Taupo Meditation Retreat

The Effects of Meditation

Very simple meditation is like relaxing. When we do a hard physical workout you are going to need to take a break. The mind needs a break too.  There are 60,000 thoughts that are running through your head every day?   You don’t know what you are thinking of all the time?  There are times when you are  unsure of what you are thinking of or what you want.

Meditation gives you clarity on your thoughts, your inner desires and increased self-awareness. The thoughts include those you actively engage in and those you are not conscious of but are always there. The mind that does not meditate, usually picks up only a few thousands of thought strands that float through the mind in an hour.

A meditated mind, on the other hand, picks up considerably more. On a deeper level meditation is understanding the nature of the mind.  It is seen as a condition in nature, it is emptying the mind of all inner and outer distractions, or any long lasting thoughts. When you reach this point you can be peaceful with the most stressing mind states.

This is where things get really interesting. Using modern technology like fMRI scans, scientists have developed a more thorough understanding of what’s taking place in our brains when we meditate. The overall difference is that our brains stop processing information as actively as they normally would. We start to show a decrease in beta waves, which indicate that our brains are processing information, even after a single 20-minute meditation session if we’ve never tried it before.

The ones that the scientific community research are the ones in which an individual uses mindful meditation-focusing on breathing, or an object.  The other type of meditation that’s often used in research is open-monitoring meditation-where you pay attention to all of the things happening around you—you simply notice everything without reacting, says Belle Beth Cooper.  Every day we are seeing more scientific evidence of the power of meditation.

How to Meditate?

2015 PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

Be physically comfortable. Keep the body erect with the spine straight, the head balanced evenly. The posture is firm but not tense. Choose a clean and quiet place. The main thing is to keep things simple. Mental activity and general stimulation through the five bodily senses (eyes, nose, tongue, ears and skin) are what makes the mind busy – uptight – stressed out. How to minimise this? Silence is a very powerful tool in meditation; this stills the ears.

Close the eyes gently; this stills the eyes. Use a cushion to tip the pelvis forward, it helps to keep the back straight. The beginning and the end of the day are the best times for sitting meditation.

Choose one (usually simple) thing as your meditation object. Use this object to focus your attention on. Concentration is the key to begin with. You can use almost anything as your meditation object – the breath, a candle or a flower (with eyes half open), a simple phrase you repeat, the touch of moving a string of beads.

Try using the breath. If it is difficult to focus at first, try a couple of deep breaths just to get the ‘feel’ of it. Put your hand on your belly or chest and actually feel the breath move the body. Where do you notice it most clearly? At the nose tip? the tummy? the chest? You could make it easier by counting each in-breath. Count from one to ten and then start again at one.

Keep doing this and just relax. How long is it before you lose count? Where does your mind wonder off to? You will probably find that the mind will get bored and restless and start thinking about other things. Be patient. Don’t expect any special experience or signs, just practice relaxing.

When your mind wanders off, just come gently back to the breath. Again and again. Just about any other time is also a good time to meditate – waiting for the bus – at the dentist – doing file backups – waiting for the kettle to boil – there are lots of spaces in a day when you can turn quietly inward.

The Benefits of Meditation

A 2012 study split a group of human resources managers into three, which one third participating in mindful meditation training, another third taking body relaxation training and the last third given no training at all. A stressful multitasking test was given to all the managers before and after the eight-week experiment. In the final test, the group that had participated in the meditation training reported less stress during the test than both of the other groups.

Here are just some of the many things that meditation can do to enhance your life:

by 1. Promotes deep levels of rest

2. Reduces anxiety

3. Enhances your immune system

4. Helps with weight loss

5. Alkalizes your body

6. Alleviates pre-menstrual symptoms

7. Lowers cholesterol levels

8. Reduces aging

9. Increases blood flow through the body

10. Reduces muscle tension

11. Regulates breath

12. Reduces headaches and migraines

13. Regulates breathing

14. Reduces high blood pressure

15. Increases energy levels

16. Improves sleep

17. Helps heal depression

18. Increases brain functioning

19. Reduces phobias and fears

20. Helps overcome PTSD

21. Cultivates attention and focus

22. Builds self-confidence

23. Improves your memory

24. Breaks addictions

25. Stabilizes emotional fluctuations

26. Increases oxytocin levels

27. Reduces adrenalin and cortisol levels

28. Helps heal diabetes

29. Increases intuition

30. Increases creativity

31. Increases adaptability

32. Enhances your will-power

33. Improves brain coherence

34. Reduces anger and rage

35. Increases sex drive

36. Improves intelligence

37. Assists in finding life purpose

38. Can lead to enlightenment

39. Promotes inner peace

40. Helps you to live in the present

Why We Find It Hard to Meditate

By Ed and Deb Shapiro explore common reasons and obstacles

What is it about something as simple as sitting still and watching our breath that evokes panic, fear, and even hostility? No matter how many reports there are proving the mental, emotional, and physical value of being quiet, there seems to be an even greater number who refuse to give it a try.

