Self-Criticism: When we begin meditating, its all too common to beat up on ourselves. Im doing it wrong! Im not a good meditator! Ill never be able to follow my breath! Most everyone who has tried to meditate has experienced some version of this self-doubt. Though its natural impulse, its not helpful. Remember, the purpose of meditation isnt to enter a bliss state or eradicate all thinking. Its simply to be present with whats going on right now, whatever that is. Try to let go of any judgments you have about good meditation or bad meditation, and whether or not youve achieved anything. We all have the capacity for clarity, for calm and for mindfulness.

Sleepiness: Many people get sleepy when they try to meditate. This may be because our minds are simply overstimulated, or it may be because our bodies are tired and need some rest. Either way, there are skillful ways to wake ourselves up so we can engage in meditation. Straighten your posture. Open your eyes. Try walking meditation. Instead of using your breath as the anchor of your attention, try listening to sounds. Or, develop a pattern of sensations to focus on: for example, first the feeling of breath passing in and out of your nostrils, then the diaphragm rising and falling, and then the gentle breeze of air just above your lips.

Restlessness: Were so used to keeping busy, that meditation can seem boring at first. If thats the case, try focusing on very specific sensations, like the outbreath. You can even try to control your breathing, taking shorter inbreaths and longer outbreaths. Most importantly, try not to be too hard on yourself.

Pain: You may feel pain when you begin to practice meditation for longer durations. It could be just a sharp, fleeting pang in your legs, or it could be dull cramps or aches in your back. Whatever it is, try to simply notice it and accept it at first. Acknowledge that its a feeling, just like any other feeling, and that it will eventually pass. If it persists, try directing your attention to another part of the body. And if the pain gets intolerable, adjust your posture as needed.

Fear: In the rare instance, panic or fear may arise. Should this happen, try to shift the attention toward something outside the body, like the air whooshing in and out of your nostrils, or sounds. But dont force yourself to pay close attention to whatever it is that might be causing you emotional discomfort. And if its too intense, dont worry about opening your eyes, or just taking a break.

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How to Meditate - Well Guides - The New York Times

Why meditate?

On one level, meditation is a tool.

It can help combat stress, fosters physical health, helps with chronic pain, can make you sleep better, feel happier, be more peaceful, as well as be more present.

But on a deeper level, meditation is a doorway into the unknown. It can help us get a sense of the mystery of who we are.

When you start meditating, youll notice how unruly the mind is.

I remember being quite shocked by this!

At first, my mind was all over the place.

Profound thoughts about my past or future jostled with mundane thought clips about what groceries I needed to buy. Some time afterwards I would come too and notice that I had spent15 minutes running a painful memory over and over.

It was like sitting in a crazy cinema!

So, if youre starting out with meditation, please dont beat yourself up about your wild mind. It is a natural condition. In time you will learn to work kindly with the barrage of thoughts and you will find some clarity and peacefulness.

Here are some simple tips on how to meditate. .

Whether you sit on a chair or cross-legged on the floor, make sure that your spine is upright with head up. If you are slumped your mind will drift. Mind and body are intertwined. If your body is well-balanced, your mind will also be in balance. To straighten up, imagine that your head is touching the sky.

Try and keep you eyes open. Open eyes allow you to be more present. Just lower your eyes and let your gaze be soft. If you close your eyes you will be more likely to drift away on thoughts and stories. However, its important to do what is comfortable for you. Some people find closing their eyes much more effective. Its good to experiment and see what feels best for you.

In ordinary consciousness we are hardly ever present. For example, sometimes we drive the car on autopilot while being preoccupied with thoughts. Suddenly we arrive at our destination and dont remember anything about the drive!

So, meditation is a wonderful way of waking up to our life. Otherwise we miss most of our experiences because we are somewhere else in our mind! Lets take a look at what focus is. In ordinary life, we tend to equate focus with concentration. Thats like using the mind like a concentrated beam of light. But in meditation, that kind of mind isnt helpful. Its too sharp and edgy. To focus in meditation means to pay soft attention to whatever you place in the centre of awareness. I suggest using the breath as a focus. Its like a natural door that connects inside and outside. Zen Master Toni Packer says:

Attention comes from nowhere. It has no cause. It belongs to no one

Paying attention to the breath is a great way to anchor yourself in the present moment. Notice your breath streaming in and out. Theres no need to regulate the breath just let it be natural.

