What is Meditation for Health?

Meditation for Health is a community-based medical clinic in Toronto, Canada. Patients come to us to learn Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), a self-care treatment for stress-related symptoms and chronic illness.

The program complements and supports conventional medical care by helping patients to mobilize their inner resources for coping and healing -- especially for symptoms that no longer respond to standard medical treatment, or symptoms that worsen the course of chronic illness.

These self-regulating techniques promote healing by reducing the burden of the stress response in mind and body.

Has been useful for such conditions as:

• chronic pain
• anxiety and panic
• sleep disturbance & insomnia
• gastrointestinal distress
• fatigue
• headaches
• job or family stress
• skin disorders
• high blood pressure
• stress factors in heart disease

What is mindfulness?

"Mindfulness" is nonjudgmental, present moment awareness –– being here, now.

To practice mindfulness, we pay attention to what we're experiencing, moment to moment, without judgment or expectation. We simply observe whatever we're aware of right now, just as it is.

When we're mindful, we often notice things we usually ignore, such as:

      ... Noticing the sounds you're hearing right now ...
      ... or the feeling of your eyes as they scan this text ...
      ... or the touch of your fingers controlling this computer ...
      ... Can you feel your next breath beginning? .........

This is mindfulness.

Tips for Meditation

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Where Should I Meditate?
  You may wish to set aside a special corner of one room, your own private sanctuary, a calm, quiet and peaceful place. You might furnish the area with objects or icons that have spiritual meaning for you, developing a little altar or shrine. Use what will put you into a contemplative frame of mind. You may want to enlist the help of Mother Nature. Spend time at the ocean listening to the surf crashing upon the rocks...walk through a shaded forest trail with a cathedral of trees overhead...stand near a stream with water playing over the rocks or a waterfall...or watch the moon rise or birds fly overhead.
• How Should I Sit When I Meditate?
  Although the classic posture is to sit with legs folded and hands resting quietly on the lap or the knees, the key is to find a way of sitting that is comfortable for you. And remember, you can meditate anytime, anywhere...even driving in your car.
• Should My Eyes Be Open or Closed?
  Keep your eyes open if possible, to keep all of senses open. The goal is not to fall asleep, but to find yourself in a state of "relaxed alertness." Nor are you seeking a trancelike experience, or an altered state of consciousness. Keep your eyes "soft" — that is, do not focus on anything in particular — and your mouth slightly open.
  
• How Long Should I Meditate?
  Many texts recommend 20 minutes, twice daily, but it's not how long you meditate; it's whether the practice "brings you to a certain state of mindfulness and presence, where you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence," writes Sogyal Rinpoche in the "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying."

To begin, try short sessions of four to five minutes; then break for one minute. "It's often during the break that meditation actually happens!" writes Rinpoche. It may also be useful to get into the habit of setting aside the same times every day, be they for prayer or meditation. David Steindl-Rast, O.S.B., a Benedictine monk and author, recommends rising 15 minutes earlier than usual to give your day a "contemplative dimension." Without these precious moments, he says, "your whole day can slip away into a mad chase," but with them your entire day can be imbued with meaning and joy.

Basics Meditation

Four Basic Ways to Practice Meditation

• Follow your breath
  This is the most universal of all mindfulness techniques. First, exhale strongly a few times to clear the base of the lungs of carbon dioxide. It is helpful to review the technique for following the deep breathing method of imagining a lotus blossom residing in your lower abdomen; as the breath fills the belly, the petals of the blossom expand; as you exhale, the petals close back up.
• Observe an icon or object
  Allow your mind to rest lightly on an object. If you come from the Christian tradition, this might be an image of Christ, the Virgin Mary or the Holy Spirit.

If you are inspired by Eastern spiritual traditions, you might reflect upon an image or icon of the Buddha. You can also use a flower, crystal, or other object that has meaning for you. Lightly allow your attention to sit there, quietly and peacefully.

• Recite a mantra
  A mantra literally means "that which protects the mind." So reciting a mantra protects you with spiritual power. It is also said that when you chant a mantra, you are charging your breath and energy with the energy of the mantra. Again, choose something with meaning for you within your spiritual tradition: recite the Rosary, for example. Tibetan Buddhists use a mantra for peace, healing, transformation and healing. "Recite the mantra quietly, with deep attention, and let your breath, the mantra and your awareness become slowly one," writes Rinpoche.
• Do a Guided Meditation.
  Guided meditation is akin to guided imagery, a powerful technique that focuses and directs the imagination toward a conscious goal. (Think of a diver imagining a "perfect dive" before he leaves the platform.) Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk who is a scholar, poet, peace activist and author. He suggests trying a very simple — yet profound — guided meditation that you can learn by yourself.

  Benefits of Meditation

  The Benefits of Meditation Are Subtle
  While you may not feel flashes of insight when practicing meditation, its effects will become apparent to you later, when you may notice that you responded to a crisis with uncharacteristic calmness, or failed to get "triggered" in a situation that would normally disturb you. Trust in the process, let go of your expectations of achieving "results" (after all, meditation is not a contest), and you will reap the results.

  The real miracle of meditation, says Rinpoche, is a subtle transformation that happens not only in your mind and your emotions but also in your body. And, this transformation is a healing one. "Even your cells are more joyful."