"Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mall ..." (With apologies to The Beatles)

Youre sitting in the middle of Southgate Mall at lunchtime, right next to the clock tower, and youre told to close your eyes, take a deep breath and focus on yourself, allowing all the noise to pass through your mind.

Meanwhile, shoppers stream past talking loudly on their phones or with each other, ordering coffee, pretzels or smoothies, shushing crying babies, scraping chair legs as they sit down or stand up from tables at the nearby cafe.

One child blows up a balloon, releasing the air with a high-pitched squeal. Then he does it again and again.

Its a good thing meditation doesnt require you to tune all that out completely.

To meditate you need no concentration, Laura Bender said. Thats the beauty of it.

Bender, who is certified as a personal trainer and a meditation teacher, combines the two at her downtown studio, Bodies by Bender.

Monday, she partnered with the Boys and Girls Club and Red Willow Learning Center to host the Mindful Mall Meditation, giving people a chance to relax and be in the moment during the turbulent start to 2017.

Though Bender and Nic Wilson, with the Boys and Girls Club, made sure to say there was no political bent to the event rather the opposite the two wanted peoples minds to be elsewhere for a while.

We want to take a step back a little bit and use peace and quiet rather than loud and angry, Wilson said. Just be thankful a little bit more than thinking about all the chaos.

And so a little after 1 p.m., Bender plonked herself down cross-legged in the center of a semi-circle of chairs, Himalayan singing bowl on the floor in front of her.

Bender led the group of about 15 people through a mindful meditation, starting with hands in lap, feet flat on the ground, eyes closed. First she told them to take in the surrounding noise, before taking a few deep breaths and focusing instead on their bodies where their feet touched the floor, their thighs touched the chair, all the way up to their heads.

Some meditators sat perfectly still, while others crossed and uncrossed their legs, took sips of water, or opened their eyes and glanced around.

Passerby gave curious glances, conversations halting between pairs of friends carrying shopping bags as they both watched the group sit slack-faced and quiet. None opted to join, though a few stopped and observed.

I was surprised that I was actually able to really feel centered in that moment, one of the participants, Sonia McLain said. 'Cause I was skeptical with all the noise at first.

It almost felt more peaceful than when I was in a completely silent room trying to meditate.

Her friend Christopher Morucci agreed, saying the point of mindfulness meditation is not to ignore noise, but acknowledge it as part of the brains distractions.

After about 10 minutes, Bender rang her singing bowl and told the group to slowly open their eyes. Some smiled, some stretched, rubbing their eyes like theyd just taken a nap.

Wasnt that fun? she said.

Bender has taught meditation for about eight years and is certified by the Chopra Center and the center's David Ji. She called the idea of a meditation flash mob hilarious, but not pointless.

Were in a community thats full of wonderful, loving people and we want to celebrate community, Bender said. Its really powerful when you get a group of us together.

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Taking a moment to meditate in Southgate Mall - The Missoulian

Can a mouse meditate? A new study suggests the answer is ...kind of.

Researchers from the University of Oregon in Eugene have replicated some of the same brain patterns exhibited by human meditatorsin the brains of mice no tinymeditation cushions or squeaky oms required.

Still, experiments show that the meditating mice were more relaxed and less stressed than those with no rodent meditation training.

The authors say the work, published Monday in PNAS, provides aproof of concept that will allow them to learn more abouthowmeditation affects the brain.

Previous research has shown thatjust one month of mindfulmeditationcan have a significant impact on humans both physically and psychologically.

Itreduces self-reported anxiety and decrease the amount of the stress hormone cortisol in theblood.

Imaging studies of meditators brains also have detectedincreased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, or ACC. This areaof the brain is involved in a wide variety of functions, including emotional regulation and cognitive control.

Scientists also have seen an increase inwhite matteraround the ACCof meditators. Thats important because white matter serves as a kind of insulator, enablingelectrical impulses to move more easilybetween neurons.

Although scientists have observed these positive physical effects of meditation on the human brain, they still dont know what causes them.

We think of meditation as a human thing, a high-level thing, but we want to examine the low levelbiology of it, said Cris Niell, a neuroscientist at the University of Oregon who co-led the study.

The teams first step in this quest was to create a mouse model that could replicate a human meditators brain.

Theycalled it, jokingly, the mouse meditation project.

Training mice to focus on thebreath, orspend 20 minutes on abody scan was obviously not an option, but the scientists had another plan up theirsleeves.

Michael Posner, a psychologist at the University of Oregon, had shown in earlier work that another effect ofmeditation in humans was achangein the rhythms of the brain. Specifically, he found that particular oscillations near the ACC became louder after a meditation session.

Everyone has these oscillations in their ACC, but they are stronger and more powerful in people after they do meditation, said Aldis Weible, a researcherat the University of Oregons Institute of Neuroscience and thefirst author on the study.

