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OPENING TO MEDITATION
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Diana Lang |
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Meditation in Real Life
Based on:
OPENING TO MEDITATION
A Gentle Guided Approach
By Diana Lang
As we move into the new millennium we are hearing more and more about meditation. It's everywhere. Goldie Hawn meditates. Sting meditates. Oprah is talking about it on her show. Richard Gere studies with the Dalai Lama. Our almost-president Al Gore meditates. Even the Beatles meditated!
In America, more than ten million adults have a daily meditation practice, and those are just the ones that participated in the poll. Many more of us are quietly meditating in our homes and offices.
Furthermore, scientific studies are showing, through tests of yogis and other mystics -- hooking them up to every kind of medical device you can imagine; measuring blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, neural activity in the brain, and more -- what has been long been known: meditation really works. It strengthens the immune system, lessens the effects of depression, and lowers blood pressure, just to name a few of the benefits. Meditating even improves the way we age.
Meditation is being used in every kind of setting, from hospitals to prisons. It is being used to help alleviate the effects of stress and chronic pain. Meditation is even being used to help people through the process of dying. Schools are using meditation to assist children with hyperactivity and keep them off drugs. It is being used worldwide by groups numbering in the millions to purposefully raise humanity's consciousness to a new level. Meditation is sweeping the Western world!
So what is meditation?
Most of us imagine someone sitting cross-legged on a mountaintop in India. But for most, meditation doesn't fit this stereotypical image. It is rather a simple daily practice, done at home sitting on the couch, or at the office on lunch break. We do it to keep our balance, to find our center and to stay present -- even when things are difficult -- especially when things are difficult.
Life can be so overwhelming. We can get distracted, distraught, confused and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of life. We are bombarded with information and stimulation. There's so much to do. We are trying so hard to make money, raise kids, be a good person; we get over-stimulated, over-amped, and finally overwhelmed.
There's never been a time in history where ADD (hyperactivity) or all kinds of nervous disorders and immune system diseases have been more rampant. We eat too much, we work too hard, we try too hard. We swing from gung-ho exercise programs and massive dieting, to total lethargy and depression. We are a bi-polar nation. We are desperately looking for meaning and simplicity. We are looking for a way to get back to ourselves -- to that part of us that is sacred -- and it's been right there all along.
Meditation reconnects us to that simplicity and meaning. It awakens that part of ourselves that is always connected. When we meditate we have the actual experience of inner peace and a deep inner calm. It's like the feeling after having returned from a long vacation; you return rested with a greater sense of well being, but also a broader perspective of your life, and for a while you have a whole new outlook. With a meditation practice, you can have that experience every day.
People by the thousands are turning to meditation every day, because we're just plain overwhelmed. We're stressed out and pissed off. We feel powerless, worried, unworthy, or worse, apathetic. All of these states are conditions of being disconnected -- which creates pain. We are in pain because we are disconnected.
Meditation helps us to reconnect to our higher knowing. It helps us know what to do and when to do it. We start to have perfect timing. We catch green lights and get our favorite parking space. We win a prize, we get promoted. People call out of the blue that we've been thinking about - little coincidences, little coincidences everywhere. We begin to know the love that is all around us -- all the time. We realize that we are worthy beyond measure.
Mediation is a powerful tool. Think of it like a hammer and a nail. You can do a lot with it. It's not complex or mysterious. If you use it, you can build something, from a birdhouse to a cathedral.
Meditation connects you to your innermost self, and the good news is that it's easy. It's simple to do and as normal as breathing. Meditation gives you back your most true and authentic self. When we meditate we begin to feel calm and sure and guided in every moment. It takes you where you are, you, accepts you, and gently, lovingly and in perfect timing takes you back to yourself.
It's simple to mediate. You can try it right now.
First make yourself comfortable. Relax your attention a bit, even while you're reading, just let your attention become softer. And then notice your breath. Notice if it's deep or shallow or held in. As you continue to observe your breath, notice if it feels stressed or calm? Now take a deep breath through your nose and exhale slowly and notice how you feel. Let your body relax. Let your mind relax. Take another deep breath and relax even deeper.
You see, with just one conscious breath you can begin to change your state of mind. Even in this very short exercise you can get a feeling of what it's like to really relax. And relaxation is the beginning of meditation.
Within a meditation many things can happen: insights, understanding, forgiveness, resolution and great ideas, all in this simple process.
Meditation connects the soul to the self, and by meditating on purpose we make this conscious bridge. Inside this sacred container there is a whole new world. You'll come to discover that your inner world is as rich as your outer world is!
There are no rules for meditation. If you do not like sitting cross-legged then sit another way. If you prefer to walk while you meditate, that's perfect. The only thing to focus on is being present. When you are meditating, you are doing nothing else. You are allowing yourself room for stillness and introspection, a vacation from the busy and rushed flow of your daily life.
Sitting down to meditate is like sitting with a spiritual teacher. You can ask questions, you can bring all the confusion and uncertainty of your life into the laboratory of your higher mind and receive the counsel and instruction you are yearning for.
By meditating you are sending out a signal that you want to connect, that you want to open your heart to the universe and receive all of its gifts. The moment you start your practice, the signal is transmitted and your life starts to change. You immediately begin to attract all you need to enhance and intensify your spiritual path. Books will shine on the shelves and fall into your hands, your aunt will invite you to a yoga class that changes your life, everything will start to come to you in perfect order. There is no rush. Meditation is a healing process. It happens with the perfect flow of nature. All you have to do is to take your next step, the one that is right in front of you. And the next step always feels natural. It is not like walking the plank, it's more like crossing the street. Meditation will give you the insight and awareness to know what this next step is, and the courage to take it. Meditation is a return to love, a return to the home you have always been seeking.
Meditation brings clarity and resolve. You are sitting with your innermost wisdom. You are letting yourself slow down to the point where the answers you are seeking can come to you without any resistance. Meditation returns you to your source. It takes you outside of time and brings you home, to a place where you belong and are cherished by life itself.
Life doesn’t have to be hard. Life is a grand adventure, a kind of school, but not necessarily of hard knocks. Our inner guidance constantly is telling us what our next step is. All we have to do is listen to it.
So don't be surprised if you find out your accountant meditates or you're next door neighbor. Wouldn’t you love to know that the nurse that is caring for you meditates or your lawyer does? The more conscious we all are, the better the world will become. Where there's consciousness there is compassion -- there is love. Meditation is a return to love. It is a return to your deepest inner knowing and that place within yourself you have always been seeking. Meditation literally makes your world a better place and this world a better place.
Meditation creates a clear path to real peace and happiness. The place to start is exactly where you are and the time is now. Meditation will take you home.
Diana Lang is author of the book and CD set, "OPENING TO MEDITATION — A Gentle, Guided Approach." She is a spiritual counselor and has been teaching meditation and yoga in Los Angeles for nearly twenty-five years. Visit her website: www.DianaLang.com
Based on the book and CD set" OPENING TO MEDITATION — A Gentle, Guided Approach" by Diana Lang $19.95 Published by New World Library, www.newworldlibrary.com
Author's Bio
Diana Lang is a “teacher’s teacher” of meditation and yoga and a spiritual counselor who has taught meditation to thousands of people since 1980. She has studied spiritual teachings from around the world and is able to easily explain abstract ideas in a way that is easy for us to understand. She leads ongoing yoga classes and spiritual workshops in the Los Angeles area. For two years, she has had a weekly live two-hour radio show, In Your Dreams, on KZLA. She lives and teaches in Los Angeles. Visit her website at: www.DianaLang.com.
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