meditation tips

Meditation is an art that takes a certain degree of consistency, but almost anyone can find time to meditate, no matter how busy your days may be… Read more

Tips for Practicing Prayer and Meditation (CancerWise)

October 1, 2006

When people are diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer, they often turn to prayer and meditation for comfort and assurance… Read more

Meditation: concentration training (Daily Press, Virginia)

December 4, 2004

Read the original article…

Methawee Bhikkhu, Guest Columnist, Daily Press, Virginia: The Buddha said, “There is no meditation without wisdom, no wisdom without meditation. One who has both wisdom and meditation is close to peace and emancipation.”

Meditation requires concentration. There are 40 techniques, or exercises, in concentration training. One technique is the mindfulness of breathing.

This technique is a very convenient practice because everyone has to breathe in and out. It can be used anytime and anywhere, as long as one is constantly aware of the process.

Here’s a brief explanation of the mindfulness of breathing exercise:

Find a quiet place to sit that is conducive to peace. It is helpful to have the right atmosphere. But even if this is not possible, it can still be performed.

Find any posture that enables the body to relax and that is the most comfortable for a long period of sitting. One must be able to breathe easily.

The best posture is cross-legged or sitting upright with the right leg on top of the left one. Hands should be on the lap, with the right hand on top of the left, thumbs touching, or the right forefinger touching the left thumb.

If this is not possible, one can sit upright in a chair or take any other comfortable posture. However, if the sitting brings any tension, it will not be the right practice and it should be corrected before continuation.

Eyes can be opened or closed as long as you are not distracted. One should look downcast with the opened eyes or fix the gaze on the tip of the nose.

After sitting comfortably, one should take deep, long breaths to fill the lungs, breathing out slowly each time. At the same time, try to develop the feeling that the body is not solid and the head is light until the mind is reasonably peaceful. Then, breathe normally but with an awareness of the in-and-out breathing.

When breathing in and out deeply, be aware of one breath in and one breath out deeply. When breathing in and out shallowly, be aware of the one breath in and out shallowly. Do not control the breaths, but be mindful of them.

For a beginner, counting the breaths will help to control the mind and stop wandering thoughts. If the mind is very restless, start to count the breathing in pairs — In-Out 1, In-Out 2 — up to 10 breaths. Or try to fix one’s attention at the tip on the nose, where the breath touches, or on the upper lip without following the movement of the breath through the body.

There are many benefits to meditation.

Meditation gives us a clear mind and clear comprehension to carry out our duties in daily life in a peaceful way, without conflict in the family, at school or in the work place. Meditation helps us to maintain physical health and mental clarity with equanimity.

Meditation enables us to face all kinds of problems and difficulties in our daily life with confidence. It teaches us to adjust ourselves to bear with the numerous obstacles encountered in life and in the changing modern world.

Meditation helps to conquer mental defilements that pollute the mind. If you practice meditation, you will learn to behave like a true human being even when you are upset or disturbed by others.

Meditation helps us cultivate loving kindness, compassion, inner peace, sympathetic joy and equanimity. It prevents us from attaching ourselves to hatred, greed, craving, selfishness, jealousy and all unwholesome or negative thoughts as well as moderating excessive and extreme positive mental states.

Methawee Bhikkhu is a missionary monk from Thailand who is part of Wat Pasantidhamma Buddhist temple in Carrollton.

Health Tip: Handling Stress (HealthDay News)

October 27, 2004

Anne Thompson, HealthDay: Modern life is full of time pressure and frustration. Stress develops when the demands in your life exceed your ability to cope with them.

Here, then, are some helpful coping techniques from the Mayo Clinic:

Your body requires a healthy diet and adequate rest. Exercise also helps, by distracting you from stressful events and releasing your nervous energy.
Learn to relax. It’s the polar opposite of the stress response. Deep-breathing exercises may put you in a relaxed state.

Follow these steps to decompress:

Inhale through your nose to a count of 10. As you inhale, your upper abdomen should rise, not your chest.
Exhale slowly and completely, to a count of 10.
Repeat five to 10 times. Try to do this several times every day, even when you’re not feeling stressed.
If you have persistent trouble relaxing, consider taking up meditation or studying yoga or tai chi. Therapeutic massage may also loosen taut muscles and calm frazzled nerves.

Original article no longer available

Meditation serves different purposes (Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio)

October 1, 2004

One time I got a call from a priest, irked because I had written something about meditation in the context of Buddhist philosophy.

“I’ve been meditating for 30 years,” he told me. “This isn’t just an eastern thing.

No, it’s not. The idea of uncluttering our minds transcends faiths and cultures. It’s for all of us. And teachings about meditation can be found in any age, whether in Christianity or Judaism, Native American wisdom or world literature.

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake,” Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden.

In his book Wherever You Are There You Go, Jon Kabat-Zinn described meditation as “the systematic cultivation of wakefulness, of present-moment awareness.” It means we pay attention, on purpose, in the here and now, without passing judgment on anything.