If you are having difficulties settling, you can try counting the breath which is an ancient meditation practice. On your outbreath, silently count one, then two, and up to four. Then return to one. Whenever you notice your thoughts have strayed far away or you find yourself counting thirty-three, simply return to one. In this way, one is like coming home to the present moment. Its good to return without a backward glance.

When you notice thoughts, gently let them go by returning yous focus to the breath. Dont try tostop thoughts; this will just make you feel agitated. Imagine that they are unwelcome visitors at your door: acknowledge their presence and politely ask them to leave. Then shine the soft light of your attention on your breath.

Its difficult to settle into meditation if you are struggling with strong emotions. This is because some emotions tend to breed stories in the mind. Especially anger, shame and fear create stories that repeat over and over in the mind. Anger and shame make us keep looking at past events of the past. Fear looks at the future with stories that start with, What if

The way to deal with strong emotions in meditation is to focus on the body feelings that accompany the emotion. For example, this could be the tight band of fear around the chest or the hot roiling of anger in the belly. Let go of the stories and refocus on your body. In this way you are honouring your emotions but not becoming entangled in stories.

Silence is healing. I know that there are is a lot of meditation music around, but nothing beats simple silence. Otherwise the music or sounds on the tape just drown out the chatter in your mind. When we sit in silence we actually get to experience what our mind is doing. There is steadiness and calmness that comes from sitting in silence. In time outer and inner silence meet and you come to rest in the moment.

Start with 10 minutes and only sit longer if you feel the lengthis too short. Dont force yourself to meditate longer if you are not ready to do that. In time you might like to extend your meditation to 25 minutes. Thats a length that allows you to settle your mind without causing too much stress on your body. Most importantly, shrug off any shoulds. Some people enjoy sitting for an hour at a time. Others find that they cant sit longer than 10 minutes. Do what feels right for you!

Its lovely to create a special place to sit. You can even make a shrine or an altar that you can face when you sit in meditation. You might like to place a candle on your altar and objects that have meaning to you. Its lovely to find objects for your altar as you walk. Maybe you find stones, or seashells, or flowers that speak to you.

Most of all, its important to enjoy meditation. You might like to try sitting with a hint of a smile. Be kind to yourself. Start sitting just a little each day.

Watch the video below to get access to theMeditation Resource Guide.

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How to Meditate: 10 Important Tips - Goodlife Zen

I am a graduating senior, and I feel an intense pressure from society to get a job right away and start making a living. Our culture has established the norm of making money and reaching a higher status, and these cultural norms can create an imbalance in our work/life balance. When I start to sense an imbalance in my life, I try to take on different activities that improve my physical and mental health. One thing I have been learning is how to meditate.

I can imagine we are all pretty stressed by now, especially with finals coming up. Spring is supposed to be a great time of year when the flowers are blooming and everyone is getting ready for the warm weather, but thats the problem; I have no motivation to do anything because I just want to sit outside without a care in the world. My mind is so jumbled up that I can hardly grasp the fact that I am graduating. I started meditating, hoping that I would improve my motivation.

I used to be very skeptical about meditation. I thought it wasnt going to work, and I didnt really understand the point of it. Mediation is also not something someone can just do right the very first time; it takes a lot of practice to get even close to a genuinely clear mind while being very self-aware.

When I started to meditate, I didnt understand what the goal was. Yoga International says, In meditation, the mind is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. When you meditate, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or on the events taking place around you. With all the burdens that come with life, it seems like reaching this kind of mental state is impossible.

There are some great videos on YouTube that can help you get started, but my favorite website to use is Headspace. The website has ten basic sessions that are free, and they have more advanced sessions that require payment. I like Headspace because the instructor guides you through each step and makes it fairly enjoyable.

There is a lot of intrinsic value behind mediation; I have gotten to know myself and become aware the kind of person that I want to be, and the kind of people I want to surround myself with. If you know your self worth and you understand the kind of person you are, your relationships will improve and your self-esteem will increase.

One of the most important things to do while meditating is to pay attention to your breathing. Yoga International says, Meditation teaches you to attend to what is taking place within, without reacting. By practicing meditation, you can train yourself to be open to different opportunities presented to you. It may seem a little uncomfortable and strange at first, but its worth a shot at a peaceful mind.

