Meditation, objectives:
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Be able to describe “meditation”.
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Be able to describe the psychological,
physiological, and spiritual benefits of
meditation.
Meditation:
Is a tool for developing the mind.
 Can create a greater calm.
 Can help bring insight into your
experience of the moment.
 From insight comes greater freedom to
live more wisely and happily.
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Why Meditate?:
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Much of the time we run around so much on
“automatic pilot”, we have chattering going
on, and we are so busy, we hardly know what
we are doing.
 To become familiar with the workings of your
mind-body- and spirit.
 It lengthens the gap between your thoughts,
therefore decreasing the “chatter”.
Meditation:
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Teaches you to make decisions that will bring
you in touch with the way things work in this
world or “natural laws of the universe”.
 Trains people to watch their thought
processes as a flow, and to step back from
them and observe, to be mindful, and to
watch what is going on in the mind.
 Gradually this mindfulness practice will spill
over into the rest of your life.
Meditation:
Can help you deal with old problems in
new ways.
 Can help you not get hooked into the “I”
onto feelings or situations you are in,
and therefore do not become
judgmental.( do not take things so personally)
 Can result into a peacefulness that
strengthens the mind by freeing turmoil.
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Spiritual effects of meditation:

Meditation is “listening to yourself” and
praying is “talking to God”.

When listening to yourself, you connect
with the “real you”.
Psychological effects of meditation:
It gives you the feeling of being
“Centered”.
 Feel less anxiety.
 You learn how to focus on one thing at a
time with softness and mindfulness.
 It keeps you in the “now” or present
moment.

Physiological effects
of meditation:
Metabolic rate drops, i.e. heart rate,
respirations, blood pressure, and
oxygen consumption decrease.
 Immune system function improves.
 Biological aging is slowed.
 You have greater physical energy and
stamina.

How to meditate, may need to do a
relaxation exercise: TSMS
Tense muscles, Shake, Move, then
Stretch
 Find a quiet environment, take the
phone off the hook, may need to set an
alarm, start with 5-10 minutes, work up
to 20-30 minutes.
 Sit (or lay down) in a comfortable
position, palms open.

Continued:
Spine straight.
 Feet flat on the floor.
 Or lotus position
 Hands on legs, relaxed.
 Pretend that you have a string attached
to your head and it is being pulled up.
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How to meditate continued:
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The key is focusing on your breath.
Where do you notice it the most?
Pick the point that you are drawn to and focus
on that area.
This quiets the mind and allows you to feel
and experience what is going on inside of
you.
The mind is kept busy watching the breath
and therefore has no chance to overcome
you with anxieties.
During meditation, check in:
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From head to toe.
Any tension, pain, or discomfort?
Note the sensations, observe, try not make
judgments, get irritated, frustrated or give up.
Acknowledge any unpleasant sensations 3
times without judgment, and check in again.
Allow each area of your body to relax.
Handling difficulties in
meditation:

When a sensation becomes so strong as to
distract you, turn your attention to it, and
observe, then, return focus to breathing.
 Sluggishness or sleepiness occurs due to
lack of stimulation, focus more intently on
your breath.
 Restlessness may occur, acknowledge it and
return focus to breath.
 It you begin having distracting thoughts,
gently bring your focus back to your breath.
Handling difficulties, continued:

If someone begins occupying your thoughts,
and you become irritated try to be
compassionate and forgive.
 Each time you bring your thoughts to your
breath or to the “gap” you strengthen your
“meditation muscle”.
 Like any program of exercise, the more you
do it, the stronger you become.
 It takes time and effort.
Meditation:
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Helps to access deep inner resources for
healing.
Calming the mind so you can be more
effective.
Helps you make sensible choices under
pressure.
Helps cope with stress.
Helps you to feel better about your body
Helps you be more engaged in life.
Meditation:
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Helps you be a “human being” instead of a
“human doing”.
Can enrich your relationships with people.
Helps to integrate and align the mind-bodyspirit.
Can help you find shelter from the “wind” that
agitates the mind.
The “winds” of life are always blowing.
“You can’t stop the waves (or winds)
but you can learn to surf.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Meditation:
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Is synonymous with non-doing.
We are not practicing to make things perfect
or to do things perfectly.
Rather we practice to grasp and realize that
things are already perfect.
This has everything to do with holding the
present moment in its fullness without
imposing anything extra on it.
It is the opposite of “multitasking”.
Meditation:

Helps to allow more things to unfold without
forcing them to happen, and without rejecting
the one’s that don’t fit your idea of what
should be happening.
 Helps us to understand that everything
happens for a reason, there are no accidents
(coincidences).
 Helps you practice patience, just like the
seasons cannot be hurried, they change on a
natural rhythm.
Meditation notes, continued:

Scratch the surface of impatience and you will
find anger.
 Impatience and anger can be related to “not
wanting things to be the way they are” and
often blaming someone or something or your
self.
 This doesn’t mean you can’t hurry when you
have to, but do it mindfully and with choice.
Meditation notes continued:
When we have to push, we push, when
we have to pull, we pull.
 But with deeper awareness that comes
with meditation, we know when not to
pull or push.
 There can be no tug-of-war, when one
person lets go.
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“Do you have the patience to wait until
the mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving till the right
action arises by itself ?”
Lao-Tzu, Tao-Te-Ching
In summary:

Meditation helps us to become more mindful.
 Mindfulness helps us to focus on one thing at
a time (it is the opposite of multitasking).
 Meditation does not try to change our thinking
by thinking some more. It involves watching
our thoughts, so we are less a prisoner of our
thoughts.
In summary continued:

Thoughts can be narrow and inaccurate
and become a prison. Meditation has
tremendous psychological and
physiological benefits.

Meditation can free us.