed through this meditation, you should feel steadily more relaxed in your mind and body, feel that you breathe steadily more effectively, and that the blood circulation throughout your body gets more efficient. You may also feel an increasing mental pleasure throughout the meditation.


THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION UPON DISEASES

As any kind of training, meditation may be exaggerated so that you get tired and worn out. Therefore you should not meditate so long or so concentrated that you feel tired or mentally emptied.

Meditation may sometimes give problems for people suffering from mental diseases, epilepsy, serious heart problems or neurological diseases. On the other hand, meditation may be of help in the treatment of these and other conditions.

People suffering from such conditions should check out what effects the different kinds of meditation have on their own kind of health problems, before beginning to practise meditation, and be cautious if they choose to begin to meditate. It may be wise to learn meditation from an experienced teacher, psychologist or health worker that use meditation as a treatment module for the actual disease.


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Transcendental Meditation

Since 1958, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has trained more than 40,000 teachers in the practice of Transcendental Meditation or TM. These teachers have taught more than six million people worldwide this simple, natural procedure which allows its practitioners to gain deep rest and contact their inner reservoir of creativity, energy and intelligence. This information comes from the official Transcendental Meditation website at www.tm.org.

What happens during meditation

During the practice of TM, the mind and body experience a unique state of restful alertness. As the mind becomes more silent, the body becomes deeply relaxed. At the most settled state of awareness, the mind transcends all mental activity to experience the simplest form of awareness, Transcendental Consciousness. Hundreds of scientific studies have shown that experiencing this state correlates with greater creativity, improved learning, higher IQ, better grades, higher moral reasoning, increased brain wave coherence and improved neurological functioning of the body.

Practicing TM helps develops increased energy, creativity and intelligence. This in turn helps awaken the unlimited potential of the meditator's mind and body. The result is that those who practice TM enjoy greater health, happiness and success in all aspects of life.

How to meditate

Anyone can learn how to meditate. No special lessons, books or equipment are required. People of all ages, cultures and educational backgrounds can practice TM.

TM is an easy and enjoyable experience that takes only 20 minutes twice a day. You can do it alone or with others in a group. Pick a time and place where you will not be disturbed. Then just sit comfortably with your eyes closed. No effort, no concentration, no special skills nor change of lifestyle are required. Thoughts will enter and leave your mind as you meditate. Attend to them or not as you choose.

People can benefit from TM even if they don't believe it will work. Try meditating regularly for 20 minutes twice a day and you will start to see results in the form of improvements in your life.

Back in the 1960's when TM first became popular in the United States, practitioners were known to chant "OM" or another single syllable sound while they meditated. This is no longer considered necessary, though it can be done if desired. Most people now meditate silently.

The benefits of TM

Practitioners of transcendental meditation start noticing positive changes in their lives within a few days or weeks after they start meditating. These benefits include clearer thinking, improved memory, enhanced creativity and sharper intellect. These changes can enable people to achieve more in their work by becoming more creative and effective without having to work harder. Other people have said they feel healthier, more rested and relaxed, and have increased immunity to disease, reduction of aging effects and greater energy and vitality after starting to meditate.

TM can even help in relationships with others. It can help you enjoy closer friendships, become calmer and more self-confident and feel less anxious and stressed out. By radiating this increased harmony and lack of stress to the outside world, TM may even contribute to world peace.

The Maharishi teaches that by practicing Transcendental Meditation regularly, you can choose what you want to be and begin to achieve that goal. Why not try practicing TM now and see how your life improves?

Tags: transcendental meditation, TM, meditation

The Shaolin Workout - Harmony

The following is an excerpt from the book The Shaolin Workout
by Sifu Shi Yan Ming
Published by Rodale; May 2006;$29.95US/$39.95CAN; 1-59486-400-4
Copyright ฉ 2006 Sifu Shi Yan Ming

My heart is in harmony with my mind. My mind is in harmony with my chi. My chi is in harmony with my power.

