July 4, 2009
The practice of body-centered meditation will probably make us aware of aches and pains we hadn’t noticed before. These feelings could be powerful or mild. A pain in a certain area of the body will naturally make us want to stop or change it, or just get away from it. Unless this pain is connected to a very specific problem, like a knee injury, it could actually present us with an opportunity for growth and healing if we can choose to release it. Let this be your beginners guide to meditation.
The symptoms of pain and tension could be showing us a place where the body has been holding onto some incomplete issue that was not resolved in our past and is left in the subconscious, waiting to be healed. The body is the repository of the subconscious, where the unresolved or unhealed “past” is stored, or held. In this way the body holds our past unresolved issues. Meditation, therefore, holds the possibility of giving us a chance to become aware of pain, stay with it and use it to find resolution in the release of it.
We may gain insight into what we were holding and how it came to be visible to us as we experience release. If we have an ongoing pain in a place like our right shoulder, we may be able to find the source through meditating and becoming conscious of something from childhood connected to our father. This memory of a childhood reflection related to the father can be the vehicle for giving us some insight into the self. The real issue is not what the father’s actions were at all. He serves as the reflection of something that already existed within the self.
We may draw some understanding from this insight about a childhood experience about a pattern that has persisted in our relationships with men. We may notice a way of relating, or not relating to men. In the end we will understand this as a distortion of our masculine polarity. We will see, through examining the source of problems in the past in our lives, that the issues relating to masculinity were influenced by imprinting from the father, and to the feminine, by imprinting from the mother. They are the basis for the reflection and imprinting that occurs in our lives, and following the laws of sympathetic attraction will pull us to the parent that will enable us to work out the karma we’re meant to focus on in our lives.
The case is the same for emotional pain. If we really allow ourselves to experience our emotions in our bodies, to be present to ourselves and honor what is happening, we will be able to notice what develops during this process. This includes coping with anxiety and depression.
Whenever we experience any discomfort either physically or emotionally, we can’t take the time to just sit and meditate. However, the practice of meditation will enhance our ability to really be available to the experiences we have in the rest of our lives that may be challenging, and through this we can become empowered. You can also look to learn yoga for stress relief.
July 1, 2009
Meditation has its origins in Eastern culture, but it has been practiced for centuries in cultures all over the world. Meditation refers to a large variety of practices and techniques and includes guided meditation, transcendental meditation and mindful meditation practice. Many different techniques can be used, such as the focus of the mind on certain objects or words, or on the breath. Sometimes a particular posture can be used but isn’t necessary. Let this be part of your beginners guide to meditation.
Meditation can be learned by anyone, doesn’t require getting special equipment, and can be done anywhere. Meditation and yoga for stress relief can make a big impact. Even after the first session, you may experience a reduction in stress. It’s been found by researchers that just 20 minutes a day is all one needs to do to reap the long-term benefits. Even meditating 10 minutes a few days a week could produce positive results.
Psychological and physiological health can be improved by regularly practicing meditation. Meditation can induce the pattern of brainwaves to achieve the alpha state, which is the state of consciousness that encourages healing to take place. Meditation can be a way to relax, to promote mental clarity, to bring about psychological health, to assist in treating many different diseases and maladies, and for general health of mind and body.
It’s been found in studies that meditation activates the part of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, controlling the body functions like digestion and blood pressure. Stress has a powerful negative impact on these functions, so meditation can help relieve the causes of stress-related disease, like digestive disorders or heart conditions.
A study reported in Psychosomatic Medicine described 90 cancer patients who practiced mindful meditation for seven weeks. At the conclusion of this study, patients said they experienced less depression, confusion, anger or anxiety. They reported having more energy and fewer gastrointestinal or heart problems.
At the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, a group was studied whose members had meditated for four months. Researchers found reduced levels of cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone, and these people who had meditated reported they could better handle stress in their lives, which includes tips on dealing with anxiety and depression.
Research can help confirm some of what we know about, but there are obviously many benefits we can claim without research. Meditation offers benefits to almost everyone, and has no reported ill effects.