Thursday 27 September 2007

Meditation 101: Pillow, Pillow which is the Softest of Them All

The Meditation Pillow


Customary pillows are usually utilized as head or neck support. Normally, the said pillows are used when sleeping or resting. These days however, pillows are also used to support one’s buttocks and back while seating and meditating. The said pillows are termed as a meditation pillow.


A pillow is a necessity while doing meditation since it aids you to maintain proper posture all throughout the session. In general, there are two types of pillow suitable for meditation use.


1. Donut Pillows – donut is the shape of this type of pillow. The space in the center provides relief while sitting on the tailbone area.
2. Lumbar Pillows – this is used to maintain and support the lower back. 


Donut and Lumbar pillows fall under the category of orthopedic pillows that serves its purposes for support and treatment.


Any other pillow may not be appropriate for you and the task you will be undertaking. There are considerations you need to mull over when choosing a meditation pillow. One important pillow factor to consider is the place of meditation. 


Where to Meditate


The place of meditation is an important consideration when choosing a pillow. You will have to select the appropriate pillow that will be well suited with the place.


Many practitioners undergo their meditation process on hard surfaces. A floor made of concrete or wood are examples of a hard surface area. A two-stage pillow is apt for this kind of flooring. A firm foam is the usual base of the said pillow while the top is filled in with synthetic materials.


On the other hand, there are individuals who prefer to meditate on grass or grass-like areas. A gentle pillow that is filled with smooth material is well recommended for grass areas meditation. It is also best to choose a pillow with nylon as its base. Additionally, machine-wash compatible pillow is recommended since such pillow is prone to dirt. 


Other considerations that can be taken into account are:


What’s In a Pillow?


There is wide-array of pillow fillers. You must choose a pillow with the appropriate filler to use for meditation. Foam may be hard for you or perhaps feather-fillers may be too supple.


The most common pillow filling are feathers, foam, and synthetically made fillers.


Pillowcases cover the pillow fills. The choices of pillowcases vary from one person to the other. You need to choose a pillowcase that will not be infuriating. If a green pillowcase adds bothersome to you, why choose green when you can opt for purple or any other color.


An inappropriate type of pillow can cause uneasiness that will then lead to distraction. Use a pillow that can withstand your weight and most importantly can provide support to your back. If you are slumping on the pillow or you feel yourself moving into the floor, then those are signs that the pillow is badly chosen. Instead of meditation, you might end up accumulating more worries. 


Several pillow manufacturers offer meditation pillow. All you need to do is assess its features for you to decide which will best suit your need. The internet is a good venue for you to scout meditation pillows.


Denis Kermode has a number of sites , one of which is http://thegreatmeditation.com/ where you will find a selection of Meditation articles on all aspects of meditation, its FREE  join

Monday 3 September 2007

Can 8-Minute Meditation Give You

A Quiet Mind and Change


Your Life Forever?



What exactly is meditation? It seems that so many people nowadays are hooked up with this form of activity. By definition, meditation is often used to describe the individual's state of intense attention on an object of awareness or thought. The individual tries to turn his or her attention inward. Meditation is said to be of Vedic Hinduism origin. This is usually practiced in the eastern religions but now even the western culture is already involved in such activity.


People want to practice meditation so that they can focus their mind to God for their personal development, to attain peace of mind, and to be healthier.


Many Americans are now involved in some form of meditation. According to Time Magazine there is one meditation practice that can be used by almost anyone. This can be considered as the basic primer of Americans wanting to begin meditation but have no idea where to start.


There was a book published last November 2005 authored by Victor Davich that is all about the 8 minute meditation. If you purchase the book and study it carefully, you will learn a lot of things about meditation, and you can do it in just 8 minutes.


Almost every individual who starts with anything new to him or her will often have lingering questions, hopes, and doubts about it. There are even people who hopes that when they begin to meditate, they will be enlightened. Or perhaps you're one of those individuals who think that meditation is just like an exercise or diet that you've been trying to do for the past few months. But these things are normal; so don’t be surprised if you're also like that.


The best thing to do is to face all the positive and/or negative expectations, and after doing so, forget about them and start with a clean slate. If you want to try the 8-minute program of meditation, you should learn how to approach it one minute at a time.


