A Brief Guide To MeditationBy Jon Terrell, M.A., L.M.T.
Meditation has numerous physical, emotional and mental benefits.Physical benefits of meditation (and other methods of relaxation such as Autogenics) include lower heart rate and decreased high blood pressure, lower levels of hormones associated with stress, reduction of free radicals, lower cholesterol, improved lung functioning, improved digestion and younger biological age. Numerous health conditions are improved with meditation including insomnia, irritable bowel, fibromyalgia and headaches. It helps with pain management, too. Psychological benefits include reduced anxiety, irritability and depression, increased memory and learning capabilities, improved mood and emotional stability. Studies show that regular meditators have increased activity in the areas of the brain associated with creativity and moral reasoning, and that their brain waves are more coherent. Meditators report other benefits as well: A greater sense of the interconnection of all life, greater acceptance, peace, a more positive outlook, feeling more youthful, generosity, improved self-esteem. Types Of MeditationConcentration Methods focus our awareness on a specific object, an image (such as a religious figure), a sound, or even the breath itself. Concentration practice narrows our awareness down, zeroing it in closer and closer to the object. This can lead to a deep sense of relaxation as observer and what is observed merge into oneness. Transcendental Meditation (TM) is the best known brand of concentration practice. It's been extensively researched. You learn a Sanskrit word or phrase (a mantra) that you repeat silently to yourself over and over to relax and move into a place of awareness beyond thinking. For more information on TM, click
here. Or pick a sound, word or short phrase, such as "OM" or "Peace" and repeat it silently to yourself in a slow, deliberate manner. While you may feel some relaxation in a couple of minutes, it often takes 20-30 minutes for you to move into a deeply relaxed state beyond thought. Just reading about it will do very little but build up your knowledge base. Be sure you allow some time to practice this or another type of meditation so you can know its effectiveness and usefulness for yourself. Try it: Sit for a few minutes with your eyes open. Focus either on your breath or on a point on the floor. But instead of concentrating solely on that, gradually expand your awareness to the constantly changing flow of thoughts, feelings and sensations that enter your mind. As you find yourself distracted and caught up in a story or thought, just bring your focus back to the present moment and your initial object (breath or point on floor). Gradually, but often over a long period of time, your present moment awareness increases as well as a sense of presence or acceptance. Mindfulness is not restricted to formal practice of meditation, but can be brought to any activity by bringing observing or present moment awareness to whatever you do. Active Meditation is the area that I have the most expertise. In this type of meditation you actively engage your mind, taking it on a journey from one place in consciousness to another. Visualization (Imagery) is one form of active meditation that can powerfully engage your healing abilities or intuition. Try it: With your eyes closed, imagine sitting at a dining table with a bowl of fruit in front of you. Take a moment to really see the fruit and pick out a ripe lemon. Hold it in front of you and see its bright yellow color and slightly oily skin. Place it on a cutting board and cut it into wedges. Now pick up a slice and take a big bite out of it. What happened? When I first tried this I was shocked at the power of our minds. Active meditations can support our personal growth and our healing. They can be short...such as the lemon imagery or much longer...30 minutes or more. Now let's look at an active practice that is not well known but can be highly effective in accelerating personal awakening and wellness.
Agni Yoga can be combined with body-oriented work for powerful energy healing. Specific advanced healing techniques have been developed where both practitioner and client work with the tools to amplify the results. See the Energy Healing page for my description of an awakening as a result of one session. Clients report many benefits such as feeling and looking younger, having more energy, a sense of expanded awareness of the divine, a new openness, etc. To learn about our retreat focusing on Agni Yoga, which is called Awakening to Inner Light, click
here. STAR Energy Healing at TRS
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