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Stress Management - Meditation for the Millennium

By Paul Stephen Lubicz – The Wellbeing Manager

When the word meditation is used it may conjure up the picture of a bearded man sitting cross-legged in front of an entrance to a cave or high on a mountain top. But in our busy and demanding modern day this ancient practice is becoming a great deal more common, helping us deal with the rigors of modern day life.

What is meditation?

Well there are many types of meditation. The one definition that fits almost all types is..."Consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness."

Meditation is one of the proven alternative therapies. It can be broadly classified under the mind-body medicine. More and more doctors are prescribing meditation as a way to lower blood pressure, improve sports performance help people with asthma breathe easier, relieve insomnia and generally relax.

Meditation is a safe and simple way to balance a person's physical, emotional, and mental states. It's simple and can benefit everybody. Health care professionals who were often dissatisfied with the side effects of drug treatments for stress-related disorders embraced meditation as a valuable tool for stress reduction, and today both patients and physicians enjoy the health benefits of regular meditation practice.

The use of meditation for healing is not new. Meditative techniques are the product of diverse cultures and peoples around the world. It has been rooted in the traditions of the world's great religions. In fact, practically all religious groups practice meditation in one form or another. The value of meditation to alleviate suffering and promote healing has been known and practiced for thousands of years.

What is the purpose of meditation?

Traditionally meditation was (and still is) used for spiritual growth, i.e. becoming more conscious; unfolding our inner being. In addition meditation can become a valuable tool for

• Stress relief and management
• Relaxation
• Emotional cleansing & balancing
• Deepening concentration & insight
• Manifesting change
• Unlocking creativity
• A pure relaxation exercise
• A self confidence exercise
• A sleep exercise

Types of Meditation

Meditation techniques can be grouped into two basic approaches.

Concentrative meditation

Concentrative meditation focuses the attention on the breath, an image, or a sound (mantra), in order to still the mind and allow a greater awareness and clarity to emerge.

Mindfulness meditation

Mindfulness meditation involves opening the attention to become aware of the continuously passing of sensations and feelings, images, thoughts, sounds, smells and so forth, without becoming involved in thinking about them.

Beginning meditation

Meditation can seem quite foreign to the average person or difficult to be able to achieve without guidance. There are now some great forms of guided meditation CD’s which are great to start the practice of meditation and still receive the benefits of it.

Richard Latham, from Meditainment, believes that a meditation experience is both enjoyable and relaxing and can be fit into a busy schedule taking you away from the pressures of everyday life, returning you energised and refreshed.

Beginning traditional meditation

Start by sitting for a short time, but make it quality time. Ten minutes daily is a good beginning, and then you can lengthen it.

a) Your back should be straight for meditation. Sit upright in a chair, kneel astride a cushion or sit cross-legged. You can also buy a low stool to sit on in the kneeling position.

To sit cross-legged you should have your knees on the mat to give you stability and prevent your back curling up. To do this you'll need a good, fat cushion to raise your bottom and hips, or a rolled up blanket. Providing your knees are on the mat you can fold your legs any way that's comfortable.

b) Wear comfortable clothing.

c) Your head should be up and your eyes half-closed. Eyes wide open and you can be distracted by sights, or just generally distracted. With eyes shut you easily become dreamy.

d) Your hands should be brought together in front, with your right hand cupping the left and your thumbs just touching, forming an oval. Let your hands rest in your lap and relax your shoulders.

e) Breath Counting -Try and relax your mind but if it wanders don't regard this as a mistake. During each exhalation acknowledge your breath by counting from 1 on your inhalation and out on your exhalation so that you can relax and concentrate on breathing.

Some days you may not be able to count past "one” without thinking about something. You might be worried, or excited -- busy thinking about things. When this happens, just notice that today your mind is busy. This is the way you are, the way we all are. So just notice the thoughts, and the feelings that come with them, and come gently back to your breath counting. Start again. "One" Coming back, starting again, noticing your mind has wandered off.

Breath counting is one technique that you can use in meditation and is a great introduction. For more information on meditation seek out your local natural / health therapy centre or go to the Meditainment site.