Monday, March 21, 2011

Why Try Meditating

Official Site of why try meditating. Read up the info about why try meditating, and learn more about it!

Meditating outdoors? Does it really matter where you meditate? I think it can. For some of us, being outside makes for not just a different meditation experience, but a more profound one. There are some good reasons for this.

Perhaps meditating in a quiet room with no sounds and nothing to distract is the easiest way, especially for beginners. It's hard enough to quiet your mind without constant input from your surroundings.

On the other hand, life is constant input, so if you want the peacefulness that comes from meditation to enter your life beyond your practice, perhaps learning to meditate despite surrounding sounds and movement is just what you need.

There's a high bank on a river where I lived years ago. It was a five-minute walk from the house. There's a level grassy spot at the top, looking down on the water fifty feet below.

That is where I would go to sit. Often there was a breeze I could feel on my skin and hear in the surrounding trees. I also heard the water as it strained through some dead trees near the river bank. I smelled the dirt around me, and the odor of fish coming up from the water.

Meditating there wasn't only pleasurable because of the environment, but also different from meditating in the silence of my home. There was more of a sense of experiencing the world without thought, without over-analyzing.

Why? Perhaps simply because there was more to experience. There were the sounds, which included birds, and the occasional splashing of some animal in the river. There were things to smell and the feel of the grass.

I usually close my eyes when I meditate, because I am a very visually-oriented person, and find it easier to meditate this way. When I finished my meditation by the river, I would open my eyes, of course, but what I saw was always different from what was there when I started.

Of course it was the same, but I was seeing it differently, as if for the first time. While difficult to explain, this is easy to recognize if you have had the experience.

It's wonderful to look around as if seeing for the first time. You are seeing without preconception. I might see a deer on the opposite bank of the river, but the thought "deer" wouldn't cross my mind, meaning it wouldn't cloud my vision with any ideas about what a deer is or should be.

The sounds and sensations were also "new." I think this more direct experience of life is a profound demonstration of how much we normally "live" through our thoughts, somewhat detached from reality.

If you haven't already tried it, why not get outside for your next meditation? Sit on a hill or in front of a garden, or try standing in front of a lake or pond when you meditate. The view will be wonderful when you open your eyes. There is nothing quite like meditating outdoors.
Read Another Article : What is meditation

What is meditation

Your best source for what is meditation.  I'm sure you'll find the what is meditation you're looking for on our site.

Meditation is a group of mental training techniques .You can use meditation to improve mental health and capacities, and also to help improve the physical health.

  Some of these techniques are very simple, so you can learn them from a book or an article; others require guidance by a qualified meditation teacher.


WHAT IS MEDITATION

Most techniques called meditation include these components:

1. You sit or lie in a relaxed position.

2. You breathe regularly. You breathe in deep enough to get enough oxygen. When you breathe out, you relax your muscles so that your lungs are well emptied, but without straining.

3. You stop thinking about everyday problems and matters.

4. You concentrate your thoughts upon some sound, some word you repeat, some image, some abstract concept or some feeling. Your whole attention should be pointed at the object you have chosen to concentrate upon.

5. If some foreign thoughts creep in, you just stop this foreign thought, and go back to the object of meditation.

The different meditation techniques differ according to the degree of concentration, and how foreign thoughts are handled. By some techniques, the objective is to concentrate so intensely that no foreign thoughts occur at all.

In other techniques, the concentration is more relaxed so that foreign thoughts easily pop up. When these foreign thoughts are discovered, one stops these and goes back to the pure meditation in a relaxed manner.

Thoughts coming up, will often be about things you have forgotten or suppressed, and allow you to rediscover hidden memory material. This rediscovery will have a psychotherapeutic effect.


THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION

Meditation has the following effects:

1. Meditation will give you rest and recreation.

2. You learn to relax.

3. You learn to concentrate better on problem solving.

4. Meditation often has a good effect upon the blood pressure.

5. Meditation has beneficial effects upon inner body processes, like circulation, respiration and digestion.

6. Regular meditation will have a psychotherapeutically effect.

7. Regular meditation will facilitate the immune system.

8. Meditation is usually pleacent.


THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPNOSIS AND MEDITATION

Hypnosis may have some of the same relaxing and psychotherapeutic effects as meditation. However, when you meditate you are in control yourself; by hypnosis you let some other person or some mechanical device control you. Also hypnosis will not have a training effect upon the ability to concentrate.