While many people think that meditation is a simple practice, then you'd better think twice. You might not notice it, but your mind is always racing from here to there. You can't concentrate. According to the book's author, you must watch your breath. This is the very first step to meditation. Do your inhalation and exhalation by breathing deeply. If you always do this and just keep on practicing, you can become good in meditation.


As a word of reminder, if you catch yourself thinking about other things, or in other words your mind strays off, focus again on your breathing. After all, meditation is all about concentrating and if you realize that you're not on the right track, you can always return to that state of mind gently. Don’t get discouraged easily and just keep on practicing. There is a popular saying that says practice makes perfect; so always keep that in mind. If you quit easily, then you will remain a quitter.


Meditation can help you in achieving peace of mind. With all your problems at work, in your family, and the entire world, you should at least experience a few minutes of peace. Don’t miss this chance to attain personal development at no cost at all.


Denis Kermode has attempted to collect a fine array of all types of Meditation articles so you can find what you are looking for at : -  http://thegreatmeditation.com  Hundreds of different articles gathered togethered for you, all  free.

Friday 18 May 2007

How To Meditate Without Even Trying

I remember when I started trying to meditate. I would sit down, close my eyes, and try to be really calm (my definition of meditation at the time). That was hard: my head would burst with ideas, thoughts, solutions, problems… I would become agitated, and stopped generally after ten long minutes, if not less. It’s during my short “meditations” that I felt less… meditative.

I knew there was something for me to explore that was beyond the physical world. I knew I would unleash my potential, by “going within”. And sitting meditation, as I knew it, was the #1 technique that would lead me there. Yet, I just couldn’t do it… I was inadequate.



No, I wasn’t - and neither are you, if you are experiencing a similar situation. It’s your definition of meditation that may be inadequate.

The idea behind meditation is not to sit on a chair, and close our eyes. Or to sit in lotus, and watch the leaves change colors. You can do all this if you feel a call to do so, but whatever technique you choose is just as relevant as the type of fork you eat your meals with. Forks, meditations, cars, are just tools that help us accomplish a specific task…

Meditation, we could say, is an “altered state of consciousness”. We do not see things as we normally do; we feel connected to something bigger than our everyday selves; we feel “wider” than usual. In a few words, we are so immersed in ourselves that we can transcend our own limitations. Now, the question is: what do you need to feel that way (if so you wish)? For some people, it’s gardening; for others, it’s laying down comfortably and listening to music (it doesn’t even need to be New Age…). I personally know someone who meditates by playing card games on her computer. After a few minutes of calculating her moves and keeping score, she looses touch with the cards, and she “takes off”.

Why don’t we value such activities as much as those that involve candles, cushions, and incense? They may be simple, or silly, but their impact often is important, profound. Even more, they are easy and effortless. No need to be disciplined – we are naturally attracted to them.

In some ways, maybe that’s why we don’t always see their true magnitude. They are too accessible and natural. Mustn’t we pay a high price or work hard to get anything of value? If it’s easy, it’s not worth much… or so we were told.

For some people, meditating the conventional way (sitting down and all) does not contribute to expanding their horizon. It may look like they are meditating when they are doing it, but in reality they are thinking about their problems, analyzing this and that…they are relaxing, yes, but meditating, no. They would probably have the deep experience they are looking for much more easily by being active, by doing things just like those mentioned before (repetitive tasks, especially, are very effective in that regard). Of course, before washing the dishes, or doing some gardening, we don’t really think “I’m going to meditate”. But when we become aware of the higher potential these activities hold for us, we can utilize them consciously with that clear intention in mind.

Still, the point of this article is that we do not even need a clear intention to meditate. In fact, when we want something too much, we often become our first obstacle in the process – especially when it comes to meditation. You cannot work hard to attain something that is all about lightness, openness, and receptivity. You cannot push yourself to open up. You can only create favorable circumstances – and those can be anything, as we have seen, since it is just a matter of which tool works best for you.

