Meditation changes lives, including mine when I discovered it in my early 20’s. Over the twenty years since then, it has shaped the way I thought, the way I dealt with stress, suffering, fear, and the way I created art. It affects the way I live my life, as well as the way I parent and am spiritually guided.
About ten years ago I started to teach meditation. I saw many close to me suffer from stress, anxiety, depression, and mental illness, with tragic results at times. This helped me to focus what I do. For the last seven years I have helped people with their healing and wellbeing. I combine several modalities including, Reiki, Ayurveda, yoga, aromatherapy, and mindfulness, with meditation at the heart of everything I teach. I’ve taught in children and seniors, in schools and hospitals, and all of this affirms my belief in this essential practice.
So! What exactly is it, how does it work and how do I start?
Meditation has probably been around since the beginning of human existence, or at least since our awareness of consciousness. There are written records in Hindu scriptures that date back approximately 5,000 years, and plenty of evidence is found in other religious texts, including those of Christianity, Judaism, and Taoism. These are the first texts to describe meditation as a formal practice with defined methodologies and objectives.
There are many forms of meditation. I like to teach a number of different ways of meditating as people have different natures, different personalities, and are in different phases of life. Some techniques can just feel more natural than others.
Let us focus on mindfulness meditation. As we discussed last month, mindfulness is the focusing of awareness to the present moment, non-judgmentally. When applied to meditation we are calmly acknowledging and accepting what is, moment by moment. We are not trying to be different from how we already are, we are just becoming aware of what exists in each moment. It helps us to be present with whatever is happening, no matter what it is. This can be a relief (we stop racing around), or sometimes it can be scary (we are sitting with ourselves!).
Give it a try right now. Just stop what you are doing and focus on your body, notice its sensations. You might start with the soles of the feet and work up. You don’t need to get into a dialogue with yourself about each body part, stick to just observing the sensation.
Move up the body, sitting bones, spine, shoulders, neck and throat, notice where your mind is in the same observational way. Are you having lots of thoughts, feeling mentally tired or sluggish? Just notice. No judgment.
Begin to notice the sensation of breathing, allow things to settle. Feel your abdomen rising and falling. Feel the breath slowing down. Your mind will wander off and as soon as you notice this, just guide your focus back to the sensation of breathing in and breathing out.
And that’s it – you just meditated! Easy, right? Well no, it’s not easy. It’s simple, but definitely not easy! It’s a practice. The more we practice the more space we feel.
It helps to have a guide, someone you can question, someone who helps you keep motivated. It can also be wonderful and profound to meditate as part of a group, with group energy enhancing and informing your individual practice. The work needs to be done by you, though, and it isn’t called a ‘practice’ for nothing. You can get started by just setting aside a few minutes a day and doing it!
What is happening in the brain when I meditate? Through research using modern technology like MRIs and EEGs, we now have a clearer understanding of what is actually taking place in our brains.
Subjects show a pronounced change in brain-wave patterns, shifting from the Beta waves of the aroused brain to the Theta waves that dominate the brain during periods of deep relaxation. Parts of the brain that are usually stimulated through external information–managing perception, reasoning, planning, processing information and emotions–are allowed to slow down. Basically, the brain takes a break.
This soothes the sympathetic nervous system that is affected most by anxiety, tension, fatigue, and depression. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated and this allows the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure to slow down. Cellular repair also takes place, along with a strengthening of the immune system. Pretty profound stuff.
The long-term benefits can be in focusing our attention, which can mean an increase in productivity, a lessoning of anxiety, depression, emotional dysfunction, and anger. More and more research shows an increase in brain elasticity, empathy, and emotional resiliency. As I teach 3rd graders and up, I really do think that meditation will eventually become as common place in schools as PE. And those kids will grow up practicing – the world will be a better place!
“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Brogan Ganley is a mindfulness and meditation teacher, Urban Zen integrative therapist, Reiki master, and yoga teacher.