There are intrinsic harmonies between certain parts of the body. Your hands are in harmony with your feet. Your elbows are in harmony with your knees. And your shoulders are in harmony with your hips. As you continue to train the warrior's way, you will begin to find all the muscles and joints in your body working in harmony, giving you a strength and endurance you've probably never felt before. The Shaolin Workout trains your body from head to toe. No single muscle or limb can be anywhere near as strong as when all your muscles work together.

These physical harmonies reflect spiritual and mental harmonies: Your heart is in harmony with your mind. Your mind is in harmony with your chi. Your chi is in harmony with your power.

These are inseparable relationships. You can't separate your heart from your mind, or your mind from your body. The physical and the mental are linked. When your body is weak and tired, so is your mind. When your body falls asleep, your mind stops working, too. And by the same token, if you exhaust your mind, your body will be exhausted, too. If you're thinking and worrying so much at night that you can't rest, the next day your body will have no chi. You'll be doing your workout Sleeping Style!

That is why we relax both our bodies and our minds. We want flexible minds in flexible bodies.

If you find yourself getting stressed-out today -- at your desk at work, in a long line at the supermarket, wherever it is -- take a moment to relax. If your mind is stressed, your body tenses. You feel the muscles in your neck tighten, and your shoulders hunching. Your chest constricts, and you can't breathe right. You can give yourself a headache or stomachache.

When you're tense, you can't celebrate your beautiful life. Loosen up. Relax your body and your mind. Stand up from your desk and do your neck stretches and shoulder rotations. Or do them standing right there in that supermarket line. Who cares if other people are watching? Untense those muscles, and you'll relieve some of the mental stress as well. It's not magic or mumbo jumbo. It's your body and mind working in harmony. And now that you're relaxed, you'll see how much easier it is to get through the task at hand. A relaxed mind in a relaxed body allows the chi to flow and releases your power.

Try it today. You'll see.

Reprinted from: The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way by Sifu Shi Yan Ming ฉ 2006 Rodale Inc. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735 or visit their website at www.rodalestore.com.

Author
Sifu Shi Yan Ming, a 34th-generation Shaolin warrior monk, is respected not only in the martial arts world but also in the entertainment world by stars like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, and the Wu-Tang Clan. His kung fu classes have been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Entertainment Weekly. Brian Gray of Inside Kung Fu magazine has called him a "living treasure of China." He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel, MTV, and CNBC, among other major networks. Sifu Shi Yan Ming lives in New York City.


Tags: Meditation, mind, body, workout, king fu, shaolin, fitness, wellness, Buddhism, health

The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind

Scientists say that we only use 10% of our minds. Think about what I just said. We use only 10% of our minds! We are wasting the other 90%. Think of it this way….what if we only used 10% of our salary? Could we survive on 10% of our salary? No way, unless your Bill Gates. What about eating only 10% of the food we make? Wouldn't that be a waste of food? What if we slept only 10% of 8 hours or 80 minutes a day? Could we survive? What if we had only 10% of the oxygen that was available? Could we survive? The answer to all these questions is a resounding NO!

So why do we put up with using only 10% of our brain? Look at your life. Are you living the life you want….on your terms? Are you happy with what you've created or do you think it could be better? Chances are that you are living to only 10% of your abilities. What if you could make your life 100, 500, or 1,000% better? I can hear you now saying…"That's impossible" or "that's too hard to do." If you did say that, you're repeating the same pattern in your life, which is you are using only 10% of your brain or less.

If you're happy with using just the 10% of your brain then stop reading now. If you're not satisfied and want to be able to use the rest of it then keep reading. Think about the greatness you can achieve by using your entire mind. There have been a number of great teachers of using the mind, such as Napoleon Hill, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Maxwell Maltz and many others. These men knew the secret to using the power of your mind and how to tap into it.

I'm here to tell you that you currently posses the most powerful tool in the Universe….your SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. Your subconscious mind knows everything. It has all the answers if you just use it correctly. It can lead you to a life of harmony, wealth, health, joy and success! This is possible with all aspects of your life.

It's not your fault. You were never taught how to use your mind. The past is over and today can be a new start. It doesn't matter what happened before today, what matters is what happens from today on. You must believe in your subconscious mind and know that it can allow you to lead a life of joy and success.