So if your mind is constantly active, or extremely creative, and your energy is so high you cannot sit down and close your eyes, do not categorize yourself as unspiritual or “unmeditative”. You may not be able to sit for hours in uncomfortable positions like Tibetan monks do, but you too can accomplish things that they would not even dream of doing. Sure, you would benefit greatly from slowing down your thoughts and relaxing; but developing strategies that suit you as you are now would probably serve you even better. What could be the best way to meditate for you?


By: paulheaden


Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com



The auther writes articles on different topics. To know more, visit exposed acne treatment system, exposed acne solution

Saturday 31 March 2007

Mindfulness Meditation -


 Living A Life Of Purpose


and Harmony


I was just about to give up on my life when I was introduced to Eastern spiritual practices. I had studied everything that our Western world had to say about suffering and what to do about it. And the more I learned, the worse I felt. Out of desperation for a better way of life, I began a daily meditation practice. I studied and practiced a mindfulness practice called shamatha in which the attention is placed on the breath in a restful yet alert manner. This practice showed me very clearly what the problem was: ME! There was so much chaos and distraction taking place in my mind on a momentary basis that it made sense as to why I never felt right. The 'me' that I had come to know was indeed full of conflict, speed, and ambivalence. My thoughts constantly raced and pulled me in a million different directions. It was frankly appalling to see how frenzied my mind was. All of this mental chaos created a state of emotional inertia that kept me confined to a very narrow range of the the human emotional spectrum. Basically, I was so stuck in my head that I had lost contact with reality.


From a meditative perspective, everything in the universe is inherently empty. Our concepts and opinions are devoid of any inherent reality. We are convinced that we are real only because of the deluded nature of our own minds. We simply don't see things as they are. We see through the filters of our concepts and thoughts, which seem to be very convincing. If we buy into our mental projections of reality, we will suffer. Meditation is the practice of developing space around these constant projections. With regular practice, we become less and less convinced that we or anything else is inherently real and solid.


The irony here is that recognizing our own non-existence is the very basis of freedom, joy, and love. Our clunky, solid sense of self is what gets us in trouble. So, when I say that everything is empty, it may be tempting to see this as a negative statement. But even that is empty. When we flash on non-existence or emptiness, we see the ultimate potential in all things. Instead of being pinned down by our dualistic perceptions of good/bad, happy/sad, like/dislike, etc., we see that the universe is free from any kind of limitation whatsoever. This is the nature of genius and mysticism.


Have you ever lost yourself for a moment? Perhaps in your work, or playing with your kids, or watching an intense movie? That is like flashing on emptiness. You are free of your normal sense of who you are. There is no boundary between you and everything outside of you. In Buddhism, this is seen as the experience of Big Mind. It is a momentary flash on the infinite nature of reality from which we are inseparable. In mindfulness practice, this flash of awakening is deliberately maintained; everything that arises in the mind is simply a manifestation of universal energy. There is no 'I' in any thought or feeling. It is impersonal energy that arises and passes. When we taste this freedom from personalizing the constant arising of thought, it is like we can finally breathe and surrender to the beauty of life.


Regular meditation practice enables us to rest our awareness in this state of undistracted, empty stillness. Interestingly, this does not necessarily mean that the mind is quiet and obedient. We can still be thinking and have a recognition of this peace and openness. Over time, the mind does stop for periods of time. There is just absolute stillness. But as a beginner, the main point is to keep your awareness one-pointed on the present moment whether you are thinking or not. Don't try to stop your thoughts. Just stay focused on the moment and be still.


As your mind begins to become more expansive and present, your life will begin to open up in unforeseen ways. Old habits, fears, and harmful relationships will fade away. You will become genuinely invested in the ways that you can be of service to others. Why? Because the inside and the outside are no longer seen as separate. Instead of being preoccupied with this contracted version of 'I', the enormous energies of the universe call you out to offer your best to alleviate the suffering of others. This is the beginning of freedom. It is the beginning of living in spirit. Mindfulness practice is one the the vehicles that can take you there.








