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Meditation groupsWhat IS 'Meditation'? Meditation is the ultimate just-relax and unwind 'tool'. To meditate, you have to learn how to do absolutely 'nothing'. Yes - 'learn'! You can laugh if you like, but it's actually quite hard to do nothing! That's why so many of us are taking stress management courses, need to detox, are seeking various holistic therapies, talking to counsellors and therapists? Maybe we have forgotten - or never really learned how to totally relax - to do nothing - to meditate! Meditation is not about Holy Men or hippies or cranks. To do it you don't need to sit cross-legged on a floor cushion with your hands cupped on your knees. You don't have to have a mantra or a toga or ring bells! You just have to sit and be comfortable and think about how a few minutes of meditation will make you calm, improve your health and be really good for you! Don't couch-potatoes do 'nothing'? Unlikely! It may look like that, but they're not meditating. More likely they're tormented with thoughts like 'I wish I had money', 'I ought to be out in my walking boots', 'I can't be bothered ', 'I've no food so I'll just relax with a drink', 'I'm no good', 'I feel sorry for myself', 'I need to kick this addiction' - or they may just lack motivation and feel guilty. Why can't we relax? Good question! It IS all in our heads! Our minds won't stop thinking - but it's not tidy thinking. Thoughts get muddled up in a sort of think-soup. In the middle of buying a pizza you may think 'Do local gymnasiums sell cool sports clothing?' (whilst you over-pay for your pizza!) When you are adding up a column of figures you suddenly think about how you enjoyed last night in one of those glorious hot tubs (and you have to start adding up again!) Now where did either of those second thoughts come from at that time? All day we have one thought climbing on top of another and another - we spend loads of time imagining what might happen or remembering what has happened - and these thoughts can actually be so vivid they make our body feel physically sick. Now why should we allow our body to feel ill, stressed, uncomfortable about something that may never happen or that we can do nothing about? Maybe we need some Life Coaching, hypnotherapy, to relax in one of those superb massage chairs or try one of those great saunas. But right now - maybe we should start with something simple - find a quite corner, a comfy chair, maybe light some healing insence or a simple candle and meditate! Why meditate? Meditation is about making sure that for some small amount of time in every day we give our minds a rest. The chance to empty and become still. You must have heard a teacher or someone at work say 'Can we clear our minds to think about this!' When minds are empty then stress levels go down, body is relaxed, breathing is lighter, heart rate is slower, head may stop aching and good things can start to happen - like good ideas, like healing! Meditation is different to sleep. When we sleep we dream - even though we may not think we do - so even in sleep our mind is busy! Meditation and the benefits of meditation is a huge topic. But - try this for starters! Simple short meditation (3-5 minutes) - Try doing this between big tasks - to clear your mind before you start the next one! If you can - find a quiet place. If not, sit down at your desk, in your parked car, in the canteen or perhaps in the loo - and even if it's quite noisy, do each of the things below in turn - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, feeling, emptying 1.Close your eyes gently and imagine you are looking at a blank cream wall. Breath gently. 2.Listen to the most distant sound you can hear? 3.Smell the air in the room 4.Taste the taste in your mouth 5.Feel the air on your bare skin (your face, your hands) 6.Imagine the top of your head has a chimney and every thought that is in it is now drifting up and away into the sky like a curl of smoke. Hold this last thought for as long as you can. Then slowly open you eyes and continue what you were doing. In that short space of time you have given your mind a rest. This is a very simple way to learn how it feels to begin to meditate. If you liked it, do it as often as you can or when you feel you really need to. It's also a great thing to do in saunas, massage chairs, hot tubs or on a massage table whilst having holistic therapies or - sitting on a rock on the top of Cadair Idris in the sunshine! You may find it easier to mediatate with other people so look at Meditation Groups and see whether there are classes or groups of people getting together in your area to relax and meditate. Look at relaxation books - DVDs and CDs you'll find lots to help you understand and enjoy meditation.
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