A SIMPLE FORM OF MEDITATION

Here is a simple form of meditation:

1. Sit in a good chair in a comfortable position.

2. Relax all your muscles as well as you can.

3. Stop thinking about anything, or at least try not to think about anything.

4. Breath out, relaxing all the muscles in your breathing apparatus.

5. Repeat the following in 10 - 20 minutes:

Breath in so deep that you feel you get enough oxygen.
Breath out, relaxing your chest and diaphragm completely.

Every time you breathe out, think the word "one" or another simple word inside yourself. You should think the word in a prolonged manner, and so that you hear it inside you, but you should try to avoid using your mouth or voice.

6. If foreign thoughts come in, just stop these thoughts in a relaxed manner, and keep on concentrating upon the breathing and the word you repeat.

As you proceed through this meditation, you should feel steadily more relaxed in your mind and body, feel that you breathe steadily more effectively, and that the blood circulation throughout your body gets more efficient. You may also feel an increasing mental pleasure throughout the meditation.

THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION UPON DISEASES

As any kind of training, meditation may be exaggerated so that you get tired and worn out. Therefore you should not meditate so long or so concentrated that you feel tired or mentally emptied.

Meditation may sometimes give problems for people suffering from mental diseases, epilepsy, serious heart problems or neurological diseases. On the other hand, meditation may be of help in the treatment of these and other conditions.

People suffering from such conditions should check out what effects the different kinds of meditation have on their own kind of health problems, before beginning to practise meditation, and be cautious if they choose to begin to meditate.

It may be wise to learn meditation from an experienced teacher, psychologist or health worker that use meditation as a treatment module for the actual disease.
Read Another Article : Power Of Binaural Beats

Power Of Binaural Beats

The leading source for power of binaural beats. Learn about power of binaural beats and other top tips here.

What if you could have a technology that allows you to meditate like a Zen Buddhist monk? Imagine all the benefits you could get from being able to enter a very deep meditative state without any effort.

Can you think of anything you would like to program into your mind during this state? I bet you can.I am about to introduce you to a relatively new technology that uses Binaural Beats.

This technology is cutting-edge and can bring you all the benefits that would otherwise take you 30 years to acquire! I am talking about a meditation program by Centerpointe Research Institute called Holosync.

I am going to share with you how this technology works and the benefits you can get from its use as well as the potential dangers that may not be immediately apparent.Unlike other binaural beats recordings Holosync is a course and not a single recording.

It is possible to purchase binaural beat recordings designed for a single purpose. They come in the form of CD and each one is designed to produce just one specific state. However Holosync is very different.

The major affect that Holosync promises to produce is the elimination of past negative programing such as traumas, strong and slight emotional issues, negative memories and negative beliefs of all kinds.Does it work?

To get a comprehensive answer to this question we are required to delve a little deeper into the technology itself and look at the foundation upon which Holosync is built. I am of course talking about Binaural Beat Technology.

It was in 1839 that Binaural Beats were first discovered by a man named Heinrich Wilhelm Dove. However it was much later, in 1973, when Gerald Oster released a paper called "Auditory Beats in the Brain", that their use in cognitive and neurological research was discovered.

These beats are in fact different specific frequencies giving to the left and right ear. The audio produced by using binaural beats can send anyone into a deep meditative state in just a few short minutes. These states are Alpha (light trance), Theta (deep trance) and Delta (dreamless sleep).

Binaural Beats are created by an audio mixing technique that sends different frequency tones to each ear separately. They are designed to alter the listener's brain wave activity and they do this very effectively.

You merely put on some stereo headphones, sit or lie in a comfortable position, close your eyes and allow the sounds to do their work. You don't even have to force yourself to relax.Scientists have long known that when brainwave patterns change they affect the body.

Chemical reactions take place as a direct result of these chnaging brainwave patterns. Such reactions in the body's chemistry usually results in profound positive changes throughout the whole physical system. In essence binaural beats appear to have the same impact and benefits of very deep meditation.http://learning-how-to-meditate.blogspot.com/2011/03/vital-pieces-of-ridiculous-mental.html

It has been shown that this technology produces exactly the same brainwave patterns as those practising deep meditation. For normal people like me and you this is great news. Usually it takes the a life commitment to learn transcendental meditation.