Kevin Doherty, L.Ac., MS is a licensed acupuncturist who has been studying, practicing, and teaching meditation since 1992. To learn more about Kevin and his approach to meditation, go to http://www.mindfulnesscd.net


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Doherty

Saturday 24 March 2007

Inspiration for


Meditation


1. Music for Meditation.


If music is soulful and peaceful it brings our soul to the fore. When we hear soulful meditative music our inner being begins to aspire for a deeper and more meaningful reality. This aspiration to reach a more fulfilling, expansive consciousness is the real secret of meditation. When we have a burning inner flame then our meditation technique becomes of little importance. When we are inwardly aspiring for peace, light and joy our soul meditates spontaneously on our behalf. Music can definitely awaken our slumbering inner spirit.


"Each time we hear soulful music, we get inspiration and delight. In the twinkling of an eye, music can elevate our consciousness." (1)


Music for meditation can give us real inspiration but we should make sure the music is composed and played in a meditative consciousness. If the music creates restlessness and excitement then this will not help in any way our meditation.


2. Meditate on Nature.


Nature embodies a dynamic peace. The beauty, expanse and scale of nature are very conducive to meditation. The Spiritual Master Sri Ramakrishna told his disciples to always meditate when they came across an expanse of water. Water signifies consciousness and purity; this consciousness and purity are the essence of meditation. If we can meditate at the ocean's edge we will also feel a sense of infinity and expanse. It is hard for the human mind to conceive of concepts like infinity and immortality, but when we see the ocean stretching into the distance we can definitely be inspired by this concept of infinity.


3. Meditate with an adept of Meditation.


If we can have the opportunity to meditate with a real expert in meditation we will definitely feel something in their meditation. When we meditate in the presence of a real Spiritual Master we can benefit from the peace and light that they bring down. If we do not have the opportunity to meditate in the presence of a living spiritual master we can meditate on the photo of some Teacher, whom we have the utmost faith. If the photo was taken during meditation the picture will embody a meditative consciousness. If we can enter into this meditative consciousness it will bring our own inner meditative power to the fore. This consciousness is the secret of meditation.


4. Meditate with others.


If we meditate in a group with other like minded people who enjoy meditation we will gain increased inspiration and confidence in the power of meditation. If we only meditate on our own it can feel like we are battling against the world. However when we meditate in a group our own meditation will be heightened because we benefit from the meditative consciousness that occurs in a group meditation.


5. Regularity.


If we meditate on a regular basis then we will gain an increased meditative capacity. We should not be in a hurry to judge our own meditation. If we feel we have meditated badly and start feeling we are hopeless then we will definitely lose inspiration. Instead we should feel that each time we meditate there is a golden opportunity to feed our inner being. Even if we don't feel as if we are making much progress, we should remember that each time we meditate, we are taking an important and necessary step to improving our own meditation.


By Richard Pettinger


References


(1) From: Music: God's Universal Language by Sri Chinmoy








Richard became interested in meditation and eastern mysticism whilst studying at University in Oxford. After studying various spiritual traditions he became a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy. Richard now offers meditation classes on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Oxford.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Pettinger

Friday 23 March 2007

No Time to


  Meditate?


Are you one of those people who says, “I used to meditate” or “I meditate sometimes” but “I can’t keep it up because I don’t have time”? Meditation comes in many forms — and it may be something you do without noticing.


Last week I had lunch with a friend, Tim, who, with only a little prompting, began to rhapsodize about fly fishing. You know, standing hip-deep in a stream, casting and waiting and reeling them in, only to let them go, because after all, this is about the experience, not about eating the fish. It had always seemed kind of silly to me, but not when Tim got done telling me about it. He told me about the wonders of being still, connected to all of nature, hearing the rush of water over rapids and the breeze ruffling the trees, feeling the sun on his face, seeing the glint of sunlight on tree leaves, the beauty of myriad colors in a freshly caught rainbow trout, the smell of the stream and the fish. He described the sensitivity he felt in his hands because of the lightweight equipment, and the connection to, no, the dance with the fish as he reeled it in. He’s been doing it for over 20 years, and it’s always a thrill.


