Whole Health Partners Meditation Information

What is Meditation?
Meditation is a technique whereby the meditator adjusts their surroundings and certain body activities to reach a state of “awareness without thought”. Only after the experience has ended can you look back and say ‘not a thought crossed my mind.’ This is the Time Lapse phenomenon of the practice of meditation, and its ultimate goal.

How will Meditation affect me?
The primary effect of meditation is that it breaks tension in the body, including mental tension. This pathological state of tension is manufactured by stress. Stress, by nature, accelerates cellular activity in the body. Increasing cell activity leads to the increase of fuel consumption, which in turn leads to the increase of waste. Waste makes the body more acidic, and acidity depresses all of the systems in the body. By breaking the field of tension, meditation reverses the ratio of waste, to waste removal and thus purifies the body. The effects are slow and gradual.

What role does oxygen play in the body?
The primary role of oxygen in the body is to seek out the harmful exhaust (waste), render those harmful waste molecules harmless, and then escort them out of the body. Examples of this natural process are carbon and hydrogen, which are bound by oxygen to create carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O), and are then eliminated during the normal processes of breathing and urination respectively. During meditation, the use of oxygen is maximized by decreasing the production of harmful chemicals, thereby increasing the efficiency of available oxygen in the body.

What are the benefits of Meditation?
Vitality is the essential benefit of meditation. Thousands of meditators site the following as the most notable effects of meditation. Increase in physical performance, productivity, sleep quality and quantity, mental focus, energy, intellect, normal bodily functions, anti-aging, tendency to exercise, immunity, endurance, creativeness, sexual performance, happiness, and spirituality. People who meditate tend to have a more forgiving nature; they enjoy an improved mood, and better relations with others. The renewing practice enhances the senses. Life’s experiences become brighter, crisper, sharper, and clearer. Undesired behaviors tend to decrease and fade away such as, late night eating, smoking and unproductive worry, which tends to interfere with good, restful sleep. Those who regularly practice their meditation also repeatedly site decreasing combative, judgmental, and scattered thinking, as well as decreasing irritability.
Physiologically, meditation progressively decreases acidity in the body and reduces high blood pressure. Meditations calming effect on the nervous system has a dramatic effect on everyday aches and pains. Yawning and snoring due to lack of sleep disappears.

On the Job
Regular meditation promotes more productive team attitudes. Employees who meditate are generally more productive at work. They fatigue less easily and are sick less often. Meditators tend to be on time for work and are mentally sharp earlier in the day. When people are well rested, as meditators are, they have improved posture and communication skills. These appearances and skills speak to the image and competence of their company. Personally, I enjoy taking time to be with myself each day. The post-meditation period can be exhilarating. With each meditation, we see the same world a little differently.

How to Meditate?

• Consistency
• The cumulative effects of meditation are what yield the positive results. Those who are regular with their practice are ultimately the ones that inherit the vital benefits and experience a fuller expression of their selves. Meditation should be practiced a minimum of once daily. Twice is better!
• Priority
• Most people have a sense that meditation is beneficial after their initial experience. When we trust that the benefit is in the practice, we can then choose to make it a priority in our lives, much like exercise. Schedule it in!

Good tips:

• No eating at least one hour prior to meditation.
• No drinking as well, except for small amounts of water.
• Go to the bathroom ahead of time.

Settling In

To have a special place where you always meditate is optimal. Sometimes it is impossible to meditate in that place however it is possible to approximate the essential conditions almost anywhere. Especially when you come to love it! The settling in process begins by going to the planned area of meditation.

1. Remove or turn off all phones, pagers, or other devices that might go off. The space should be as quiet as possible.
2. The space should be a comfortable temperature.
3. Some light is okay. The less bright, the better.
4. An upright chair is usually a good place to settle in to. It allows you to sit up straight and support your spine at the same time. It is important to sit upright and not to slouch. Slouching impedes the lifting and dropping of the diaphragm, which reduces the flow of air.
5. Lastly, I like to have a personal item there that makes me happy to greet my eyes when I open them after the session.

Special fragrances, music, or external sounds directly interfere with the success of this meditation. Also, if you lie down, you will likely fall asleep, so be sure to practice your meditation sitting upright. Sitting on the floor or in the lotus position is only desirable if it is truly more comfortable than sitting in a chair. You are now ready to begin.

Steps to Meditation

1. Three breaths (nostril breathing)
• Take three slow breaths both in and out through the nose. This action signals the body that the meditation is beginning.
• We begin the process of breath awareness and chest expansion.
• The mind and body begin to quiet.


2. Close eyes: The eyes remain closed throughout the 20 minute meditation.
• Continue to breathe through your nose slowly: 3-6 breaths
• The body will quiet more with each breath, especially since the eyes are now shut.


3. Body check
• Wiggle the feet, legs, posterior, torso, hands, arms, shoulders, and neck briefly, one at a time then allow them to disappear. People often say the body feels heavy. This is normal.
• The whole body check process should not take more than 10 seconds.


4. Go to the breath
   • Go back to the sound of your breath moving through you. After the body check, the breath tends to become louder as other distractions disappear.
   • Try not to think about the sound of the air moving in and out of you, try to have a sense of it, and allow your attention to move in and out with the air.
   
   
5. Compression breathing (5 Breaths)
• The compression breath is the intensifying tool.
• To perform the compression breath, you simply extend the exhaling portion of your normal breathing. By gently forcing more air out of your lungs, you create a slight state of anoxia (oxygen deprivation). This tends to disconnect our senses and intensify the sound of the breath.
• During the meditation, whenever you realize that your focus has slipped away from your breath, use the compression breath as a new starting point. One compression breath will usually do it.


6. Go back to the breath (Repeat step 4)
• As you complete the last compression breath, you will find it very easy to drift back into normal breathing.
• The longer that you listen to your breath, the more the breath will slow and the distance between breaths will increase. This is the time you will slip into oubliette (a place of forgetting).


7. Big Picture
• The goal is to reach the “Time Lapse Phenomenon” awareness without thought. This is the time when the meditation practice reaches a critical threshold and the benefits are at their greatest.
• Once the state of mind is broken, your thoughts will try to identify with the experience and a blissful feeling will come over you.


8. Eyes remain closed: The mind tends to turn on the senses once you have resigned to the end of the session.
• After many sessions you will begin to get a feel for the 20 minute time period. Exacting the 20 minutes is not necessary.
• This is the time when the body begins to reconnect to the mind.


9. Three deep breaths
• These breaths do not include compressions.
• Think of these breaths as blowing off exhaust, and the final cleansing step in the meditation.


10. Slowly begin to open your eyes and move your body
• The effect is awesome. You will feel renewed with each sound and sight following the session.
• Your antenna is now raised and your awareness is now heightened.