Meditate For Increased Vitatlity And Optimum Potential

Physical And Mental Relaxation

Mental and physical relaxation seems to be the first experience of a person new to meditation. In fact it is usually the first experience for a seasoned meditator as you must obtain mental and physical relaxation before experiencing inner peace or stillness. Meditation allows your mind to slow its constant bombardment of ideas. Those tight neck muscles will melt into soft putty. Just by allowing the calm that is meditation to permeate your physical body you will reap the benefits of stress relief.

Do not worry that you do not know how to meditate. There is no such thing as knowing how to meditate. There are many books written on the subject but remember those individual authors are writing from their experience. Sure you can be taught a particular method of meditating but do not be discouraged if you do not experience what the instructor says you will experience. If you find a particular method too confusing or uncomfortable then don’t practice that method. There are an abundance of methods that you can choose from. If you physically can’t hold your body in a particular position that a particular method requires then use a method that allows you to just sit or lay while meditating.

Are you going to get the same benefit if you aren’t practicing the ‘body pretzel’ method? Yes you will get the same benefit. The key is to not make it hard. Make it enjoyable so that you are able to do it on a daily basis. I recommend a method that you will be able to do at work if you need to de-stress. What? At work? Of course, isn’t that where most of your stress comes from? Meditation can be done on a 5 minute break; you don’t have to get into your meditation clothes, burn incense and be in your favorite meditating space.

The Nasty Adrenaline

The purpose of meditation is to bring your physical body and mind to a state of calm. Just by calming the mind and body you are doing a great deal of good for the entire body. Your heart rate decreases, you take deeper breathes which in turn brings more oxygen into the body and helps release toxins during the exhalation phase, you decrease the amount of adrenaline that may be streaming through your veins due to your mental or physical stress. When we are stressed our body is ready for the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism and must always have the adrenaline at the ready to infiltrate the body at an instants notice. This is great if we are being chased by a hungry bear and need to run as fast as we can but not so good if we go through our entire day frequently spurting small amounts of adrenaline into the blood stream.

My Kingdom For Some Sleep

This may sound crazy but meditation is a form of sleep. Sleep is the very deep product of meditation. In order for most of us to fall asleep we must physically and mentally relax. We must shut off those nagging thoughts in order to fall into R.E.M. (rapid eye movement) state. Meditation is a controlled form of sleep at any time we need a relaxation break. In fact those who have never meditated may find during there first few sessions that they fall asleep. This is perfectly normal if it happens to you.

In the United States we are so fried with work, home life, and play that we tend to continue thinking about what we did that day, what we are going to do tomorrow and what we still need to get done before the end of the week. We do our before bed ritual and finally get settled into bed and zing all of the thoughts I mentioned above permeate our mind and create physical muscle tension throughout our bodies which hinder us from falling into ZZZ land. We fight to fall asleep and finally give into either getting up and watching infomercial all night or we turn to over the counter or prescription sleep aids. If TV is the choice we wake the next morning feeling tired and cranky since we got very little if any sleep. If the drugs were our choice we feel groggy and mentally unclear. Either way our body hasn’t gotten the proper R.E.M. it needs to function at our optimum potential.

Don't Need Sleep Drugs

As a doctor I recommend that you forgo the drugs as there are too many side effects. If you need a sleep aid there are natural things that can be taken that will induce sleep. I will address this in another entry.

If you are meditating on a regular basis you will find that you won’t need any of the above aids to fall asleep. Your body will automatically believe it is going into meditation mode as you have trained it and therefore it will be much easier to travel into deep sleep.

Of course by getting the proper amount of rest you are able to give your optimum potential to everything you do. I encourage everyone to meditate at least once a day. There are many web sites and books that teach you specific methods. I am not going to talk about any methods here as I believe that the easier the better. If it’s easy you’re going to continue to do it and make it a habit.

How To Meditate

It is as simple as putting yourself in the most comfortable position that you can in the environment that you find yourself. If you are at home you could lay on your back. If you are on the bus obviously sitting is best. Please don’t try this while driving or operating heavy machinery.

Once you have gotten comfortable close your eyes and slowly breathe in and then comfortably release the air. Focus on your breathing. You will find your mind wanting to focus on pressing matters. Just go back to focusing on your breathe. In….. Out….. In….. Out… If some thought pops in just see it and release it. Go back to focusing on the breath in and out. With each breath feel yourself relax more and more.

Don't Make It Complicated

It is that simple. Don’t make it any more complicated than that. Enjoy the calm relaxation. Enjoy the increased mental acuity after your meditation. Enjoy the sound sleep you will experience at night when you practice meditation daily.

Dr. Betts