That reminded me of figure skating in my childhood. It was different back then, because people actually skated figures — the famed figure eights, as well as three lobed figures, called serpentines, and circles within circles, in many variations — forwards, backwards, turning once or twice in the middle of each circle, and on and on. This required intense concentration on very slow, fluid movements, because if you lost your concentration, even for a moment, a part of your body would bobble; you could see the result of that on the ice as an imperfection from the ideal. (Today, the emphasis is on freeskating, the jumps and spins skated to music, because that is what sells on TV, and sadly, most of the “figure” skating is lost). You skated the same figures over and over and over again, for years sometimes, till you got them right in front of a mostly impartial audience.


And then, today, I found this article in the NY Times, “Your Brain on Baseball” (http://select.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/opinion/18brooks.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists%2fDavid%20Brooks). David Brooks talks about training the unconscious mind to do things well through repetition and about how some things are done better without thinking about them.


Does this all sound like meditation to you? It sure does to me. In all these cases, your focus solely on what you’re doing chases out random, or even pointed, conscious thoughts, and allows for a wider, occasionally mystical, experience. Maybe you can get that fly fishing, or doing baseball drills, or shooting basketball freethrows. or golfing, or cycling, or running. I do it when I walk, either focusing completely on my surroundings, or on an affirmation (a kind of mantra) as I walk. I have a friend who goes there just by vacuuming — she gets so absorbed in the motion and the look of the carpet!


So if you “don’t have time to meditate”, maybe you can meditate just by focusing on your senses and performance in sports or even mundane tasks. How can you incorporate meditation into every day life?








Hollis Polk is a personal coach, who has been helping people create lives they love for 15 years. To do this, she blends neurolinguistic and hypnotherapy techniques, decision science, clairvoyance, and the common sense learned in over 20 years of business experience. Hollis is a Master Practitioner of neurolinguistics, a certified hypnotherapist, and has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Princeton and a Harvard MBA. She is also a successful real estate broker and investor, and has owned and run several successful businesses.


If you want to know more about Hollis, see her website, http://www.hollispolk.com


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hollis_Polk

Saturday 17 March 2007

Real Meditation

7 Reasons to


Start Meditation


1. Happiness. Meditation can help us to cultivate a real abiding happiness. Meditation allows us to be in tune with our inner self. When we live in the heart we can experience a sense of oneness with others, this brings a happiness that does not depend upon outer events.


2. Inner Peace. Most people would like to experience more inner peace in their lives; at times peace feels an elusive quality because our lives are so hectic. Meditation teaches us how to switch off from the noise of the mind, we no longer give importance to the teeming thoughts which fly through our mind. Through meditation we can gain a clear state of mind; this is the secret of feeling a real inner peace.


3. Health Benefits. There have been numerous studies showing a link between meditation and improved physical health. Meditation is a practical solution to relieve stress. When we relieve stress we help to reduce our blood pressure and heart related diseases.


4. Simplicity. Meditation helps to simplify our lives. When we live in the mind we can feel life is nothing but teeming problems and worries. Through learning to meditate we find we can get joy from appreciating the simplicity of life.


“Meditation simplifies our outer life and energizes our inner life. Meditation gives us a natural and spontaneous life, a life that becomes so natural and spontaneous that we cannot breathe without being conscious of our own divinity.”


5. Living in the Present. When we analyse the thoughts that go through our mind we find that many of them are dealing with the past or present. We are either fearful of the future or ruminating on the past. However by dwelling on the past or future, it means we are unable to live in the present moment. When we meditate we are completely in the here and now. Meditation teaches us to appreciate life as it is; we learn to value our present circumstances.


6. Better Relations with Others. Often we can have minor conflicts with other people because we dwell on minor faults of the other person. Whether it is justified or not, it is a common source of unhappiness and division. Meditation teaches us to give no importance to minor thoughts. When we meditate powerfully we develop a sense of oneness with other people; we naturally look to their good qualities. Their minor faults seem unimportant.


7. To discover a real sense of who we are. Our intellectual mind can seek to discover the answer to many questions, but the one question of who am I? always remains unanswered. To discover our real self; to be aware of our own soul we have to go beyond the mind. It is in meditation that we can become aware of a living spiritual presence. When we find this we feel a new purpose in life.








