o you ever get the urge to give yourself a good dose of exercise? Some people keep their bodies healthy just by walking, others use weights or gym equipment to tone muscle, while another group may go for Yoga or one of the other Oriental training arts. Keeping the body active makes sure it is in the best condition possible to take on lifes everyday difficulties, and the body soon lets you know if it needs attention. The great thing about the human body is that most of it is made of muscle, and muscle can be trained to become healthier and more efficient. Did you know your brain is also a muscle? Yeah, you can exercise the brain just as you can any other muscle, this time gaining not physical strength, but promoting your mental and intellectual abilities. You may know a few of these Mind Techniques already. One is Visualisation (or use of the imagination), and another is Meditation.
Meditation, although not as easy to pick up as Visualisation, has quite a number of advantages. By studying the breath for example, we learn to drop all other thoughts from the mind in order to focus on one subject. Your mind will get used to this process, and in time it will filter out any unnecessary thoughts on it's own, even while you are not meditating. As you progress, the feelings of pease and calmness you get during or after your meditation sessions, will be carried over to your non-meditating time. Usually boring activities will become more enjoyable, ordinary tasks will start to become more interesting and your general mood will become much calmer and more relaxed. You should also see the mind getting clearer, and you start to take on difficult tasks with much more confidence. These benefits will help reduce stress and will allow your body to balance itself. This balancing effect works particularly well when you practice both meditation and Yoga, as both aim to calm the mind and the body, with the added bonus that Yoga stimulates the energy zones (chakras), giving the body that bit more vitality.
The classic use of meditation is in conjunction with Buddhism. This is because of meditations ability to enhance thought and intuition - leading to what Buddhists call 'Insight'. Yet meditation needs no religion, code of ethics or phylosophy to hold on to, it can be of use to anybody regardless of age or belief system.
You may also see other benefits:
- developed deep relaxation
- a calmer temperament
- reduced stress levels
- greater confidence
- memory, imagination and concentration and intuition will be heightened
- a simplification of life
- an ease in making choices
- increased openness to ideas
- increased self-esteem
- more patience
- increased orderliness
- a reduced need to control events and other people
- reflectiveness and flexibility
- an increased ability to love and give
- a greater appreciation of life
- it may attract other people and opportunities to us
- an awareness of justice
- more pronounced personal talents
- sharper senses
So.. You Want to be a Meditator?
Meditation, is a very large subject, covering many areas and techniques, yet there are four basic rules to every meditation:
- Be relaxed
- Focus on one thing and explore it
- If the mind wanders, gently bring it back
- Let everything else go.
Once you have chosen a meditation from the following pages, either a simple spot method or a formal sitting practice , all you need to bear in mind are these four key skills. You may have to practice each one individually, but once mastered, you will find your practice will really start to open up, allowing the mind to grow and expend at an ever increasing rate.
An Alpha & Beta Mind
How does it work? Scientists have proven that the mind has at least 4 states of consciousness. Alpha state, Beta, Theta and Gamma. In Alpha state, the mind is in 'feeling mode', it can appreciate things which it can sense and can feed off the emotions to create a mood. In Beta state, the mind is actively in 'thinking mode', and processing the things the body needs to act upon. The other two, Theta and Gamma, are responsible for the states of sleep. Normally, the awakened mind can switch between Alpha and Beta instantly, or formulating a mixture between the two - maybe 40% feeling and 60% thinking at the same time. When we meditate, we stop the mind from thinking - letting it rest in Alpha state, where it can get deeply in touch with images, feelings and the emotions.
Meditating beginners often find their minds wander back to something else, such as a memory or some motivation which needs thought. This is because the mind is used to being constantly in touch with it's thinking self, and because the brain is essentially a muscle, it will also need a certain degree of Beta time to let the Alpha part recover. So as you meditate, the brain automatically flicks Alpha off, turns Beta on, and wanders. Then you may find that when you return to the meditation, you seem to be able to go deeper. This is because Alpha has recovered strength. The more you meditate, the more strength you will give the Alpha muscles, enabling you to feel things much easier, and go much deeper into your experiences. That's also why you must continue to meditate regularly - if not, you brain will grow weak again and all the benefits will slowly fade away....