The authors knew they couldnt get mice to meditate in a traditional way, but they wondered if they could make the mouses ACC oscillate in the same rhythm as human meditators.

To do this, they genetically engineered mice that have a special protein in their brains that causes neurons to fire when they areexposed to light. The researchers were able to put the genetic code for these proteins exclusively in the neurons of the ACC.

Next they connected a light source to the mices brains so they could expose these proteins to different patterns of light. By flashing the light, theywere able to make the ACC neurons fire at the same pace that they saw in human meditators.

We are not necessarily making the mice meditate, but we are changing the pattern of activity in the brain region,Niell said.

Tests revealed that mice that were exposed to the same patterns exhibited by human meditators were more relaxedthan those that did not get the meditation treatment.

When placed in a box that had a dark side and a light side, the meditating mice were more likely to explore the light side, and to rear up on their little hind legs and look around than other mice.

Both these behaviors indicate a de-stressed mouseand suggest that the behavioral effects of meditation in humans can be recreated in mice.

The authors also experimented with getting the ACC to oscillate at different frequencies, but they saw the most calming effects when the mouse brain was set to oscillate at the same pace as a human meditators brain about eight times per second.

Niell said the work is significant because it gives researchers a scientific tool to study how meditation works in the brain, and it suggests that periodic stimulation could be used to affect change in the brains of people who dont want to meditate.

The researchers wonder if one day a similar protocol could be used to help people recover from stroke or post-traumatic stress disordermore rapidly.

This first publication is a proof of principle, he said. But hopefully in six months or a year, Ill be talking to you about what it is that actually changes in the brain as a result of meditation.

deborah.netburn@latimes.com

Do you love science? I do! Follow me@DeborahNetburnand "like" Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook.

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Can a mouse meditate? Why these researchers want to find out - LA ... - Los Angeles Times

Many people avoid meditation simply because they think it is all about oms and crunchy mantras. But, at its core, meditation is something so natural and innate that your dog/cat definitely knows how to do it better than you.

Have you ever watched your dog or cat closely? They can sit for great lengths of time, and just stare. They have endless patience with themselves. They arent thinking, I should go run a little bit to work off my breakfast, or You know, I should really finish tearing up that stuffed hedgehog, or Did I poop in the right place this morning? Where should I poop later? What if I dont poop in the right place?! These thoughts would be completely absurd. But, these are the types of thoughts that plague our minds day after day.

Meditation is about quieting the minutia of the mind and existing without judgement in the moment; letting go of that report that is due at the end of the week; letting go of the worry about who will feed the cat while youre away; letting go of working out financial tactics for next month. It is about bathing your mind in a few moments of rare serenity a lot like your dog/cat does every single day.

Sure, they dont have as many responsibilities as you do, but that doesnt mean you cant learn a lesson from them. Here are 6 signs you should follow your pets lead and start meditating:

You are anxious. Anxiety is essentially a misfired thought that proceeds to ricochet aggressively against the walls of the skull, gaining power and momentum with each collision. It is a spiral of questions, insecurity, fear and self-doubt that becomes more of a reality with every minute it swirls inside your head. How can we calm this storm of the mind? Meditation, of course. Does your pet overthink things? Of course not, that would be silly So why is it okay for you to?

You cant sleep. When you cant sleep, you feel absolutely dreadful. Your brain feels sluggish, you feel unproductive and often dietary choices arent the most nourishing. To get that relaxation response your body needs to fall asleep, try mindfulness meditation. It has been shown to improve sleep quality, lower stress and reducedepression. Go ahead, show me a dog or cat who has trouble sleeping.

You are absurdly busy. When you dont think you have time to eat a quality meal, never mind meditate, that is precisely the time you need meditation the most. Okay, your pet really isnt that busy, but if they were, you know they would still take the time to have a nice nap or take a little quiet space. Or, at the very least, they would go to bed early so that they feelready to slay the next day! Do you do these things? Even if you are busy, maybe taking a 10 minute meditation break isnt so impossible to squeeze in. Youll feel so much better as a result and be more productive during the rest of your busy day, so it pays off.

You have low self-confidence. If you dont think youre worthy of what you have, or what you could have, its time to spend a little more time with yourself. Meditation is the practice of being with yourself and accepting yourself simply as you are, without judgement. With practice, meditation can help you to realize that you are enough, and that you deserve to be truly happy and confident in who you are. Your dog has no self-doubt and is confident in both of you. Emulate that sort of enthusiasm for yourself.

You feel tired all the time. Maybe you get plenty of sleep, but you still wake up tired. Whether it is stress, anxiety, depression or something else, you need to find a way to let your mind reset. Taking some time to meditate in the morning, during the day or before bed could help unlock the pressure release valve on that big brain of yours. Then, when it is time to play ball, youll be ready to go all in.

