Meditation Article

 

Infuse Your Life with Meditation
By Amy Phillips-Gary

Would you like to be healthier, feel more energized and improve your focus and attitude? Meditation may be the means toward which you can reach those desired goals.

For various reasons, you may choose not to meditate. Many of us, myself included, just don't create the time for regular meditation. Others feel resistant or averse to meditation because of the stereotypes associated with it.

When you open to meditation and begin to infuse your life with it, however, you might be pleased at how great you feel...and how easy it can be.

What are the of physical and psychological benefits of meditation?
If you aren't familiar with the benefits of regularly meditating, here are a few:
*relaxation and stress reduction
*less anxiety and worry
*lower blood pressure
*increased oxygen to cells
*ease of pre-menstrual symptoms for women
*improvement of chronic diseases such as allergies and
arthritis
*greater mental clarity
*increased serotonin, a naturally-occurring mood enhancer

Who wouldn't want to experience any of these wonderful
improvements in physical and psychological health and
without any of the unwanted side effects that one might
have with prescription drugs!

So why don't more of us meditate at all or more regularly?

Perhaps your image of meditation is of a yogi sitting in an uncomfortable position, eyes closed, removed from the "real world" and just breathing.

If so, you may have resisted trying meditation because you felt intimidated or turned off by such perceptions of this practice. You can't see how you'd fit one more thing into your day-- especially something that seems so involved. It
might even stress you out just thinking about making time to learn how to meditate!

It could also be that you connect meditation with Eastern spiritual practices such as Buddhism or Hinduism and you don't want to veer from the religious path you're committed to. It is true that meditation is core to many spiritual practices.

It can be a way to connect with a higher sense of self or a divine power, depending on what you believe. There are Christians who meditate; for them it is sometimes a form of prayer.

Meditation can also be practiced without any explicitly spiritual or religious dimension at all. It is completely up to you to decide what you want from meditation and it is also up to you to choose how you will meditate.

Meditation is not just sitting on a cushion...
There are many many ways to meditate. Some do involve more physically demanding postures, extended time frames for sitting and chanting mantras or prayers. But what I'm suggesting here is a bit different.

When you infuse your life with meditation, you literally bring meditation into more of your walking around, doing the dishes, typing on the computer, mowing your lawn- type of moments.

In essence, you could re-vitalize each and every moment you have by incorporating meditation into it.

If this sounds like a lot of work, try to keep yourself open and continue reading. Yes, it is a different way of living than you might be used to, but it's not necessarily hard work. In fact, the more practiced you get at infusing
your life with meditation, the easier your entire life can become!

Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh is one teacher who has proposed incorporating meditation and mindfulness into everyday activities. He talks about and leads others in walking meditations, for example.

This new manner of walking is a great way you could begin to infuse meditation into your life.

Here is a general overview of walking meditation:
Walk with presence. Consciously take your attention out of your head and move it down to your feet. Notice how it feels as your feet or shoes connect with the ground.  Breathe as you step.

When your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breath and to that connecting between your body and the Earth.

Try this when you are walking to the bus, your car, or taking your dog for his or her daily walk. You can also do this indoors and really feel the wood, carpet or linoleum under your feet.

Thich Nhat Hanh includes words you can repeat to yourself as you breathe and walk if you'd like to add that as well.

The secret here is to keep your attention focused on this present moment. Really tune in to how your body feels as you take each step. Notice those flowers budding on the trees, the music of the wind, even the traffic. As you
breathe and step, watch as your body loosens and a greater sense of peace comes over you.

At the core of the walking meditation is the breath, your awareness of your own body and a sense of openness.

Expand meditation into other activities.
You don't have to set a timer or watch the clock when you do walking meditation or any other meditative activity.  Set an intention that you will infuse a particular activity with meditation and then follow through with that
intention.

Be sure to notice how you feel afterwards.

For example, you might consciously decide to wash the dinner dishes in a meditative manner one evening. As you fill the sink with soap and water, breathe. While wiping down a plate, breathe and notice the connection between your hand, the soapy water and the dish.

Really allow yourself to sense and admire the process of washing, rinsing and drying dishes.

The next evening, you could choose to wash the dishes as you might usually do-- which probably involves a less present mind and inattention to your breathing.

What feels different about these two experiences?

When outside interruptions to your meditation occur, re-direct your attention to whatever needs to be tended to and then return to your original activity. You and your child can benefit from a more focused and attentive interaction
as you answer a question or pour him or her a glass of water.

After that, you can turn back to the dishes, your typing, or whatever you were doing. The beauty of this practice is that the breathing and the sense of presence and awareness are maintained.

Take a deep breath and dive right in to meditation. You don't need to buy a fancy cushion or even sign up for a meditation class-- unless you want to. Infuse your moments with meditation and pay close attention to how you feel.

You can learn from your experiences and be inspired by how much better you feel as you keep meditating and walking, meditating and typing, meditating and driving, meditating and brushing your teeth...meditating and living.
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a freelance writer, homeschool mom
and personal growth adventurer.
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For more information about Thich Nhat Hanh visit:
http://www.plumvillage.org/

For more detailed suggestions for walking meditation visit:
http://yogateacher.com/text/meditation/on-line/walking.html
 

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