Practitioners of such deep meditative practises devote many hours everyday to perfecting the technique. You can do it in minutes. In fact entering even light states of trance can take years to learn and perfect.The state of transcendental meditation is said to be enormously beneficial to humans.

It can stimulate the creation of certain hormones needed by the body and reduce things like blood pressure and it is even said to slow down and reverse effects of the aging process. So the benefits of entering a deep meditative state are apparent as are the benefits of using binaural beat technology to do it.

As far as Holosync goes the other major benefit, as if we needed one more, is that the state produced by the Centerpointe recordings allow you to directly access the subconscious mind.

This means that the Holosync meditation recordings can be used with any other personal development tool, like subliminal recordings, hypnosis sessions or even as an aid to visualization, with dramatic effects.

Using this type of 21st Century technology means you can therefore alter limiting or negative beliefs, heal emotional issues or create new positive behaviours in a fraction of the time it would take you using conventional means and with a much higher success rate.

Here are some of the benefits of transcendental meditation:1. Creates a deep relaxing feeling throughout the body which stays with you for hours afterwards.2. Boosts your creativity.3. Slows aging.4. Removes emotional blocks, old traumas and creates profound emotional changes at an extremely deep level.5.

Eliminates Stress & anxiety.Now with all the benefits that transcendental meditation brings, and the fact that Holosync produces the same internal states as this meditation, it would be extremely prudent to try it.

The real power of the binaural beats behind the Holosync recordings is that they can be used to induce a meditative state and thus create these changes with no effort whatsoever. All that you need to do is wear stereo headphones, sit or lie down in a relaxing position, close your eyes and allow the audio to do all the work.

You only need the discipline to listen to the recordings everyday!The Binaural Beat market is filling up with manufacturer's who offer some great titles. It is also possible to create your own with the proper software. Unfortunately, here lies the danger!

You need an in-depth knowledge of brainwave patterns and their effect on the mind and body in order to create the correct frequencies. There are several forum postings that state the improper use of binaural beat technologies has created negative and even damaging results on some people.

For this reason I would not recommend creating your own binaural recordings. Likewise, you should be very careful about where you get your recordings. Seek professional, qualified people who know what they are doing so that you know you are getting a quality product.


The CEnterpointe Research Institute, and the Holosync Solution which it produces, are the brainchild of Bill Harris. He created Holosync in 1989, is trained in hypnosis and as well as being a qualified trainer of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).

He has studied contemporary psychology, quantum mechanical physics, the evolution of non-linear systems and the effects of a wide range of neuro-technologies on human behavioural change, evolution and healing.

Holosync has also been endorsed by some top personal development trainers such as James Arthur Ray and Jack Canfield (chicken soup for the soul author) both of whom appeared in the movie The Secret.

The downside of the Holosync technology is that you need to listen to it everyday to get maximum benefit and it also comes in stages as a course.

However, Bill Harris insists that you do not need to continue using it and can stop after each stage of the course is complete while permanently retaining all the changes you've made. You can of course continue and go deeper into the 'meditations' if you wish.

The Holosync solution does create deep states akin to meditation and it does remove emotional traumas that are hidden deep in the subconscious mind. To sum up - Holosync does exactly what it says it will do if you follow the instructions.
Read Another Article : Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation Techniques

Your best source for relaxation techniques.  I'm sure you'll find the relaxation techniques you're looking for on our site.

A few good relaxation techniques can save your life, because stress is more than just unpleasant. It's also dangerous to your health.

Disciplined practices such as meditation can help relieve that stress, but what if you don't have the time or motivation? Maybe you need to try a few of these simple ways to relax.

1. Hug someone. Giving a hug means getting one. As long as it's from somebody you don't mind hugging you, this really can be relaxing.

2. Interrupt routines. Go talk to that guy sleeping on the bench, or eat lunch on the roof. Just doing anything that breaks you out of your habitual patterns can relieve stress.

3. Have a hot shower. It relaxes your muscles, and any break from more stressful activities can help too. Some find that an alternating hot and cold shower is even more relaxing.

4. Try watching your mind. Spot the stressors lurking just below the surface (hunger, worry, a phone call you need to make), and you can resolve them and feel more relaxed. If you practice this mindfulness exercise, it may become one of your favorite relaxation techniques.

5. Try laughing. Your own experience shows that this helps you relax, right? Go find a guy that knows all the best jokes, or find something funny in front of you.