Let's start off with a very simple procedure. Use your subconscious mind as an alarm clock. Before going to bed at night, tell it what time you want to get up. Let's say you want to wake up at 7:00am. Before going to bed, tell your subconscious mind to "wake me up at 7:00am" and while saying this visualize a clock that reads 7:00.

The first step in changing your life is to start making impressions on your subconscious mind. You can so this by making affirmations as well as thinking certain thoughts. For example, let's say you want to attract money in your life. You can simply repeat these words "I am wealth and success". Repeat these words several times a day. It's best to say them in the morning when you get up and right before you sleep. This is when your mind is in an alpha state. When saying them, make sure you really mean them and focus on the words. Don't feel it's a chore or else it will not do you any good. You can also say them while meditating.

This can work for anything. Make sure the affirmations are positive and not stating the negative. For example, if you want to quit smoking, don't say "I don't smoke". Instead say "My lungs are pure and healthy and I am cigarette free." "I am" are two of the most powerful words in the English language.

Also, it's very important to think positively, don't say to yourself, "I'm just never lucky" or "I'm just meant to be poor." Think the opposite, "I am lucky" or "Things always work out to my favor" and I am wealthy and successful." If you have trouble believing yourself when you say them then change them to become more believable. You can start small or say "I am becoming wealthy."

If you need help with a problem or are in a situation where you have to make a tough decision and don't know which is the best for you. Ask your subconscious mind for help. Let's say you are contemplating two separate job offers and you are having trouble deciding between the two. Ask your subconscious mind for help by asking it. You may say something like "Infinite wisdom of my subconscious mind, I ask for your help in deciding what is best between these two job offers, I ask for your help and guidance in making a decision that is best for me."

Be still and listen to your subconscious mind. Close your eyes if need be and do not force anything to come to you but just be still and listen. If the answer doesn't come right away, that's ok. It's probably searching for the answer and it may take a little bit of time. But, I assure you, the answer will come…..maybe the next day or next week. You just need to be alert and have your antennas up. The answer may come from something outside of you, perhaps after you wake up. You may be clear in your thoughts on what to do. You may read or hear something that may enlighten you on what to do. You may receive your answer by running into a friend and he may say something that may help you decide. Just be patient and do not get frustrated and think too much about it. By doing so, you are delaying the answer form coming to you.


Tags: The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind

The Power Of Binaural Beats And Holosync Can Change Your Life

What if you could have a technology that allows you to meditate like a Zen Buddhist monk? Imagine all the benefits you could get from being able to enter a very deep meditative state without any effort. Can you think of anything you would like to program into your mind during this state? I bet you can.

I am about to introduce you to a relatively new technology that uses Binaural Beats. This technology is cutting-edge and can bring you all the benefits that would otherwise take you 30 years to acquire! I am talking about a meditation program by Centerpointe Research Institute called Holosync. I am going to share with you how this technology works and the benefits you can get from its use as well as the potential dangers that may not be immediately apparent.

Unlike other binaural beats recordings Holosync is a course and not a single recording. It is possible to purchase binaural beat recordings designed for a single purpose. They come in the form of CD and each one is designed to produce just one specific state. However Holosync is very different. The major affect that Holosync promises to produce is the elimination of past negative programing such as traumas, strong and slight emotional issues, negative memories and negative beliefs of all kinds.

Does it work?

To get a comprehensive answer to this question we are required to delve a little deeper into the technology itself and look at the foundation upon which Holosync is built. I am of course talking about Binaural Beat Technology.

It was in 1839 that Binaural Beats were first discovered by a man named Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. However it was much later, in 1973, when Gerald Oster released a paper called "Auditory Beats in the Brain", that their use in cognitive and neurological research was discovered. These beats are in fact different specific frequencies giving to the left and right ear. The audio produced by using binaural beats can send anyone into a deep meditative state in just a few short minutes. These states are Alpha (light trance), Theta (deep trance) and Delta (dreamless sleep).