Richard became interested in meditation and eastern mysticism whilst studying at University in Oxford. After studying various spiritual traditions he became a meditation student of Sri Chinmoy. Richard now offers meditation classes on behalf of the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Oxford. http://www.srichinmoybio.co.uk/


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Pettinger

Friday 2 March 2007

Daily Meditation -


Spiritual Support For


Today's World


In days of old, spiritual life was separate from "regular life". People went to church or temple once a week, and then got on with the rest of their lives. Daily meditation was something that only nuns, priests, rabbis or monks did.

In today's world, our understanding of spiritual life is changing. More and more we are understanding that all of life is sacred, and at the same time, there seems to be less and less time available for us to slow down and connect with our innermost spiritual center.

With the advent of global communication, there are now many options available to us for spiritual and religious expression. At the same time, modern life has become more challenging, more demanding and faster paced. Staying positive and focused on God's love can be difficult, especially when we are faced negative energy that we see manifesting in world events. Many people face depression or even despair because they find it difficult to connect with their inner experience of God's love during these difficult times.

A regular spiritual practice of daily meditation can be of great help in today's world, to help bring an awareness of spiritual values into all aspects of your daily life. Daily meditation can allow you to create peace within yourself, which then radiates outwards to others. Daily meditation can be a simple as taking five or ten minutes daily with your favorite spiritual support, or can involve a more rigorous program of study, practice and meditation.

The importance of daily meditation is in the consistency with which it is done. It is helpful to schedule a specific time of day, or to do your meditation several times a day. Some people find it helpful to create an altar or other sacred space in the home, which provides an outer reminder of the sacred, and also creates a vibration of peace and harmony. If you can keep this sacred space clean, free from clutter, and away from other activities, and you will find that your altar becomes a spiritual haven that you can go to find peace, light and comfort in the midst of a busy day.

You do not need to only have one altar in your home. You can make an altar in each room, at your desk, and even in your car. A daily reminder of sacred reality goes a long way to supporting your daily meditation practice.

Daily meditation can provide comfort, upliftment, and spiritual support, even during difficult times. You will find yourself attracted to meditation practices that are most resonant with your own soul's unique divine blueprint. A daily meditation practice can be tailored to your own unique needs and spiritual longing. Daily inspiration and meditation be found through sacred religious texts as well as newer spiritual writings.

We are all of God, and created by God, and we each have a unique purpose and aspect of God that we embody in the world. The abundance of sacred teachings at this time on the Earth is a reminder that God speaks in many ways so that each heart and each soul can feel and be reminded of God's love in their own unique way. Daily meditation can help you to connect with your own divine essence, and to bring your gifts into the world for the betterment of all of humanity.

Wednesday 28 February 2007



1. In western world meditation is concentrating your mind on one thing and not thinking about any thing else.
2. In eastern world meditation is switching off your mind. That is not thinking about any thing at all.

Overall, meditation is an adventurous inward journey. It is about discovering self. Meditation increases the inner awareness. It is a path to show the life path.
Meditation leads to a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity, and bliss.
Meditation sensitizes and harnesses the power of mind.
Meditation is one of the best methods to bring about transformation and nurture the natural qualities within.
Meditation techniques simply involve a process of transforming yourself, your thoughts, and recognizing the negative thoughts, and changing them into positive and peaceful thoughts.
Meditation is a form of stress management that will allow our mind to experience an oasis of peace and love within our heart and mind.
Meditation makes you to live longer to meditate more. Meditation builds platform for a healthy lifestyle.
Meditation neutralizes emotions into the state of bliss & nirvana.
Meditation is for all. It is for children, youth and the aged.
Meditation leads to inner peace and the inner peace leads to world peace.
Meditation heals self and meditation heals the world.


Author: Laxmanmurthy Ganesh

This article is free for republishing
Source:
http://www.articlealley.com

The Benefits Of


Meditation At Work


Increase the physical and mental performance of employees

Meditation is multifarious in its benefits and a person who practices, receives multiple advantages whatever is at home, outdoors, and even in the workplace. It has been noticed that both executives and employees gain comprehensive benefits from meditation, which automatically helps in creating a favorable work atmosphere in the companies and organizations.

