Meditation: Why should I do it?

So what is all this business about Meditation?  I heard someone say the other day that “meditation is truly revolutionary”, but meditation has been around for thousands of years. What is the big deal?!

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years and can be done just about anywhere. (photo by Milenko Đilas)

The revolution we are talking about is the inevitable “change” resulting from a revolution.  The change that meditation has on our sympathetic response or fight or flight mode caused by stress from the demanding schedules of work, family, and electronic stimulus that bombards us every day. There have been years of time tested results from meditation, on the nervous systems, the mind, and emotions.

Modern research has proven the calming effects of meditation, and public schools are offering it to young students with great results.  Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, introduced the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique back in the 60’s and 70’s and brought enlightenment to millions of people in the world. In fact, my father worked for Exxon at the time in New York City. The company offered free lessons in TM to help with stress for the businessmen of the company.  I look back on that and find that “revolutionary!”

Through mindfulness, meditation, and awareness practices we restore the balance and equilibrium of the “stress response” and the “rest response”.  Incorporating stillness and quiet time  into our lives for as little as 15 minutes a day, is enough to feel a radical shift in our nervous system.  We can get this shift through meditating, yoga, and many other mind body activities.

Through mindful action like meditation we experience an uplifting transformation of mind, body and emotions that create, both immediately and continually, a radical shift in the fundamental patterns of the nervous system.  This works on the ego.  The “you “that goes in one of meditations is not the same “you” that comes out the other side.

In yoga we call meditation, Dhyana, where the mind has a one pointed focus. This is one of the eight limbs of yoga found in the books on the yoga sutras.  Spending time trying to focus on one thing the mind can learn to stay still and help eliminate the continual fluctuations that some people call the squirrel cage or scattered thoughts. These are the kind of thoughts that plague the mind when you’re trying to sleep. Once again the meditation process is slowing down the nervous system. Trying to keep the mind focused on one thought is not easy. Just try it.

There are many ways to meditate, just look it up on the World Wide Web and you will be guided http://maharishi.org/ or  www.how-to-meditate.org.
One of the first meditations I teach people in our yoga class with guided meditation, at Marquette Yoga Center, is breathing, and breathing with the mantra “so ham.”  The breathing meditation is sitting quietly with the spine erect and concentrating on the breath as it enters the nostril gates, into the lungs, feeling the diaphragm expanding and then exhaling while noticing all the aspects of the breath.

As an Ayurvedic practitioner, I see many people that have stress over-running their lives, which leads to many other health concerns. Meditation is an easy lifestyle practice that can heal the body and the mind.

If you’re not up for trying to meditate, another way to get more peace and calm in your life is to do an electronic cleanse.  This is simply shutting down and logging off of the computer, phone, TV, radio, and electronic games to take a period of time for letting your nerves calm without distractions. The research on how this affects children is profound, and just think what it does to adults that have real life day to day stress to deal with too!  This is an article about the effects on children. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-kathleen-trainor-licsw/electronics-anxiety-a-family-affair_b_4993454.html.

How To Get Prepared To Meditate

Meditation can be done easily and simply in a comfortable place in your home. (photo by fanfan30 – Fotolia)

Meditation does not take any huge investment, closing the eyes and turning inward can be done any place. But, having a space set aside to do your meditation can make the experience more meaningful and comfortable.  So I suggest you find a quiet place to sit, have natural things in view or around you to help you feel connected with nature, which we are part of.  A meditation cushion will help you sit up-right with the hips above the knees to make sitting more comfortable.  Place a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door and begin. Having a scared spot you can call your own is a nice touch, along with lighting a candle.  Historically, yoga was done first to loosen up the joints and body which made sitting for a period time in stillness more comfortable.

Meditation With Mala Beads

A Mala is a string of beads used to count mantras (Sanskrit prayers) in sets of 108 repetitions. A mantra is a word or series of words chanted aloud or silently to invoke spiritual qualities. Chanting is used as a spiritual tool in virtually every cultural and religious tradition. In the yogic tradition a mantra is a Sanskrit word that has special powers to transform consciousness, promote healing or fulfill desires.
The practice of chanting a mantra is used as a form of meditation. Sitting in a comfortable position, with the eyes closed, the mantra is repeated silently or aloud. The mind is focused on the mantra, all other thoughts are let go, and the breath is slow and deep.

Group Meditation

Group meditation is another wonderful way to practice. While meditation is fundamentally about self-exploration, the coherence from meditating with others makes it personally and socially more powerful. While some are skeptical, there have been numerous studies that have shown that a large group of people meditating together has a measurable effect on the greater population.

For me personally, meditating with others helps me feel more connected. Knowing that the silence I experience in my meditation is the same silence that the person sitting next to me is tapping into, is quite moving. Meditating together also lets us come together with shared intentions for change. On a global scale, we have witnessed many times how a small handful of people strongly unified by a common intent can profoundly influence a larger group of people. Great global movements for peace, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Gandhi have always begun with a coming together of people who want peace for the greater good.

The Marquette Yoga Center Offers a few yoga classes that finish with Guided Meditation.
A new 5 week Beginning Meditation Workshop will be starting in mid October. This a great time of the year to cultivate the grounding practice of meditation to help with the stress of upcoming holiday season.

So give meditation a chance by starting your day in silence, or come to one of the yoga and meditation classes we offer at Marquette Yoga Center.  Pick up any necessary accouterments to make this a powerful new lifestyle change a part of your daily life.

by Mary Connor

I started yoga 12 years ago taking a short level one, YogaFit training. This was just to add CEU for my Fitness Leader Certification. I realized at that first class that YOGA was my calling. Being one of the early teachers in the Upper Peninsula and Marquette area, introducing Yoga to the community took hard work and lots of classes at a real discounted rate. I held classes in the Sports Rack LTD. for about 5 years ,eventually running out of room it was time to open up the Marquette Yoga Center. The studio was for myself and other certified teachers to have a nice quiet space to teach . I am about to finish my ERYT-500. Eryt 500 is a high level but realizing yoga is a long journey. I will continue to get education in the many faceted branches of Yoga. My love for teaching yoga as a form of Mind, Body Fitness, and wellness will help, heal, work, strengthen, stretch, balance peoples lives, and just feel good.

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