6. Use relaxing music. Keep your favorite relaxation CD at the office, in the car, or wherever you'll need it most.

7. Leave the room for a while. This can really help if the things in the room or related to it are triggering your stressful thoughts. Why not get out for a little while?

8. Breath deeply. Try five deep breaths through your nose. Close your eyes and pay attention only to your breathing while doing this. It's like a mini-meditation, and perhaps the most effective of the quick relaxation techniques.

9. Drink some chamomile tea. Chamomile tea seems to have a calming effect on the nerves. Any hot tea without caffeine may be relaxing.

10. Walk a while. If you have at least ten minutes to spare, walking is one of the best relaxation techniques. While you're at it, find a pretty place to walk.

Naturally, it is ideal if you can change yourself, so you're naturally more relaxed all of the time. Perhaps the thought of the work involved in this just stresses you more. In that case you might have to take it slow, so why not start with one or two of the simple relaxation techniques above?
Read Another Article : What A Feeling

What A Feeling Explained

Search and Reviews about what a feeling. Read up the info about what a feeling. Do not spend any money for what a feeling until you read this.

So here is the story. I crashed a dirtbike. I know its a short one, but why bore you with details that you really dont need to know?

Why is it that when we get power in our hands, we attempt to use it to the fullest. It's as if we will never have it again. Lets get out of that habit, it hurts.

Moving along with the story, I clearly needed some therapy for the injuries that I suffered in the accident. So I went to my physiotherapist and asked her what we should do. We did all the massaging and ultra sounds, and then it happened... We did the acupuncture therapy. OH what a feeling!

Its a little wierd at first, becuase they stick a bunch of needles all over your body. Apperently, every spot on our bodies is connected with some sort of feeling.

Clearly, I chose the spots labelled "happy". So I am laying there, needles all over my body, in silence, and i catch myself thinking about childhood memories of playing football with my dad! Our subconscious minds are truly amazing.

Once again though, back to my story. Now, my physiotherapist is located in the heart of downtown Calgary. For those not familiar with Calgary, it's just a city with to much traffic. So I'm in my "happy" state after the therapy, and I'm driving home in rush hour traffic.

This is how good acupuncture works - I was in a lineup 3 miles long of traffic, LETTING PEOPLE MERGE!
Read Another Article : Counting breaths is not like counting sheep

Where To Find Counting Breaths Is Not Like Counting Sheep

Get all the best counting breaths is not like counting sheep. information here ASAP! Here's the only site that provide counting breaths is not like counting sheep. tips and counting breaths is not like counting sheep.

"Just close your eyes and count your breaths," they say. How simple can it be? "Don't think about anything else though. Just concentrate on your breathing." Well, anyone who has tried this "simple" meditation knows that it just isn't that easy.

There are many obstacles to this seemingly effortless task. Our minds tend to wander naturally. If we try to completely focus on anything for more than a few seconds, random thoughts take over.

And breathing is boring; let's face it. How can you concentrate on something so mundane when there are much more interesting things racing around in your head?

A typical session might go like this: I close my eyes, sit comfortably, and begin counting. Inhale one, inhale two, inhale... "Am I doing this right? I guess so, I'm already on... oh three." Inhale four... "Now, am I supposed to start over at one or just keep going?" Inhale one, inhale two, inhale three, inhale four.

"Wow, I'm really getting the hang of this. Oops." Inhale one, inhale two... "Did I remember to pay the phone bill? I'm sure I did. I'm really good at staying on top of my bills. Not like Susan, she's always... Darn, I did it again." Inhale one, inhale two...

The good news is it does get better with practice. The bad news is it can still be a struggle for experienced meditators, especially during busy or turbulent periods in one's life. Luckily, there is more good news.

There are some specific things you can do to help you focus and reduce the frustration in your meditation practice. In this article, I would like to offer three tips to help you with your practice. They are: Observe don't control, be compassionate, and enjoy yourself.

First, don't force or try to control your breathing. This is a mistake that a lot of beginners make. Many inexperienced meditators consciously or unconsciously alter their breathing in an effort to focus on it. What results is an exaggerated and often irregular breathing pattern.

This can actually inhibit your meditation rather than help it.

What you want to do is just "watch" your breathing. You don't have to exert any additional effort at all. If you just wait and observe, you will breathe. Then, you can count.

Of course, we all know this but many people still find themselves forcing it. If you catch yourself controlling your breaths, just gently remind yourself that it's not necessary and then wait for the next breath to come naturally.