Your back hurts. Your pet has impeccable posture. Why? Because they use their limbs, they stretch and they dont sit hunched over in chairs. As I sit here, hunching my shoulders to navigate a relatively narrow keyboard, I feel grateful knowing I have a ballet class tonight and a yoga class tomorrow. Its the only way I know how to undo the effects of sitting for long swaths of time. But, if you do not currently have a physical wellness routine thatactivates the sleeping muscles of the spine, abdominals and buttocks, you may be suffering from seat-induced back pain. And as back pain is notoriously tricky to healsince, you know, your back is pretty much involved in all basic movementsthe injury and its limitations can feel incredibly discouraging.

However, studies have shown that meditation can be a powerful source of pain relief. Meditating can help manage pain and even encourage the body to heal faster, without drugs. With such a problem with opioids in the nation, drug-free pain relief isundervalued.

Meditation is so important for our mental wellness. Go sit alone in a quiet room for twenty minutes. Close your eyes and focus on breathing deeply and regularly. Meditation doesnt have to be a crunchy practice for the yoga elite. Everyone could use some mindfulness. Our pets live in the moment, why cant we?

Related:Heres How to Get Yourself to Workout When Netflix Is Slowing You DownThis Cannabis Compound Eases Pain and Anxiety (and Wont Get You High)Get Sick Less After Winter Workouts by Eating Carbs

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Your Pet Is Better At Meditating Than You | Care2 Healthy Living - Care2.com

These tinymeditation shelters offer protection and a place to rest forhikers exploring the Lithuanian forests. The shelters are a placewhere people can find solitude to reconnect with nature and find harmony with the environment. A slithering stone pathway that weaves throughout the forest garden was inspired by a Lithuanian fairy tale about serpents.

The project, named Gapahuk, is part of a larger Meditation Garden designed by Bjrndal Arkitektstudio which won the American Architecture Prize 2016. Used for individual meditation and as a place where hikers can rest and get warm, this cluster of shelters was built during the Human Birdhouse Workshop in Lithuania last August. The team cleared a forest clearing and shaped pathways that naturally weave in and around the garden. Two fireplaces installed in front of the shelters are surrounded with sitting areas. Holy stones added to the site look like totems of masculine and feminine origin, while a symbolic stone pathway represents a Lithuanian fairy tale about serpents.

Related: FORT II is a Meditation Pavilion Made from 810 Reclaimed Shipping Pallets

The workshop took place on the property of famous Lithuanian children books author, poet and film/theatre director Vytautas V. Landsbergis. The idea was to design and build architecture in the style of Constructive Shamanism, which brings together architects, builders and spiritual practitioners to strengthen and reveal the connection between humans and nature. References to Lithuanian mythology dominate the project, with visitors participating in spiritual ceremonies and singing mantras around a bonfire.

+ Bjrndal Arkitektsudio

Via v2com

Lead photo by Lidija Kaleinikovaite

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Tiny meditation shelters are the perfect place for hikers to connect with the forest - Inhabitat

PUNE: When a former monk with strong connections in the music world, and a former corporate executive get together, the resulting venture is likely to be unique, to say the least.

Ashwin Srisailam, a former monk turned entrepreneur, who has hung out with Michael Jackson in the past and counts AR Rahman among his friends, and Diane Bacchus-Quddus got together to set up Ahhaa in 2015. The app, launched by AR Rahman, was then a platform for inner growth and fulfilment. After being selected for acceleration at Pune-based Edugild in 2016, it has since undergone a change in what it is doing. Srisailam told ET that the focus has now shifted to creating 'Ahhaa spaces' or meditation zones in corporate and educational campuses.

"The aim is to help with inner growth using content for inner well-being. The first such space is coming up at Avantika University in Ujjain, followed by one each at the HCL campus and at Cambridge University Press campus in New Delhi," he said. This would be a light design lab geared towards immersive content using virtual reality.

Bacchus-Quddus said, "While the content has been created based on insights from us (the founders), the music for the Ahhaa Space has been specially licensed by AR Rahman himself. The content will focus on four key areas, insights, inspiration, music and meditation."

The trigger for setting up this venture was the realisation that most people working corporate jobs, and students, face a high degree of stress in their daily lives, which impacts both their personal and professional life. These spaces would use virtual reality, audio and video content presented over small three-five minute capsules on specific topics, aimed towards inner growth and 'feeling awesome'.

The plan is to expand this over time to other educational institutes, as well as collaborate with other people, including celebrities, to create content. According to the founders, the world has 3.2 billion workers, and the expected market opportunity is pegged at $320 billion and growing at 12.2% if one is to take an average spend of $100. Ahhaa pegs the available market for this venture at $16 billion if it takes 50% of the available market as its target at $169 billion annually.