Collegian Blogger Kelli Jones can be reached online at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @kellijayyy. Leave a comment and come back for more health and fitness posts.

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Health and Fitness: Meditation - Rocky Mountain Collegian

A study has shown that group meditation could go a long way in curing depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders.

Meditation will always help, as a study finds mindfulness group therapy has an equally positive effect as individual cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of a wide range of psychiatric symptoms in patients with depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders.

The results suggests that various scales measured, among others, symptoms of depression, general anxiety, stress and somatisation, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, aggression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. There was no difference in treatment effect between the two groups.

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Group therapy with mindfulness can be a viable alternative treatment, which at the same will free up resources in healthcare to be used more efficiently.

Our new research shows that mindfulness group therapy has the equivalent effect as individual CBT for a wide range of psychiatric symptoms that are common among this patient group, said lead researcher Jan Sundquist.

Collective meditation has healing powers, a new study suggests. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The team included 215 patients with depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders.

They studied a broad range of psychiatric symptoms and how these symptoms changed during the treatment.

The results showed that the average score for all 15 different subscales/indexes in the various questionnaires decreased significantly in both scales.

As mental illnesses are increasing at a very fast rate it is absolutely essential to expand the treatment alternatives for this patient group in primary healthcare. Our view is that the scarce resources should be partly reallocated to mindfulness group therapy so that the limited availability of individual psychotherapy can be utilised in an optimal fashion, Sundquist concluded.

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Group meditation may treat depression, anxiety and stress-related disorders: Study - Hindustan Times

Those interested are invited to stop in their way to work.

Organizers say the program is a great way to start any day, but is also a great start to the weekend. Those who are new to meditation will be able to ask questions and learn, get some feedback and support. For those that like the extra motivation to start or stay in practice this is a great opportunity, said organizer Neil Pinkman. Each Friday, there will be a half hour of meditation and a half hour of Q&A. .

These free sessions are facilitated by Pinkman, who started meditating twenty years ago. He has worked with a variety of meditations: Guided, Primordial Sound, Transcendental, and Mindfulness. He has studied with, and researched, the meditation techniques of various teachers, including Deepak Chopra, Jack Kornfield, Lama Surya Das, and others. Pinkman has used Mindfulness as a core technique with his clients for many years and said he has seen incredible transformation.

The Center for Spiritual Living is located at 31 Westville Ave. in the old Womens Club. For more information call 973-403-3306, or just show up.

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Meditate for free on Friday - New Jersey Hills

A Central Michigan University graduate student from Midland is helping to investigate whether meditation can help people change their perceived personal space.

A Central Michigan University graduate student from Midland is helping to investigate whether meditation can help people change their perceived personal space.

CMU students researching effects of meditation on personal space perceptions

A Central Michigan University graduate student from Midland is helping to investigate whether meditation can help people change their perceived personal space.

The research has the potential to help people overcome conditions such as claustrophobia and social anxieties as well as improve athletic performance. Nathan Houle, a sophomore psychology major and religion minor from Midland, and Jessica LaLone, a senior psychology and Spanish major from Auburn Hills, are co-leading the research project.

A lot of the meditation Ive worked with manipulates the sense of the body in space, Houle said. With the meditation, we focus our attention on peoples visualization, and there isnt a lot of research being done in this area.

The student research team is working under the direction of experimental psychology faculty members Emily Bloesch and Chris Davoli. Students conduct their research using a pool of participants who are tested on their relation to objects in front of them and then are retested on the same objects following several meditation sessions.

Whenever I meditate I know my perception shifts in many ways, so learning specifics about this interested me, LaLone said. This research is beneficial for many reasons; however, the reason that excites me the most is that we could discover if meditation helps us expand both the mental and physical space around us.

Project development began in October, and pilot testing started in February. Members of the research team hope to test at least 60 students this semester, said researcher Valencia Smith, a senior psychology major and family studies minor from Detroit.

Its going to take some time to pull the information together and analyze it, but we are very encouraged by what were seeing initially, she said.

As faculty members and researchers, Bloesch and Davoli concentrate on the recently developed concept of embodied cognition, which theorizes that peoples cognition goes beyond the brain and is shaped by peoples positioning in space.