Spiritual management and meditation are becoming the core subjects of management studies, and more and more managers are willing to explore its benefits for their business.They are open to the implementation of meditation at work and see what it can do to the whole work environment. The needs of business environment are fast demanding some techniques that can be incorporated to cater to the mental needs of the employees and executives. Tension, anxiety, and fatigue are common phenomenon that almost all the corporate sector is complaining about.The competition and market demand does not allow them to be moderate in their work. They need to work like machines.This is actually where the problem lies, and meditation at work can easily have its impact. Meditating at work can prove almost to be a panacea for work environment problems.

Let's venture to see what perceptible benefits are gained from meditation at work:

Increases Productivity

Productivity is the factor that almost all the managers look at when they want to implement some new techniques in their work environment. Meditation at work helps in increasing the productivity, as it provides comprehensive benefits to individual executives and employees. It can be easily understood that individual benefits combine to make it happen for the whole organization. A sense of satisfaction dawns on the employees and executives through meditation at work, and the experience of rewarding work help in increasing the productivity.

It should be noted that as the organization or the team moves along with meditation at work, the effects are increased. It is like more you practice and more you develop yourself.

Creates physical and mental balance

It has been noticed that meditation at work brings a complete balance between physical and mental performance of the employees. The corporate performance is propelled by more rewarding work experience, which helps in minimizing the mental wear, and thus, helping meditation at work to bring out complete benefits. Employees and executives who practice meditation at work, enjoy dynamic but relaxed work-experience, and are not prone to anxiety, tension, and fatigue.

If we can gauge the potency of meditation at home, we can easily think about the behavioral changes and mental calmness that meditation at work can bring about. Meditation at work should be incorporated as a regular practice, and not as a one-off training session. Once meditation at work is implemented, work will be done with more fluidity, lesser problems, and in a manner that will benefit both individuals and the companies as whole.



By: Spiritual Now Editors -


Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com


Spiritual Now is a guide to spiritual enlightenment and meditation at work to increase performance.

Saturday 24 February 2007

Mindfulness Meditation And


The Law Of Attraction


Do you feel overhwelmed and at odds with your life? Does it seem like your mind rambles incessantly, as if you can never experience a moment of peace? Many people in our modern world describe their lives as frenzied and imbalanced. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. Many Asian cultures have understood something for the past several thousand years that modern people are gradually beginning to discover: That we have to learn how to work with our minds in a conscious and healthy way if we are to attract peace, abundance, and joy into our lives. Without a consistent method of cultivating awareness, we will be forever resigned to circumstances that feel out of our control. That is why so many modern people are struggling. We have lost the ancient practice of connecting our inner world of thoughts, feelings, and energy with our outer world of the circumstances we attract into our lives. Because of this, everything that appears seems to be random. We lose trust in the unfolding of the universe. As a result, our minds are filled with anxiety and worry, which only attracts more seeming chaos and confusion into our lives. Does this sound familiar?

The law of attraction states that what you focus on expands. If your thoughts and feelings resonate with anxiety and confusion, then you will attract more of those qualites to you through your relationships, work, finances, etc. The key is not to trick our minds into creating positive thoughts through affirmations or other methods, but to develop space around the workings of our minds altogether. Herein lies the magic of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is a method of becoming acutely aware of everything that happens within the scope of our perception. We shed light on what we think, feel, and sense. We make conscious all of the subconscious material that typically sabotages our good intentions. We don't try to change it. Instead, we just become extremely aware of it. We do this by sitting still and doing nothing but watching how our mind works without attachment or judgment. We just sit and witness what takes place within us and we start to draw parallels between what we believe to be true and what we are constantly attracting into our lives.