At present, it has Ajay Malik on board as an investor, along with ex-Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, and Richard Ross, Partner at Perkins Coi as advisors, among others. Over time, the company will create more content as it expands to other places as well.

To start with, the spaces would be 1000 sq ft, but will move to smaller caf-like formats as well over time.

Read the original here:

A startup that focuses on creating meditation zones in corporate campuses - Economic Times

Mindfulness and meditation techniques are being used in schools across the country.

A recent study by the University of California-Davis and the non-profit organization Mindful Schools shows mindfulness triples students ability to focus and participate in class activities.

Fourth graders meditating? Kindergarteners practicing mindful breathing? Its not a big deal at Harris Hill Elementary School. Every class here has students doing the same thing.

Theyre less impulsive with each other, they think about their words before they speak. So it definitely spills into the daily routines," says Heidi Palmeiro-Potter, a 4th grade teacher at Harris Hill Elementary School.

Mindfulness can be different things like meditating, deep breathing, says Adam Elbousty, a 4th grader who participates in the meditation practices.

School psychologist at Harris Elementary Michelle Braun-Burget began testing these techniques three years ago with students.

What Im finding is there are a lot of students even at this age, which is K through fifth grade, five-year-olds to ten, and eleven-year-olds, who are anxious and nervous and have trouble focusing," says Michelle.

If someones having a hard time they give them the strategies also. Ive heard students say do your breathing. Heidi says.

The point behind the techniques that mindfulness brings is helping those children learn coping strategies no matter what their circumstances are," Michelle said.

Michelle also added that now students are more self-confident.

Theyre just more aware of themselves and what makes them upset, what makes them nervous and they have better control now of how to deal with it," Michelle points out.

MindfulSchools.org says its trained teachers in all 50 states and more than 100 countries so far, helping more than 750-thousand students.

MINDFULNESS IN THE CLASSROOM REPORT #2397

BACKGROUND: Meditation is an activity where a person learns to focus their attention, and becomes less stressed and calmer. Statistics have shown that people who meditate in groups have seen a decreased crime rate in the area. Furthermore, stress is a risk factor for coronary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes and high blood pressure. Since meditation reduces stress, meditation also reduces the risk of suffering from these diseases. According to one article, those who meditate can reduce their risk of being hospitalized for a coronary disease by 87%, and reduce the possibility of getting cancer by 55%. Most of the meditation techniques started with Eastern religious or spiritual traditions; but in the present, many of the people who meditate dont use it for religious or spiritual reasons. Meditation includes: * Mantra meditation * Mindfulness meditation * Spiritual meditation * Meditation used as part of other practices like yoga, tai chi and qui gong (Source: https://www.project-meditation.org/a_wim1/statistics_on_people_who_meditate.html & https://nccih.nih.gov/research/statistics/NHIS/2012/mind-body/meditation)

MINDFUL SCHOOLS STUDY: A study conducted by the University of California, Davis, in conjunction with the non-profit organization Mindful Schools, wanted to see how mindfulness meditation affected students. The study involved 937 students and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland school districts. The study was divided into a control group and a mindful group. Those in the mindful group would use the mindful schools curriculum that contained the mindful educator essentials; whereas, the control group would only contain 4 hours of mindfulness instructions for the students. The study found statistically significant improvements in the mindful students ability to pay attention and participate in class, compared to other students who were in the control group. The educators who participated in the study said they saw in their students: * 83% improved focus * 89% better emotional regulation * 76% more compassion * 79% improved engagement (Source: http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research/)

MINDFULNESS IN EDUCATION & EARLY IN LIFE: Mindfulness meditation in the classroom can help both the teacher and the student. By implementing meditation, teachers benefit from reduced stress and burnout. They perform better in their jobs, have more emotionally-supportive classrooms, and develop better classroom organizations. Students also benefit in their education, as well as their human and personal development. With meditation, they improve in their cognitive outcomes, social-emotional skills, and well-being. These improvements lead to long-term benefits in life. Having good social skills from a small age predicts education, employment, and less crime, substance abuse, and mental health outcomes in adulthood. (Source: http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research/)

Originally posted here:

Meditation techniques now being used in schools across the country - WNDU-TV

Before the All-Star festivities this past weekend, BSN Denver had a chance to sit down with Jamal Murray for a discussion on everything but basketball. T.J. McBride and Murray talked everything from hip-hop,meditation and Murrays family, to growing up in Canada, Kentucky and Coach John Calipari. Heres part one:

T.J. McBride:Lets start with music. I saw that you were a big J Cole fan and that is something I have identified with and something that people have not really talked about much. What is it about hip-hop and J Cole in particular that has really grabbed ahold of you and something that has been instrumental going forward for you?