The brain is responsible for motor skills and reacting to outside influences, but how people understand and respond to situations is directly connected to the physical capacity of their bodies, Bloesch said. For example, people judge hills to be steeper when theyre wearing a heavy backpack because it would take more effort to climb to the top.

The brain isnt out there on its own its set in the body, which is the only way we can navigate the environment, she said. What we do with our body changes the way we see the world.

Davoli and Bloesch had presented to the students the broad idea of studying meditation and body space, based on recent findings showing the relationship between meditation and other forms of cognition. The idea for researching the impact meditation has on peoples visualization of the space around them was entirely developed by the students, Davoli said.

A couple of the students came to them with the idea to compare the effect of different types of meditation on body space and introduced them to the meditation app and website headspace.com that helps to provide meditative insights for the research.

This is a project that the students built from the ground up, he said. The students connected with Headspace administrators, and through our relationship with the organization, we get experimental control and ecological validity for the research.

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CMU students researching effects of meditation on personal space - Midland Daily News

A free Heartfulness Meditation workshop will be held 2 to 4 p.m. April 23 in the Assembly Room at the A.K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands.

According to Shitij Mehta, who will lead the workshop, Heartfulness Meditation is a simple and natural path of heart-centered wellness that fosters balance, peace and well-being.

The introductory practices include a relaxation exercise and a Heartfulness Meditation.

This approach to wellness centers on using the heart to guide people on their journey to personal development and inner enrichment, according to Mehta. By focusing attention on the heart, people gradually learn to regulate the mind while exploring the secrets of the heart, according to Mehta.

Training in Heartfulness Meditation takes the focus and attention from the mind to the heart, according to Mehta. People feel a relief from stress and anxiety as they begin to experience life through the serenity of their hearts. Heartfulness Meditation fosters healthier and more positive relationships by increasing ones capacity for empathy, joy and love, according to Mehta.

Heartfulness Meditation gives people an opportunity to discover their inner selves and their connection with the whole of life, according to Mehta.

The workshop is offered free of charge through the Heartfulness Institute, a nonprofit organization.

Heartfulness welcomes people from all secular and faith backgrounds.

Source: A.K. Smiley Public Library

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Try a Heartfulness Meditation workshop at the AK Smiley Public Library - Redlands Daily Facts

TheAmerican poet Allen Ginsberg once wrote, The suffering itself is not so bad; its the resentment against suffering that is the real pain.

This week, a reader sent me an e-mail describing her frustrations with meditation. As a woman in a highly-competitive industry, she decided to try the practice as a means to be more productive and keep myself sharp.

Anyone who has tried meditating will likely recall the first few attempts being laden with frustrations. I remember the first time I tried formal meditation. I had recently read the resolve of Buddha who, prior to his enlightenment, declared, Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body. I welcome it. But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.

Buoyed by such unyielding determination, I began to meditate to control the mind and clear it of all thoughts and lasted a grand total of five minutes before I gave up, concluding that meditation obviously doesnt work.

Fast forward some 15 years later and the frustrations still pay a visit, although thankfully they are less potent than they used to be. Its easier to stay in their company, allowing them to have their say without getting caught up in the performance.

One of the main stumbling blocks of meditation is having expectations. In a culture that places a high premium on getting things done, making progress and achieving success, its counterintuitive to engage in the non-doing of meditation without feeling like youre wasting time, or that you have to do something in order to reap the benefits.

In the case of wanting to be more productive and have more of an edge, our ego is driving the desire for us to want more, have more, to gain more this is its primary purpose: its never satisfied with what we achieve; nothing is good enough, and so it leaves us in a constant state of wanting.

Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, writes, No ego can last for long without the need for more. Therefore, wanting keeps the ego alive much more than having. The ego wants to want more than it wants to have. And so the shallow satisfaction of having is always replaced by more wanting.

The first thing we should note when meditating is that there is no competition in the practice: we dont compete against ourselves, we dont compete against our colleagues, our bosses or anyone else to whom we might compare ourselves. When we are fixated on wanting something from our meditation, we will never get it.

Instead, we should aim to rest in the awareness of the moment. In our meditation, we feel the sensation of the breath, a feeling in the body, or recite some words mentally, and we simply be with whatever comes into our conscious awareness. Theres no agenda and no judging if we do judge a thought or a feeling, we just note it and let it go. We dont even judge our reactions.

