Featured Fundamism: Meditation
- By Paul Long
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- 16 Aug, 2017
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Meditate/Relax
WHAT:
Take time out of your busy day to relax or meditate.
WHY:
Have you ever laid down for bed at the end of your busy day and were unable to sleep as your brain was overwhelmed with thoughts of things to do or worries out of your control? Join the club! One can argue that the reason this happens is due to the fact that we are always preoccupied with the things going on throughout our day. When we don’t take time to ourselves, clear our minds and focus solely on our own personal well being, our brain takes over when the day slows down. This, of course, usually being the time we lay ourselves “down to sleep.”
Per an article written by Psychology Today called, “The Benefits of Meditation,” those that meditate “shift negative brain waves in the stress prone right frontal cortex of the brain to the calmer left frontal cortex.” Unfortunately, I am no doctor so I struggled understanding what this statement meant. Luckily the article broke it down for us “simpletons.” Bottom line, the mental shift significantly reduces the likelihood of stress, anxiety and depression.
HOW:
There are numerous resources in the world today dedicated to meditation including the how to, benefits of and whys surrounding its value. A couple of our favorites are Stephan Bodian’s, “Meditation for Dummies” and Victor Davich’s, “8 Minute Meditation.”
“Meditation for Dummies” includes an audio CD with short meditation exercises that can be downloaded to your IPod or MP3 player. These exercises can be done as you awake from your slumber, in the sauna at the gym, during lunch in the office or right before bed.
“8 Minute Meditation” focuses on meditation for the beginner and those constantly on the run. The book doesn’t take much time setting up the exercises by explaining why they are important. It allows you to experience the power of meditation simply by doing. The only way to believe in something is to experience it ourselves. “8 Minute Mediation” allows you the chance to determine whether meditation is right for you in minutes.
As we are not meditation experts, we don’t want to give too much info on how to meditate here. However, there will be a mediation expert at our live gathering providing additional detail on how it may be implemented in your life. Despite this, a good friend of ours painted a picture of how he incorporates meditation in his daily life and we've shared it with you below:
- Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted
and get comfortable
- Close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Feel the oxygen fill your lungs
- As you exhale, imagine letting go of all the anxiety
and worry in your life
- While continuing to focus on your breath, picture
yourself floating to the bottom of a body of water. As your weighted body sinks further down,
look up to where you originally entered the water
- Picture your worry and the troubles in your life
getting further and further away from you as you left them when you took the
plunge
- Breathe easily and continue to focus on where the
oxygen enters your body. As you plummet
further into the water embrace the clarity of your mind as your thoughts were
left far above you
Many believe that meditation means letting go of your worry. In all reality, those that practice regularly will tell you quite the opposite. Embrace your thoughts as they help identify your foundation then work to clear your mind of all things so as to find the right path to your own enlightenment.