Jamal Murray:Heis a lyricist. He is deep. He has a good vibe and flow and he is more rapping about real stuff and real situations than just the typical stuff. I listen to his words a lot and write a lot of it down on whatever to kind of find the perspective that he comes from.

T.J.:So you are more of a 90s hip-hop guy, right? A little more old school stuff? Because you were listening to Busta Rhymes back at Kentucky all the time. What is some other 90s hip-hop stuff that you listen to?

Jamal: My dad raised me on it. Wu-Tang Clan, a lot of other old school groups and all of that, so I know a lot of the old school music and J Cole kind of has that newer school but old school at the same time so I like him a lot and he has been my favorite for a long time.

T.J.: So Ill put you on the spot. What is his number one album right now that is your favorite?

Jamal:Theres not. Theres not. Just every song. Just every song. I know every song by heart.

T.J.: So youve listened to 4 Your Eyez Only all the way through, Im sure, multiple times. What is your favorite track off of that album?

Jamal: Theres not a favorite track (laughs). I would probably say Immortal, Shes Mine Part Two, Change. Those are a couple of my favorites but, I mean, I like every song that he plays.

TJ: Are there any other hip-hop guys from the 90s that you like? Is it mostly East coast or West coast?

Jamal: I dont really know. Im from Canada (laughs).

T.J.:So what is the hip hop scene like in Canada?

Jamal: Drake. Drake, Drake, Drake.

T.J.: Are you a big Drake fan then because of that?

Jamal:I mean, yeah, I like Drake. I like his stuff. He has a lot of stuff out and it is really whatever you want; rap, slow, or both.

T.J.:Going off of that, is there any new age hip hop that you are into? Is it like a Kendrick Lamar type of conscious hip hop that you are into?

Jamal: I say mostly J Cole in terms of how much I listen to him. I listen to a lot of stuff. Bob Marley, Logic, anything that is a little bit soothing and a little slower.

T.J.:Is there anybody, out of nowhere, that you can just drop a name on people that they would never expect that you listen to?

Jamal: I mean, you can go through my phone (laughs). You can see these playlists. I listen to tons of music but mostly just heavily J Cole.

T.J.: So a little bit more about Canada. What is the basketball culture like in Kitchener? There has not been a lot of talk being that you played so much AAU ball against U.S. teams and there was not a whole lot of Canadian emphasis outside of the Canadian National team. What was it like growing up in Canada and, in particular, the difficulties and differences you experienced?

Jamal: Well there was not a lot of media attention the first year or second year I was at Orangeville Prep, which was not really known yet. Me and Thon (Maker) took that with us and brought it to the states and played a lot of games there but now in Canada; they have their own league for high school. So they get looks there and a couple guys have already committed to D-1 schools. It has been growing up as a program but we definitely need the states to kick it off a little bit.

TJ:Are you and Thon still tight. Like do you still talk at all and have you been watching him with Milwaukee.

Jamal:Yeah, of course.

TJ:Another thing that really gets pushed under the radar it feels like, because your dad is obviously an enormous influence in your life, but you have talked about how your mom has really held down the fort and really made things stable at home. Care to talk about your mom and give her a shout-out?

Jamal:She is always supportive and she is always there. Whatever we need her to do she is there. She is like one of those good teammates, you know? That always does the little stuff that goes under the radar. Sometimes I come home and their food is ready, the place is clean, my brother Lamar is in bed or whatever it is. It is the simple stuff that makes everything a little bit easier; she does that. My clothes are clean, she gives me calls and messages every morning. She is very supportive and she understands what Im doing and what Im trying to do. My dad has to be with me a lot of the time just to help me out and she does a great job of taking care of herself and taking care of the family.

T.J.: Is your dad still coming around and does he still come to most of your games or is he still back up in Canada?

Jamal: Its hard to be back and forth so he comes down for a long time and then goes back for a while so its back and forth. We try to balance it out.

TJ: One really cool thing that I wanted to talk about: Your dad. He even said that he stopped his life for you. To have that kind of support every single step of the way and to have someone to be in the gym with you and someone who was always pushing you and, not just there as someone who loves you and someone who cares, but hewants you to be the best you can be. How big is it to have that support system behind you?

Jamal:It is good. it is something that you need, especially someone who doesnt look at just your positives but also looks at all of your negatives and whatyou need to work on. He is very detailed about it and he is my biggest critic and my toughest critic. When he is talking to me he is yelling a lot but I listen to it to know what he is saying and how he is saying it.

T.J.: One other thing; your dad had a really cool quotethat I really liked that said: I dont want to give away all my secrets but the whole idea was to block out what he was feeling and that the pain was just temporary. Some kids get hit or cut immediately and it is worse for them than it really is. I tried to show him that pain is something that we all go through and it is a part of life. If you dont get freaked out by it then you can get past it. How much of the embodiment of that philosophy has gone into basketball for you? That seems like that is you as a person even.

