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The Holistic Mystic: |
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Beginners' Meditation |
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by Lonny Brown, Ph.D. |
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What is Meditation?
- A Turning inward..
- Quieting the mind..
- Opening perception..
- A way of centering and balance..
- Coming into the present..
- A source of inspiration and guidance..
- A psycho-spiritual healing method..
- A tool for self-inquiry and discovery..
- An inner adventure..
- Working on oneself..
- Intrinsic freedom..
- Conscious living..
- A clarification of consciousness..
- Deepening and/or expanding awareness..
Why Meditate?
Meditation is an effective and readily accessible path to a more satisfying and meaningful life. Potentially, there are as many reasons to meditate as there are areas in your life with room for growth. It is truly a holistic endeavor, with ramifications for one's body, mind, and spirit.
Physically, meditation has a relaxing and re-energizing effect on the whole body. It benefits the circulatory, digestive, hormonal and respiratory systems. Meditators can prevent migraine headaches, asthma attacks, and high blood pressure, naturally and without harmful side effects.
Neurologically, Tests show that the brain receives as much as 60 percent more oxygen when subjects meditate, producing clarity of mind, and enhancing learning capacities. Meditation integrates the right and left hemispheres of the brain, bringing about a more centered experience of ourselves and the world. The autonomic nervous system then allows a Relaxation Response, including reduced tension, lower blood pressure, and slower breathing.
On the Mental/Emotional level, meditation can be an effective therapeutic modality for anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders. Typical results include reduced defensiveness and aggression, greater sense of peace, confidence, and more patience, optimism and humor. Memory, intuition and creativity have also been shown to improve by the regular practice of meditation.
Spiritually, meditation is often a catalyst for greater insight into one's purpose and role in life, a sense of unity and connectedness, and an understanding of the meaning of one's challenges. Often it becomes the doorway to a source of inner strength and guidance. Other benefits attributed to meditation include increased self-esteem, more energy, better communication, and the feeling of joy that comes from increased awareness in life.
Helpful Hints for Meditators
Basics: Quiet setting. Soft lighting. Comfortable clothing. Empty stomach. Upright, balanced posture. Relaxed muscles. Regularity & ritual. Perseverance with humor. No expectations.
Relaxation Deliberately and systematically let go of the tension in each part of the body, from the top down, particularly on successive exhalations. Use positive self-suggestive thoughts (such as "I am whole," "Peace is here," etc. ), or healing images.
For many, just being still will constitute the first difficulty in meditation. When the urge to move arises, breathe out tension. Ironically, once you attain a certain depth of concentration, stillness becomes natural, while movement seems like effort.
"Letting Go" Aside from muscle tension, you can voluntarily relinquish anxiety, fear, anger, guilt, attachments and desires, preconceptions, limiting self-image and negative personality traits. Even thoughts can be released, resulting in inner peace and quiet.
Allow yourself the feelings suggested by these words:
Open. Trust. Accept. Float. Surrender. Disattach. Flow. Release. Give. Evaporate. Surrender.
"Centering" To minimize distractions, choose a focal point within your body, such as the breath, heartbeat or the forehead center. Dwell on it with passive alertness. Create a mandala (concentric design) in your mind, and dwell at the center.
Regularity Practice meditation daily. Don't look for dramatic results, but allow the witness awareness it engenders to become increasingly part of your life. Over the weeks, months and years, a certain grounded equanimity will prevail, and you'll begin to understand how profound and practical meditation can be.
Meditation Manual for Beginners is Downloadable
Cyberspace - Just as the ancient contemplative practice of meditation is gaining importance in our stressed-out modern world, a new e-book for novices has become available online.
Meditation - Beginners Questions & Answers, by Holistic Health Counselor and New Age author Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D. is available for download at WritersCloset.com. The 50-page self-help manual costs $9.95. Its instant availability, interactive format and low price make basic instructions in this personal wellness practice widely accessible.
In just the past few years, millions of Americans have discovered meditation and made it vital part of their lives. As the recent (Aug.,'03) Time Magazine cover story reported, medical science is confirming the health advantages that meditators enjoy, including stress reduction and disease prevention.
"The benefits of meditation range from personal to planetary, physical to spiritual," says author Lonny Brown. "I am convinced that a critical mass of people routinely meditating will reduce crime and promote world peace."
Lonny Brown, Ph.D. has been teaching yoga, meditation and mind/body healing at hospitals, businesses, and schools for 20 years. He is the author of Enlightenment in Our Time - The Perennial Wisdom in the New Millennium (www.BookLocker.com), and Self-Actuated Healing (Naturegraph). His writings on holistic health and contemporary spirituality have appeared on AOL's Alternative Medicine Forum and in Alternative Health Practitioner, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive health publications. Dr. Brown's Web site is www.holistic.com/lonny.
"Meditation - Beginners Questions & Answers" by Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D. is available at www.WritersCloset.com.
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Lonny Brown,
Ph.D.
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Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D. is the author of "Self-Actuated Healing" (Naturegraph, Publ.), and "Enlightenment In Our Time," (BookLocker.com/
LonnyBrown).
His writings on holistic health have appeared on AOL's Alternative Medicine Forum and in Alternative Health Practitioner, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive publications.
Dr. Brown teaches holistic health, mind/body healing, and stress reduction courses at hospitals, schools and businesses throughout the US. His Web site also features essays, tapes, books, and links to a variety of integrative health sources.
Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D. is also the author of " ENLIGHTENMENT ONLINE - The Newsletter for Spiritual Cyberspace.
holistic.com/lonny
lonny@holistic.com
lonnybrown@aol.com
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