This brings me to the next tip, compassion. In this case I mean for yourself in your meditation practice. As we've been discussing, it's not an easy thing to do to concentrate on one's breath. It's very important not to scold yourself when your mind wanders or you catch yourself controlling your breathing.

If you think about it, the time you would spend reprimanding yourself for breaking your focus is just more time away from your meditation. It is best to softly bring yourself back to your practice as soon as you notice you're wavering. Don't get down on yourself and start thinking,

"I can't do this. This is never going to work for me." These negative thoughts do nothing to help your practice and waste valuable time. Be compassionate. Just brush it off and return to your meditation.

Another way to look at these wanderings is to realize that they are an important part of your progression. Meditation is a skill. And like most skills, it requires practice. A baseball player doesn't step into the batter's box for the first time and start hitting homeruns.

He makes mistakes and corrections, and improves over time. He can then gauge his progress by the reduction of errors. Even after he is an experienced batsman, he will still strike out more often than he would like. But his hits should increase as well.

In your meditation practice, your mind will likely wander more in the beginning. But don't give up. It will get better. Just like the baseball player, you will realize fewer mistakes over time and you will learn to recover from them more quickly.

Sure, you will still have challenges and even slumps from time to time but you will also have more successes.

The final tip I would like to offer is to find enjoyment in your practice. Even though it may be tough at times, daily meditation can greatly enhance your life. Don't rate yourself and expect to progress or improve to a particular degree or within a particular timeframe.

Unlike baseball, mediation is a life-long experience. Remember, this is your time. Let it be your oasis not a chore. No matter what else is going on in your life, your meditation time can be your escape. As a Zen master once said, "It's just you and your breath and then it's just your breath.

" Breathe in, breathe out, and forget about the world around you. Even when you're busy or preoccupied with some problem, even if you can only find ten or fifteen minutes to be alone with your breath, enjoy it.

I hope these tips will help you to enhance your meditation experience. They have certainly proved to be invaluable in my own practice over the years. Of course I still struggle from time to time with the very same issues we've discussed here.

But through observing rather than controlling, being compassionate to myself when I falter, and enjoying my special time alone; I have made my life fuller and happier.
Read Another Article : Meditation and the Monkey Mind

Introducing Meditation And The Monkey Mind

Brief and Straightforward Guide about meditation and the monkey mind. Read the latest meditation and the monkey mind tips.

Some find the term, “monkey mind”, upsetting, derogatory, and insulting. This is a shame, as the point is lost, the ego is involved, and a natural human defense goes up. After all, we are supposed to be the “king of the primates,” aren’t we?

The first time I heard the expression, “monkey mind,” in regard to meditation, I thought of Swayambhunath Stupa, in Kathmandu, Nepal.


Sometimes, this is named, the “monkey temple,” and it made me laugh inside, as monkeys need supervision in human settings. The picture of unsupervised monkeys got into my head, and I was suppressing laughter during a serious conversation.

Monkeys can be nuisances, when allowed to roam without some guidance, and it is the same with the untrained mind that runs from topic to topic, without getting much accomplished. So please don’t waste time being offended by the term, and try to look at the comical side.

When you allow yourself to enjoy life, and try not to take anything too seriously, you can see that monkeys don’t have it so bad after all. Very often, the human mind spends too much time defending, worrying, posturing, influencing, fearing, and feeling embarrassed, to enjoy life to its fullest potential.

In fact, you are not your mind. You are responsible for your actions, but many things happen in the thought process before you do take action. For example: when you think, images and options are created. As a result of those images, you get a physical feeling somewhere around your heart.

Whether the feeling is, good or bad, you process it into action, or treat it as a fleeting thought that passes and may be forgotten. So if you have a fleeting evil thought and it passes - should you waste time feeling guilty about it? The natural safeguard for ethical behavior is your heart or “gut feeling.”

This is the best indicator of wrong or right.

Mankind has the ability to influence the universe, and create different realities, but separating what is sacred, from what is evil, has been a dilemma for thousands of years. The disconnection from your inner self, nature, and God, has led to excessive confusion.

Thank God for meditation; it allows you to harness the power of the mind, settle down, and focus, on one subject at a time. If you take the time for a daily meditation practice, your decision-making process will be much more controlled and clear.

The end result will be to look at the monkey with much more respect, appreciation, and a bit of humor.
Read Another Article : Meditation Also Gave Me