Jamal:It has gone a long way. Im always up and down but there are some things, like not getting minutes or not cant make a shot, those things are all temporary. You cant make a shot? You are going to make a shot sometime. Positive thinking, you know? If you dont get minutes just make sure you make the most of your opportunity with your minutes. So when I go into a game I dont think about when I am coming out or what I did wrong. If I make a mistake I just try to make up for it, know it is my fault, and keep playing. Keep a forward mindset instead of lingering back on what happened.

Stay tuned for Part 2 on Tuesday.

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Beyond Basketball: A conversation with Jamal Murray on hip-hop, meditation, Kentucky and family - BSN Denver

By Anne M. Mozingo

PORTSMOUTH Stress used to be the chaotic state of mind that plagued some adults who were juggling multiple responsibilities with very few hours a week to themselves. Today, stress is the norm for practically everyone in the United States, including children.

And its a killer. Daily stress gone unchecked is as important a risk factor as hypertension, diabetes and smoking when it comes to the number one life-threatening disease in the United States cardiovascular disease. And take that rushed, trapped feeling one step further and there are an array of anxiety disorders, a mental health condition that racks the nervous systems of more than 40 million adults in the United States between the ages of 18 and 54, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

But there is a solution that people worldwide are turning to. And its not the latest drug or new-age technique. It is called Transcendental Meditation, an ancient practice that originated in India. Those who commit to two 15-20 minute sessions of TM daily say it calms the mind and offers immense rewards for the body as well.

If anything significant happens in the mind, something significant is going to happen to the body since the mind and body are almost like one, said Joan Rist a TM teacher in New Hampshire and Maine. The mind settles down and the body gets this deep rest, and the rest is what is needed to get rid of this deep-rooted stress in our culture. Stress is the black plague of the 21st century. It impacts our health and our well-being. It impacts everyone. So if we can get rid of these deep rooted stresses we can improve our well-being and live life more with enjoyment of our full potential.

Times have changed since the first surge of Americans learning TM in the 1970s, when people wondered if TM was affiliated with a religion or a cult. Today, with more than 700 scientific studies exploring the impact TM has on those who practice, interest in TM is on the rise as TM is considered a mainstream form of self-care.

What is meditation? Is it a way to relax or a way to promote health, vitality and longevity? Is it a means to develop creativity, increase the meditator's IQ and obtain peak mental performance? Or is it a path to inner peace and enlightenment? Actually, Transcendental Meditation is a way to attain all of these possibilities and much, much more, said Bill Rist, who met his wife, Joan, in the mid-seventies in California, where they both were teaching Transcendental programs. The two have been teaching various advanced programs around the country for the past 40 years.

And with daily stress practically a badge of honor in this culture over the past decade, these teachers are doing their part to offer instruction on the TM technique to help improve the lives of many in a myriad of ways.

We have had an increase in people coming to learn TM to gain peace of mind, get relief from stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, (post-traumatic stress disorder), attention deficit disorder and some people learn TM because they want to realize more of who they are deep inside, they want to reach their full potential, said Bill Rist. We actually have people come who want to have better personal relationships, and limit the over-reactionary behavior with their bosses and family, but more than anything, it is anxiety that brings people in.

Transcendental Meditation continues to gain popularity because it is commonplace for both doctors and therapists alike to practice TM and recommend it to their patients. The American Medical Association conducted its own research on high blood pressure and the effects of various forms of meditation and concluded that TM is the only technique that works to reduce high blood pressure. Similarly, The American Heart Association in 2013 studied alternative and complimentary medicines impact on hypertension and today recommends TM as part of a treatment plan for those with blood pressure exceeding 120/80.

Unlike some alternative therapies that require a lot of time and effort to gain a cumulative impact, there is no learning curve at all with TM, said Joan Rist.

We are hard-wired for the mind to move from an active state to a less and less active state. In that moving the body settles as well. On the very first day a new meditator will almost always say they feel very relaxed, said Joan Rist. We have people who are not able to relax until they start TM. They start enjoying a relaxed state from the very first meditation, which is why it is so wonderful to teach this because it does not take years to get results.

Researchers conducted brain wave exams (EEG) on new and long-term meditators and found the longer a person practices TM the more cohesive their brain wave patterns become, which means all parts of the brain work together. This global coherence with alpha wave patterns, which are associated with restfulness and creativity, were found in those who had only been practicing TM for two weeks. And over time, these coherent brain wave patterns were found when the meditators were active as well, not just when the person is meditating. This EEG evidence, Bill Rist said, reveals what regular meditators experience as life with more emotional balance, creativity, improved memory, focus and learning capabilities.