Binaural Beats are created by an audio mixing technique that sends different frequency tones to each ear separately. They are designed to alter the listener's brain wave activity and they do this very effectively. You merely put on some stereo headphones, sit or lie in a comfortable position, close your eyes and allow the sounds to do their work. You don't even have to force yourself to relax.

Scientists have long known that when brainwave patterns change they affect the body. Chemical reactions take place as a direct result of these chnaging brainwave patterns. Such reactions in the body's chemistry usually results in profound positive changes throughout the whole physical system. In essence binaural beats appear to have the same impact and benefits of very deep meditation. It has been shown that this technology produces exactly the same brainwave patterns as those practising deep meditation. For normal people like me and you this is great news. Usually it takes the a life commitment to learn transcendental meditation. Practitioners of such deep meditative practises devote many hours everyday to perfecting the technique. You can do it in minutes. In fact entering even light states of trance can take years to learn and perfect.

The state of transcendental meditation is said to be enormously beneficial to humans. It can stimulate the creation of certain hormones needed by the body and reduce things like blood pressure and it is even said to slow down and reverse effects of the aging process. So the benefits of entering a deep meditative state are apparent as are the benefits of using binaural beat technology to do it.

As far as Holosync goes the other major benefit, as if we needed one more, is that the state produced by the Centerpointe recordings allow you to directly access the subconscious mind.

This means that the Holosync meditation recordings can be used with any other personal development tool, like subliminal recordings, hypnosis sessions or even as an aid to visualization, with dramatic effects. Using this type of 21st Century technology means you can therefore alter limiting or negative beliefs, heal emotional issues or create new positive behaviours in a fraction of the time it would take you using conventional means and with a much higher success rate.

Here are some of the benefits of transcendental meditation:

1. Creates a deep relaxing feeling throughout the body which stays with you for hours afterwards.

2. Boosts your creativity.

3. Slows aging.

4. Removes emotional blocks, old traumas and creates profound emotional changes at an extremely deep level.

5. Eliminates Stress & anxiety.

Now with all the benefits that transcendental meditation brings, and the fact that Holosync produces the same internal states as this meditation, it would be extremely prudent to try it. The real power of the binaural beats behind the Holosync recordings is that they can be used to induce a meditative state and thus create these changes with no effort whatsoever. All that you need to do is wear stereo headphones, sit or lie down in a relaxing position, close your eyes and allow the audio to do all the work. You only need the discipline to listen to the recordings everyday!

The Binaural Beat market is filling up with manufacturer's who offer some great titles. It is also possible to create your own with the proper software. Unfortunately, here lies the danger! You need an in-depth knowledge of brainwave patterns and their effect on the mind and body in order to create the correct frequencies. There are several forum postings that state the improper use of binaural beat technologies has created negative and even damaging results on some people. For this reason I would not recommend creating your own binaural recordings. Likewise, you should be very careful about where you get your recordings. Seek professional, qualified people who know what they are doing so that you know you are getting a quality product.

The CEnterpointe Research Institute, and the Holosync Solution which it produces, are the brainchild of Bill Harris. He created Holosync in 1989, is trained in hypnosis and as well as being a qualified trainer of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). He has studied contemporary psychology, quantum mechanical physics, the evolution of non-linear systems and the effects of a wide range of neuro-technologies on human behavioural change, evolution and healing. Holosync has also been endorsed by some top personal development trainers such as James Arthur Ray and Jack Canfield (chicken soup for the soul author) both of whom appeared in the movie The Secret.

The downside of the Holosync technology is that you need to listen to it everyday to get maximum benefit and it also comes in stages as a course. However, Bill Harris insists that you do not need to continue using it and can stop after each stage of the course is complete while permanently retaining all the changes you've made. You can of course continue and go deeper into the 'meditations' if you wish. The Holosync solution does create deep states akin to meditation and it does remove emotional traumas that are hidden deep in the subconscious mind. To sum up - Holosync does exactly what it says it will do if you follow the instructions.

Tags: meditation, holosync, self improvement, self help, personal growth, personal development, trance, hypnosis