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Meditation

December 08, 2005

ph_dec_medmeditate.jpg
In my humble opinion, meditation is a key ingredient to living your best life. There was a time when I had a lot of head-knowledge about the subject, but just couldn't get into the groove of meditating. I knew it was a good thing, but couldn't quite pull off sitting and just being quiet for 40 minutes.

Then I read a TIME article on the "Science of Happiness" and everything changed. Research has shown that people who sit quietly and breathe deeply for 45 minutes each day on a regular basis have less depression... they sleep better... they're HAPPIER.

HAPPINESS. There's something we all could use more of.

I read the article when I was distinctly UN-happy. I was also recovering from a year-long undiagnosed bout of sinusitis. After reading the article I decided it would be worth a try, and I've been meditating ever since.

Here's how I do it ~ there's no "right" way. I think everyone "finds" their own unique way that works for them. The key is to breathe deeply and without harsh judgement, try to clear the thoughts out of your head and "just be".

1. I make myself a cup of green tea in the morning and put on a wonderful cd I downloaded from iTunes called "Monastery Garden".

2. I sit down on my padded pilates mat (which is great for yoga too... I highly recommend getting one.)

3. I breathe deeply for about a minute, and then do something I learned in yoga practice. I put my hands together in prayer, and raise them over my head and ask God to please help me get in touch with my higher mind. I then move my prayerful hands down each chakra center in my body and imagine myself breathing through each of the areas and taking note of how my body feels. I've found it's a wonderful way to center myself and be aware of any physical symptoms I might have.

4. I then do some upper body stretching I learned in dance class... all while breathing deeply.

5. When I feel ready and relaxed, I then settle into continual deep breathing for up to 50 minutes.

All I can say is that it's made me a happier person. According to the science, breathing deeply helps increase the activity in one of your frontal lobes... I think the left one. Happy people have more activity in their left frontal lobes, and since I'm a right-brained artist, I figure I can use all the left-brain-boosting I can get.

It also doesn't matter what you believe when you sit down to meditate. What matters is you believe something. Maybe you focus on God, Serenity, Love, Stillness, or Peace. Perhaps you connect to the collective unconscious, or ~ you just focus on being yourself, and becoming deliriously happy with that. If your mind wanders, gently bring yourself back. The key is to practice without harsh self-judgement. Acceptance of yourself and where you are is the key.

If you have your own meditative practice, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to comment or email with your ideas or questions.

NAMASTE!
{ for a fun take on yoga, visit my interactive ADVENT CALENDAR today! }

Posted by vincent at December 8, 2005 08:38 AM

Comments

I do love today's Snowga :-). You're very lucky that you can take the time during the day to stop and do yoga. My employers would be less than happy if I started doing anything of the sort. I barely made it out today for Mass!

Posted by: Andrea at December 8, 2005 11:46 AM

Snowga!

I love it!

Posted by: dan at December 8, 2005 12:34 PM

you are SO creative! each day is such a wonder and a joy. my kids race to get their little chocolate out of their grandma provided advent calendar and i get to visit your site - and today i was feeling all slushy, so i will now go and practice my snowga!

can't wait for tomorrow!

Posted by: bobbie at December 8, 2005 04:05 PM

I think I'll try some meditating with my kindergarten students. That would definitely make me happier.

Posted by: windylampson at December 8, 2005 05:14 PM

I once sat down to meditate
And fell into a trance
Dreamed my pillow a marshmallow
And I the king of France
So now when I in yogi pose
Feel sleepness coming on
I lie upon a bed of nails
With my head on French bon bons

Posted by: Robert White at December 8, 2005 07:07 PM

Very cool method of meditation! I like it a lot. There are so very many techniques, which yield differeing results. Some are for moving energy in the body, some are for developing the spiritual body, or the mental or the emotional body, some are for relaxation, some are for connecting with God or your own Higher Self... and they're all wonderful.

Posted by: Wandering Willow at December 9, 2005 03:18 PM

Namaste...
to you, to ;)
i read a wonderful quote today, about silence...

"Let us be silent, that we
may hear the whispers of the gods."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

things that make me go, hmmmm
especially in this season of frantic activity!

Posted by: susie albert miller at December 11, 2005 11:08 PM

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Posted by: Sean Davis at December 20, 2005 10:29 AM