I could not imagine starting my day without the focus I get from my morning meditation, said Joan Rist. And who doesnt want to recuperate from stressful situations more quickly? TM is now being taught to the young cadets at Norwich University to see if they are more resilient in active duty rather than waiting until they come home from war with PTSD. A four-year study is under way now. Its brilliant.

Every weekend either in Concord, Portsmouth or Portland, the Rists offer a one-hour Introduction to Transcendental Meditation workshop, which covers the benefits gleaned from the hundreds of studies in the past 40 years. TM settles the mind, Bill Rist told a group attending his workshop last week in Portsmouth, from the active state to a much deeper state of awareness, then transcends any activity at all. Four subsequent classes will offer these students the practical details of sitting down in two 15-20-minute meditations a day, calming the mind from its active state and thereby providing the body a powerful rest and preparing the meditator for the day or the evening. At the first class, the students will receive a mantra, which is a sound chosen by the teacher that comes from the ancient Vedic tradition. It is a pleasant sound that has no meaning and enables the meditator to settle the mind, giving them something to ride inward on, said Joan Rist.

If the sound had meaning it would keep us on the surface. The mantra has a healthy influence on the body and mind, yet it is only a vehicle, it is not an end in itself. It settles the mind, the mind loves to have less and less activity, said Joan Rist.

For four decades Bill and Joan Rist of Concord have been teaching the TM technique first brought to the United States in the 1950s and made popular by the Beatles in the 1960s, when the band traveled to India to learn from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi himself. But today there are many famous meditators in the United States, including Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos, Candy Crowley, Arianna Huffington, and Hollywood director David Lynch, who has been practicing TM daily for 40 years and started a foundation to raise money to provide inner city children with TM in their schools. The biggest project is in San Francisco, where 14 middle and high schools meditate together twice a day and call it quiet time.

Lynchs goal to get as many children as possible meditating has really kicked off in South America, where the education director in Brazil wants to offer TM to students nationwide, said Joan Rist. TM helps kids learn. Children with ADHD can learn TM. Its easy, effortless and natural and they find their grade-point averages go up. When we practice TM regularly, it impacts our health. It changes everything. Stress is the number one enemy of learning. So when kids, or adults for that matter, learn TM they enjoy this transcending process and the quiet we get from meditating becomes cumulative, we bring a little bit more each day into the active mind, which changes our ability to focus, be creative and reach our potential.

For information on Transcendental Meditation, visit http://www.TM.org.

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Transcendental Meditation helps get rid of stress - News ... - Seacoastonline.com

By Elena Neva

Three times a week: Thursdays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., you can come to 7 Hill St. in Somerville, to relax, meditate, chant (if you will) for 90 minutes.

Everyone is welcome to enjoy the peaceful and spiritual atmosphere.

Harvard graduate, the Rev. Kim found the location at the border of Medford and Somerville and organized the new home for Won-Buddhists and everyone else who wants to come and leave behind a hectic life and world with problems to exercise the mind and body.

All are welcome to come and learn some breathing techniques, meditation and tai chi.

Free yourself from the daily stress of life for 90 minutes of silence and peace.

Schools around the country are now implementing meditation to help with discipline and concentration of students.

The Rev. Kim visited some schools in our state and taught kids how to breathe for relaxation.

When I teach evening classes I also ask my students to close their eyes and sit in silence for five minutes before we will begin the class. Its a wonderful form of relaxation and concentration.

I had an opportunity to visit the Won Dharma Center (wondharmacenter.org) in upstate New York for a three-day retreat and had a delightful experience in a peaceful environment, tasty food and three days of meditation of different kinds: sitting, moving, walking in nature. I met people there from different states and even countries.

Some Thursdays nights in Somerville, one can try a very special ginger lemon tea with pies from the Rev. Park after the meditation, meet new people and have a friendly talk.

In 2009, I was interviewing the Rev. Kim, founder and leader of the Won-Buddhist center of Boston on TV3 Medford, for my show Meeting Interesting people. After the show was aired in Medford, it was also aired in Somerville.

Soon, a new home for TV3 in Medford will be open, and Im planning to re-establish the program. I will invite the Rev. Kim again to hear new stories of how meditation helps to transform peoples lives.

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NEVA: Meditation, relaxation and more - News - Medford Transcript ... - Wicked Local Medford

My shaman blows smoke in my face.

In Spanish, he tells me to think with my heart, not my mind. Moments later our thatch hut collapses like a technicolor circus tent. The girl behind me pukes. The girl beside me cries tears of joy.

In this moment, I see my life laid out like a high-tech, panoramic Facebook program. I see my own icon in the center of the screen. Connected to my icon are small pipes filled with pulsating energy the color of sangria. Each pipe is connected to a person I know: my girlfriend, my mother, my brother, my girlfriends grandparents and my father.