Meditation is a path of self-development. It can mean different things to different people. Some may hope to connect to a higher spirit. Others may seek a sense of harmony and oneness with the universe. Still others may want to relieve stress or get rid of chronic headache pain.

A reader named Bernard, who recently visited our book club forums discussion page at www.ohio.com, asked the fundamental question of how one begins to meditate. Bernard wanted to know if he had to chant.

The answer is that there is no single way to meditate, and you don’t have to chant. Another reader, going by the name Strings, added this perspective: “The best advice I can offer for anyone interested in starting is to eliminate any preformed opinions or ideas, and experience it directly. Simply sit, sit, sit. Then use that same mindfulness throughout your daily life and everything you do.”

Kabat-Zinn, who founded the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, said in his book that the idea is not to try to get anywhere to make something happen, but just to stop and be present in the moment at hand.

You may experience new things. Or you may not.

On the question of posture, it’s whatever works for you. It is common to sit. But you may also stand, walk or lie down.

In his book, Kabat-Zinn offered a wonderful description of what mountains teach us about meditation.
This is the essence: We hold mountains sacred, yet they also embody a sense of dread. They are harsh yet majestic. They are made of rock, solid and of the earth. They show us the natural world in panoramic view.

Yet “the mountain just sits, being itself,” in Kabat-Zinn’s words. All around, there may be violent storms, snow, unfathomable winds. Still the mountain sits.

Or it may be spring when birds sing and flowers bloom. Still the mountain sits.

The mountain is unmoved by what happens on the surface and around it.

Similarly, we experience periods of ups and downs, lightness and darkness, in our own lives.

“The weather of our own lives is not to be ignored or denied,” Kabat-Zinn wrote. “It is to be encountered, honored, felt, known for what it is, and held in high awareness since it can kill us. In holding it in this way, we come to know a deeper silence and stillness and wisdom than we may have thought possible, right within the storms.

We can become firm and unmoving, he said, while at the same time soft, gentle and flowing.

Other readings on meditation, from various writers, are posted on the forums discussion page. You can also find the latest newsletter which discusses a particular method of meditation.

Original article no longer available

Seven helpful hints for meditating (Warwick Beacon, Rhode Island)

September 7, 2004

Read the rest of the article…

Claudia Botthof, Warwick Beacon, RI: Daily demands of everyday living can be draining and stressful, leading to insomnia, digestive problems, headaches, irritability, depression, ulcers and some cancers. Social relationships can suffer because there is just no more room for understanding and caring about somebody else’s problem. Unless you take care of yourself you cannot take care of somebody else. Finding the “inner peace” within yourself let’s you deal with everyday problems with new energy and a new outlook on life.

Meditation has been around for centuries and is used to quiet the mind and to promote self-knowledge and self-mastering. Through focusing and maintaining attention, the mind is brought to the present – not in “what happened yesterday” or “what will happen tomorrow.” Meditation provides solitude, the ability to be comfortable by oneself, and calmness of the mind and body. Meditation produces brainwaves that relax the mind to a point where it can reduce blood pressure, muscle tension and control breathing patterns. With daily practice meditation can be the tool to deal with daily stress efficiently.

Meditation requires the active mind to be able to focus on an object, image, phrase, word, sound or one’s own breath. Even though the mind is alert, yet it is calm and focused. Meditation is usually done in an upright sitting position with one foot placed on top of the other. The hands or fingers are creating a closed circuit presenting certain symbols and emotions. There are different breathing patterns such as “Breath of Fire,” “Alternate Nostril Breath” and “Cooling Breath.” Each type of breath will have a different effect on the body and mind. The “Ohm” sound has four different parts “ah/oh/mmm/silence.” It is considered the “Sound of all Sounds, the Sound of the Universe, the Sound of Creation and the Beginning of Life.” The benefits include but are not limited to releasing tension and dispel negative energy, feeling at total peace and being filled with new energy.

Meditation can be done without any attachment to any religion and is usually part of yoga. As yoga provides benefits to the body and mind, adding meditation further enriches the total being. The experience of yoga and meditation is unique to each individual and comes in many forms.

Here are some helpful hints to get started:

Before meditation do some form of exercise such as yoga, or walking to release restlessness.
Do some breathing exercises before meditation this will calm the mind.
Do yoga in the morning or at night, preparing the mind for the day or releasing tension before the night.
Use the same place and same time in a quiet environment.
Build up the time of stillness and meditation. Start with 5 minutes daily and build up to 45 minutes, three times a week.
When sitting check your body for muscle tension and let go.
When the mind wanders and emotions come up, acknowledge them and bring your focus back to your point of focus.

As with every skill in life, meditation takes time to learn and to master. Give yourself permission to practice the skill of meditation. Take some time for yourself each day to find your inner peace, so you can be there for all the other people when they need you.

Utah Buddhists share meditation tips

June 9, 2003