Frustration in meditation is greatly reduced when we practise without feeling the need to achieve. By just doing the practice regularly, the benefits will come over time. It might sound simplistic or a little too easy, but thats exactly how progress in meditation is made.

In losing our expectations, we plant the seeds of non-judgmental remove in our minds. Theres no unnecessary rejection, desire or zoning out; were fully aware of whatever arises. Its akin to people-watching in a coffee shop: we see whats there, but we merely observe with interest.

Resting in awareness, we work with the mind to reduce excessive thinking; when we reduce excessive thinking, we become more focused; and when we become more focused, we are able to concentrate and be fully aware of what were doing. This is how meditation helps with productivity and performance. It doesnt give us a magic solution, it simply centres the mind and lessens the distractions that lead our minds wandering off into the past or the future.

Having said that, it can be difficult to quieten the voice that says, Youre wasting your time when you should be doing something important If this is the case for you, then being able to keep company with that voice without getting caught up in its story becomes part of your practice.

Meditation is done neither to achieve a particular goal nor to rid ourselves of some unpleasant thought or feeling. It wont solve our problems or hand us a prize at the end of the session. Instead, it cultivates the ability within us to stop acting blindly as were prone to do.

Through meditation we tune into life, engage with whats there and use the resources at hand that allow us to deal effectively with whatever situations arise. Rather than losing our minds in the turbulence of life, meditation is the anchor that helps us to make sense of everything we experience.

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In meditation, leave your expectations behind - Star2.com

Seetha.Lakshmi

Bengaluru: He believes that it's up to us to live with a problem/situation in life or fight it. As an 8-year-old, Tibetan meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche suffered from anxiety disorder. But he conquered it through meditation. The millionaire monk, who founded the Tergar Meditation Centres across the globe, was in Bengaluru to lead a session at the Srishti School of Design and Technology. He spoke to STOI about mind control, modern science and buddhism. Excerpts.

You have said the mind is like a crazy monkey... like stock market... uncontrollable with ups and downs every minute. But abandoning negativity is probably the toughest challenge in the times we live in. As a meditation master, what's your advice to people to stay positive?

It's all in the mind, isn't it? Everything is created there and ends there. When you look at the waves in the ocean, it's up to you---whether you can see the monsters or any other form. It's created in the mind. I know it's not easy to shut anxiety and emotions away. It took me five years to gain control through meditation. At the core of the Tergar meditation is the joy of living --- living with awareness. It's free and pure. It feels like space. Emotion is like a cloud. So meditating helps you connect with space and clear the cloud.

Neuro scientists have said brain function can be altered with continuous meditation. Can you explain?

Everyone has a baseline of happiness. It is difficult to change that. But neuro scientists have found that with meditation, the baseline can change. Money, fame and power do not change the baseline of happiness. You can win a lottery and feel happy for two years, but then the joy wanes away. You go back to feeling normal. Scientists have also disproved that if you are born unhappy, you will stay that way the rest of your life. But now, they have found that meditation can change that.

You have said there's not much difference between modern science and Buddhism...

Science is looking for truth and reality, and so is Buddhism. But the difference is, after discovering that, they don't know what to do with their discovery. But Buddhism has answers even after the discovery. One of them is meditation. Scientists today say time, atom and space. .. are all impermanent. We said that 2,500 years ago.

Tell us about the most unique experience you had during your wandering retreat.

I had no plan. I just left the Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, one day. I wanted to train myself to leave behind all my connections. But the days were not easy. I thought I would die. For three days, I just sat in a railway station before I went to Kushinagar; I was becoming sick and my body was giving up. I was feeling paralyzed. On the fifth day, after I left Bodhgaya, I just sat for five hours and meditated. I cannot explain the awareness I got during those hours. My mind had opened. There was new awareness in me. I felt so good. That was the most wonderful experience.

Do you see more people leaning towards spirituality and meditation today than probably what it was, say 10 or 15 years ago?

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Science has proved that meditation can improve quality of life: Buddhist master - Times of India

Vancouver Sun

BC voters open to meditation and Christian prayers in schools: Poll Vancouver Sun British Columbians were mixed on many spiritual issues, with 42 per cent believing mindfulness meditation should be allowed in public schools. Just 35 per cent opposed the meditative practice which teachers are increasingly teaching their public ... and more »

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BC voters open to meditation and Christian prayers in schools: Poll - Vancouver Sun