I came to the jungle to be free of anger. I came to the jungle to stop being such a neurotic. I came to the jungle to be a more loving person.

A voice, which I recognize as the voice of the dead philosopher Alan Watts, tells me to put myself into other people. The shamans whistle grows louder and the colors become more vivid. I think about helping everyone in my life. The pipes swell and I see energy from my picture push into the pictures of other people. The field of focus shifts from my icon to theirs. Then it expands outward to peopleI have never met. Trees in woods I have never been to. I feel an overwhelming sense of warmth push down on me. My body collapses onto the wood floor. The deepest feeling of love that I have ever experienced in my life presses me through the ground.

***

Two years later I sit on a cushion in a Kansas community center. The Buddhist senior teacher, though she refers to herself as a senior student, tells me that my mind is like a judgmental monkey, constantly grabbing branches and tossing them aside. She says that it is the minds nature to be anxious and dissatisfied. Dont try to change it, she says. Just notice it and return to the breath.

Like so many others before me, I experienced a state of unconditional love under the influence of entheogenic plants. Yet, there was a comedown. After weeks of bliss and a feeling of deep interconnectedness with everyone and everything, my neurotic mind reared back into first gear. The usual criticisms of other people and myself, anxiety about the future, and a lingering feeling of discontent reemerged. So, I looked toward all the travelers before me Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, Larry Brilliant who found a way to access the peace, equanimity and compassion characteristic of a psychedelic experience without the plants.

All signs pointed toward meditation.

I would be a liar if I said my monkey mind has disappeared after my S.N. Goenka retreat, a retreat at the Garrison Institute, and two years of meditation without missing a day. But my mind is a lot quieter. I am less judgmental of people and myself. And I know more deeply what it means to think with my heart, rather than my mind. Ayahuasca showed me a plane of consciousness that the Buddhas, Christs and other sages of the world knew how to access in the absence of entheogenic plants. This plane is not a plane of hallucinatory visions, which for me have always been the ornamental frills of a psychedelic experience. It is a plane of unconditional love, and freedom from anger and fear. Meditation gave me a sustainable way to get back here without having to buy a plane ticket to South America.

***

My evolution of consciousness transformed my relationship with myself and my relationships with other people. It also changed the way I relate to activism. My political formation as a teenager came through the punk and alternative rock scenes. As I listened to bands like Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down scream, Fuck you, I wont do what you tell me! and The fire in the masters house is set! on Carson Dalys top-10 countdown, I was inspired to challenge the politicians, Wall Street bankers and corporate CEOs who seemed intent on dispossessing the poor, destroying the planet and turning everything into a source of private profit, like capitalist vampires trained in alchemy. One of my first Rage Against the Machine t-shirts had the lyrics Your anger is a gift! printed across the chest.

But a politics of anger is not sustainable, unless you are interested in having a heart attack before you turn 40. If you listen to talks by enduring political voiceslike Noam Chomsky, they very rarely get aggravated. When I went to Chomskys lecture in Boston a few months ago, titled Extinction or Internationalism, he was quite cool when he discussed the prospects of nuclear annihilation and environmental catastrophe. He even joked around. Howard Zinn was the same way. While to my knowledge they never dropped LSD or engaged in a 10-day meditation retreat, they embody the temperament that psychedelics and meditation can cultivate in people.

Through my experiences, I have becomea much calmer and more empathetic person, and that calmhas affectedmy approach to political activism. But that doesnt mean Im less engaged Ive become more politically active as a result.

Today, I see the violence that permeates homes, politics and the world as a consequence of the suffering experienced by individuals. This relationship to ill will led me to prisons where I teach meditation, mindfulness and nonviolent communication to people whose inner turmoil caused them to create turmoil in their communities.

My experiences abroad and at home also led me to have a much more compassionate view of the people I once felt anger toward like those CEOs, financiers, politicians andpeople who dont vote the same way I do.

At a time like this, it is especially important that words like empathy, compassion, understanding, composure and equanimity play a part in our political vernacular. When I see President Donald Trump or Sen. Paul Ryan speak about deregulating the oil industry or destroying public programs for the poor, I see two individuals who are suffering. I see menlike my younger self, filled with anger and fear, who werenever able to let it go, and who now exercise that anger and fear on a global scale. I cannot imagine what it is like to live with as much hate inside me as is inside Donald Trump. But, through empathy, I can act against him without hating him. This allows me to have compassion not just for the powerless, but also the powerful. It also allows me to stay free of the anger and fear that brought me to the jungle. In this tension between action against and empathy for, the seeds of a politics of love and radical social change can grow.

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Ayahuasca, meditation and activism: On cultivating the mindful politics of love - Salon