Many people, particulalry Westerners, try meditation for a period of time and then give up after getting frustrated with the process. This is because we are always looking for results. We are deeply attached to our expectations of what should happen. Most of us try to use meditation to shut our minds down, to dwell in a space of 'no thought.' If you try to use meditation to stop thinking, you are in for a rude surprise. You simply cannot do it. In fact, the harder you try to stop thinking, the louder and more obnoxious your thoughts become. This is not the way. The main intention of mindfulness is to be fundamentally OK with whatever arises as you practice. Whether you have a good thought or a bad thought, you give it the same attention. You remain neutral. By doing this, you stop feeding the energy of your thoughts. This is the first step in cutting through the vicious cycle of

thought-feeling-reaction that keeps so many of us habitually attracting the wrong kinds of energy, people, and circumstances into our lives. If we believe what we think, the energy of the thought will evolve into a feeling. The momentum of the feeling will cause us to react to it, which will create a cause in the world that will always lead to an effect. The effect will always be a reflection of that initial thought impulse. So, if your thoughts are habitually centered around negativity, greed, fear, or narcissism, then the effects you will see in your life will mirror this back to you.

Mindfulness is a process of becoming truly proactive for the first time in your life. Most of the time, we are just reacting to what we think and feel, which brings us endless cycles of conflict and disappointment. When we remain neutral to our thoughts and feelings, then we will gradually make contact with an aspect of ourselves that is spontaneous and awake. We will act (not react) from this place. We will attract what we truly desire into our lives based on a conscious process of heightening our senses. And, yes, at some point the mind does slow down. We experience wonderful and refreshing moments of peace and openness. The universe is naturally seen as a benevolent place.
Instead of our typical attempts to outsmart the universe, mindfulness is a humbling process of surrender and gratitude.

Cultivate space, endless space, around your thoughts and feelings. Allow your spirit to inhabit your body fully. Don't buy into self-defeating storylines and beliefs. Don't try to force yourself to see the positive in life or repeat useless affirmations that you have no innate connection with. Instead, taste the perfection of this moment as it is. If you can feel in your bones that you are fundamentally OK and that life is precious, you will attract much more meaningful relationships with people, better health, more fulfilling work and more prosperity on all levels of being. That is the power of mindfulness.



By: Kevin Doherty-6600


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Kevin Doherty, L.Ac., MS is a licensed acupuncturist in private practice in Superior, Co. where he teaches many of his patients how to meditate to enhance their health and overall quality of life. For more information on Kevin and his approach to meditation, go to www.mindfulnesscd.net

Sunday 18 February 2007

Mindfulness Meditation - A Cure for Anxiety?

For those people who are really dedicated to getting over their anxiety, meditation can be the key.

The are literally thousands of types of meditation, and many books, CDs and Videos out there which will tell you how to meditate. I'm going to ask you to forget nearly all of those. All meditation will relax you, but that in itself is not a solution to anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias. Most meditations seem to take you away from the present moment and take your concentration away from your body. Such escapism may bring temporary relief from anxiety but will not free you from it, and meditating through anxious moments is hard. Enter Mindfulness meditation.

So, why is Mindfulness Meditation so good for getting over anxiety? There are a few reasons: firstly, through practicingg mindfulness meditation you learn to be in the present moment. That might sound odd, after all we are all in the present moment all the time - how else could it be? In fact, anxiety, panic, and phobias do not really happen in the present moment. Think about it a second. They happen when you concentrate on bad memories from the past and catastrophic predictions about the future. Mindfulness meditation recognises this and allows you to stay in the present, where everything is just as it should be.

Secondly, with mindfulness meditation you stay in your body and become aware of your body. You become aware of all the tension and stress you are holding in the moment throughout your body. This allows your mind to accept, and not misinterpret tension as a signal to start panicking or feeling anxious. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly of all, mindfulness meditation teaches you to be aware of your thoughts as passing entities which are present in a given moment and then fade as all thoughts do. When you learn to see anxious and catastrophic thoughts in this light you are much better placed to chose how to react to them, or indeed whether to react to them at all. After diligent practice, the mindfulness meditator can decide to let his/her catastrophic thoughts be, to not react to tension, and to focus on what is happening in the moment. The completely different outlook on life which the meditator nurtures revolves around acceptance and understanding, not reaction and fear. In terms of anxiety and panic, the results can be spectacular.

I am an ex-anxiety sufferer campaigning against expensive gimmicks targeted at vulnerable anxiety sufferers by cynical businessmen. Anxiety 2 Calm

Author: Thomas Chant

Article source: http://tmtworldwide.blogspot.com/. Used with author's permission.