Meditation Techniques

In the West, we tend to think of meditation as a program for stress management. While stress release is very important, meditation is much more than this. It is a journey beyond the mind, intellect, and ego to a direct experience of the rich silence of soul and spirit, the same spirit that flows through all of creation. During meditation, more subtle levels of the thinking process are explored until there is no thought at all and pure awareness is experienced. The silence of pure awareness is deeply relaxing and refreshing to the mind; the mind is actually learning to rejuvenate itself.

When we experience relaxation, the heart rate slows, blood pressure normalizes, and breathing slows. There are some studies that indicate restful awareness may provide even deeper rest than sleep. Research points to wide-ranging health improvements and a reversal in the biomarkers of aging. Studies have also shown that the longer people have been practicing meditation, the younger they score on tests of biological age. Now that’s real rejuvenation! Deepak Chopra refers to meditation as “restful awareness.” Restful awareness is the state when your body is in deep rest but your mind is awake, a unique combination of physical relaxation and an alert yet quiet mind. When the body is in the restful awareness state of meditation, natural healing capabilities are activated. A rested body and mind system cultivates creativity and renewal. Since the body and mind are one, when the mind is deeply rested, the body is also deeply rested. This restful state contrasts with the more common stressed state we experience daily.

The physiological changes that accompany stress include faster heartbeat, faster breathing, and higher blood pressure. Prolonged stress—emotional, physical, or environmental—can make you sick and can accelerate aging. Stress is countered when the body experiences restful sleep or restful awareness.

Establishing a personal meditation practice requires some discipline and a change to your routine. A daily meditation practice is very powerful. Twenty to thirty minutes two times a day is recommended. Meditating at sunrise and sunset is consistent with Yogic tradition. If you are able to sit comfortably with your eyes closed, in a relatively quiet environment, you can meditate.

This is what happens during a meditation session: (1) The mind settles; (2) The body settles; (3) The mind/body rests; (4) Healing capabilities are initiated; (5) The body throws off impurities; (6) Activity is created; (7) The mind has thoughts; and the process repeats. The technique of meditation takes our mind out of activity into silence. The mind will naturally come back from the silence to the activity of thought.

We don’t meditate for the experiences that come during a meditation session; we meditate for the benefits that come to our daily lives. Calm, peacefulness, intuition, bliss, realization of desires, joy, health, improved relationships, etc. are commonly used to describe the benefits of meditation. Two meditators put it this way “I pretty much get what I want and when I don’t, it’s not a problem,” and “No earth-shattering stories, but it is amazing!”

The benefits come from a consistent practice, an accumulation of the repetitive “dipping in” to the qualities that refresh our lives. Instructors counsel new meditators to initially apply discipline until there comes a time when a missed meditation session is accompanied by disarray and disorder, where intuition is absent and nothing goes particularly smoothly. Awareness and experience tell you that meditation is the missing factor. The value of consistency becomes apparent.

Meditation is a journey to the creative source of your mind and body. By reducing stress and fatigue, meditation enables you to connect with your higher self, where energy, creativity and inner awareness are your natural state of being. The purpose of meditation is to enrich all aspects of your life—body, mind and spirit. We meditate to rejuvenate.

Sources include “Grow Younger, Live Longer”, by Deepak Chopra, MD and David Simon, MD “Perfect Health” and “How to Know God” by Deepak Chopra, MD

The Primordial Sound Meditation Workshop is taught locally by Barbara Kumara, an instructor certified by Deepak Chopra at the Chopra Center for Well Being. More details are available at www.spiritofmeditation.net. Call 404-233-5667 for the current workshop schedule.

Meditation Techniques

Although meditation has an aura of mysticism, at its heart lays the very practical process of quieting the mind.

Breath awareness meditation is an easily learned technique. The process is basically physiological and takes advantage of the natural silence that exists in the mind and body when we are relaxed.
When you are ready to begin, sit quietly and comfortably, your hands lightly at your side or in your lap. Close your eyes to draw your attention inward, away from the physical environment.

Start to breathe easily and lightly; let your attention easily follow your breathing. Feel your breath entering and flowing down into your lungs. Don’t inhale deeply or hold your breath, just breathe normally. When you exhale, let your attention follow the air up and softly out.

There is no need to force or concentrate. The breath is moving easily and gently, your attention is following it softly. As your breathing relaxes, make it a little lighter. If you start to feel uncomfortable with the rate of your breath, don’t worry; some stresses may be coming out. Let yourself return to whatever rate of breathing your body feels comfortable with.

Continue this exercise for five to twenty minutes. You probably notice that just by paying attention to your breathing you sink deeper and deeper into relaxation and as you do, your mind naturally becomes quieter. You may experience losing track of time; most people experience much fainter thoughts than usual. These are good signs that you are reaching your goal.

If you are going to pursue the full spiritual benefits of meditation, you will want to seek out a qualified teacher and a tradition you respect.

Primordial Sound Meditation, with its origins in the ancient Vedic tradition of India and as revived by Deepak Chopra M.D., is a mantra-based practice that systematically allows you to experience quieter, more peaceful levels of your mind. A mantra is a specific sound, which when used silently, serves as a vehicle to connect you with deeper aspects of your consciousness.

Back to New Life Journal..