The Power of Meditation

​Meditation has many health benefits and is a highly effective way to release stress and maintain a healthier lifestyle. 

Over time it builds self-discipline, promotes healthier coping mechanisms, improves self-image and awareness, helps people make better choices in life, compartmentalize and focus; and overall has a transformative effective on one’s experience relating to stress.

Meditation is quite simple in nature yet transcends thought when one controls the monkeys. Buddha refers to distraction as monkeys vying for our attention, hence the phrase “the monkey mind”. When people are in a deep meditative state, they exist in the moment, and in that moment, time is suspended. They go beyond consciousness and are gifted with the whisper of the divine where compassion, respectfulness and forgiveness are strengthened,

We now know that people from all the corners of the world, in whatever position they hold meditate to relieve stress. It is a practice that has both spiritual connections and has many expressions.

It has been scientifically shown to lower blood pressure, aid with sleep, improve memory and help manage pain.

People meditate as a:

• Fix for stress relief and to help their body physically relax
• Daily practice to build resistance to stress
• Centering and balancing technique when emotionally out-of-balance
• Way to strengthen self-compassion and compassion for others, as well as opening one’s heart to forgiveness, justice and peace.
• Centering Prayer that leads to action

The basic principles of meditative practice has four elements

1. Find a comfortable position. Sit in a comfortable chair or on the ground cross-legged. Relax while staying awake. Keep your back straight with feet on the floor.
2. Gently close your eyes.
3. Clear the mind of distractions.  This is the part of mediations that is most difficult and cause for frustration and why many people leave the meditative practice.  It requires discipline and letting go. It is essentially about moving out of our egotistical comfort zone, letting go and flowing with inner energy and peace.
4. Continue. That’s it, really! Keep letting go of any thoughts that may pop into your mind. The quiet spaces between thoughts will become longer and more frequent the longer you practice.

There is no doubt we will be distracted during meditation. We need to recognize these as being part of our lives. By recognizing the distractions we give ourselves permission to remove them and get back to focus.

•  Basically we are disciplining our mind to focus by silencing it through breathing and relaxing our body.
• Another way to deal with distractions is to concentrate on a singular object (a flower, a spot on the floor) and gradually distractions will recede.

 
Thank you for Reading,
Richard Fontanie 

(This is an excerpt from Stressology 200: The Remedies: Meditation. “Stressology: Stress Care for Today” is an eight-hour Masterclass and can be found in the Storefront, or you may consider becoming a Member of FORTIS where “Stressology: Stress Care for Today” is included in your membership fee.)