After years of hearing a plethora of reasons why people find it hard to meditate, we have whittled it down to just a few:

1. I’m too busy, I don’t have the time. Which can certainly be true if you have young children and a full-time job, and all that these entail. However, we are only talking about maybe 10 minutes a day. Most of us spend more time than that reading the newspaper or idly surfing the web. It only appears like we don’t have the time because we usually fill every moment with activity and never press the pause button.

2. I find it really uncomfortable to sit still for too long. If you are trying to sit cross-legged on the floor then, yes, it will get uncomfortable. But you can sit upright in a firm and comfortable chair instead. Or, you can do walking meditation, or yoga, or tai chi. Moving meditation can be just as beneficial as sitting.

3. My mind won’t stop thinking: I can’t relax. I can’t meditate. I just can’t! My mind will not get quiet; it flies all over the place! My thoughts are driving me mad! I’m trying to get away from myself, not look inside. Sound familiar?

Surprisingly enough, trying to stop your mind from thinking is like trying to stop the wind–it’s impossible. In the Eastern teaching the mind is described as being like a drunken monkey bitten by a scorpion because, just as a monkey leaps from branch to branch, so the mind leaps from one thing to another, constantly distracted and busy. So, when you come to sit still and try to quiet your mind, you find all this manic activity going on and it seems insanely noisy. It is actually nothing new, just that now you are becoming aware of it, whereas before you were immersed in it, unaware that such chatter was so constant.

So, when you come to sit still and try to quiet your mind, you find all this manic activity going on and it seems insanely noisy. It is actually nothing new, just that now you are becoming aware of it, whereas before you were immersed in it, unaware that such chatter was so constant.

This experience of the mind being so busy is very normal. Someone once estimated that in any one thirty-minute session of meditation we may have upward of three hundred thoughts. Years of busy mind, years of creating and maintaining dramas, years of stresses and confusion and self-centeredness, and the mind has no idea how to be still. Rather, it craves entertainment. It’s not as if you can suddenly turn it off when you meditate, it just means you are like everyone else.

4. There are too many distractions, it’s too noisy. Gone are the days when we could disappear into a cave and be left undisturbed until we emerged some time later fully enlightened. Instead, we all have to deal with the sounds and impositions of the world around us. But – and it’s a big but – we needn’t let it impose. Cars going by outside? Fine. Let them go by, but just don’t go with them. The quiet you are looking for is inside, not outside. The experience of stillness is accumulative: The more you sit, then slowly, slowly, the mind becomes quieter, more joyful, despite whatever distraction there may be.

5. I don’t see the benefit. Unfortunately, this is where you have to take our word for it. Some people get how beneficial meditation is after just one session, but most of us take longer – you might notice a difference after a week, or maybe two of daily practice. Which means you have to trust the process enough to hang in there and keep going, even before you get the benefits.

Remember, music needs to be played for hours to get the notes right, while in Japan it can take 12 years to learn how to arrange flowers. Being still happens in a moment, but it may take some time before that moment comes—hence the need for patience.

6. I’m no good at this; I never get it right. Actually, it’s impossible to fail at meditation. Even if you sit for 20 minutes thinking non-stop meaningless thoughts, that’s fine. There is no right or wrong, and there’s no special technique. Deb’s meditation teacher told her there are as many forms of meditation as there are people who practice it. So all you need do is find the way that works for you (even if you prefer to do it standing on your head) and keep at it.

The important point is that you make friends with meditation. It’ll be of no help at all if you feel you have to meditate, for instance, and then feel guilty if you miss the allotted time or only do 10 minutes when you had promised to do 30. It is much better to practice for a just a sort time and to enjoy what you are doing than to sit there, teeth gritted, because you’ve been told that only 30 or even 40 minutes will have any affect. Meditation is a companion to have throughout life, like an old friend you turn to when in need of support, inspiration, and clarity. It is to be enjoyed!

7. It’s all just weird New Age hype. It’s certainly easy to get lost in the array of New Age promises of eternal happiness but meditation itself is as old as the hills. More than 2,500 years ago the Buddha was a dedicated meditator who tried and tested numerous different ways of enabling the mind to be quiet. And that’s just one example. Each religion has its own variation on the theme, and all stretch back over the centuries. So nothing new here, and nothing weird.

In other words, meditation is not about forcing the mind to be absolutely still. Rather, it’s a letting go of resistance, of whatever may arise: doubt, worry, uncertainty and feeling inadequate, the endless dramas, fear and desire. Every time you find your mind is drifting, daydreaming, remembering the past or planning ahead, just come back to now, come back to this moment. All you need do is pay attention and be with what is. Nothing else.

Every time you find your mind is drifting, daydreaming, remembering the past or planning ahead, just come back to now, come back to this moment. All you need do is pay attention and be with what is. Nothing else.

Using meditation for relaxation settles the mind. The mind is having to process less. The mind is more spacious. The mind has is more clear, it is sharper. Practicing meditation is about concentration and letting the thoughts that are dull go.

Which is getting insight and wisdom.  Meditation is the art of silencing the mind. When the mind is silent, concentration is increased and we experience inner peace in the midst of worldly turmoil. This elusive inner peace is what attracts so many people to meditation and is a quality everyone can benefit from.

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