Kathy’s Meditation Reviews:

Please follow along with me while I review audio meditations and other forms of meditation. It would be nice to hear about your favorite ways to meditate and if you send me your comments I will be glad to post them. (info@positivelyup.com)

July-11-09

Deepak Chopra the Soul of Healing:

Deepak talks about breath observations, gratification, letting go of grievances, then moves to physiological energy, sensing heart beat and this moving throughout  the body. The heart and light pulsating with thoughts of love, knowingness, and bliss sending these waves into your soul. Deepak offers a protection prayer invoking protection of the gods, moving to spirit, letting go, “Although my spirit may go far away, let it come back to me so that I may live and journey here.” Following this, you meditate with Deepak on banishment of disease throughout the body. There is music throughout and ends quoting Rumi. Nice singing on track 2!

July-13-09

Mastery Meditation :

Dhyan Vimals voice guides you as he discuses establishing  3 points, you are a.) the center, b.) what surrounds you, and c.) the space in between. While listening to rhythmic sounds Dhyan interjects, reinforcing that you are becoming more conscious of that which you choose to create, discovering you are the creator, your choice becomes your living reality, and that you are your master. This is offered as a cd or group meditation in various cities. It is a good experience to try this. Be ready to dance to music with excellent rhythm by Bob Nathan for thirty minutes at the end. Dancing around in a dark room with strangers was very humbling, great work for the physical self as well! There is a seven minute silence on the cd after Dhyan finishes speaking, before dancing music begins.

What is Meditation ?

According to Wikipedia “meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness. Meditation often involves turning attention to a single point of reference. It is a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity. It is also practiced outside religious traditions. Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual or psychophysical practices that may emphasize different goals—from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.”

“Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God.” – Diana  Robinson

“Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit.” – Jeremy Taylor

“Relax your body and mind and let your spirit soar high.” –Remez Sasson

Different Forms of Meditation:

-Awareness Meditation – (The intention of experiencing awareness meditation is to expand your consciousness)

-An empty mind meditation (silencing the mind)

-Contemplation Meditation (contemplation is the ability to become aware of something assertively, passionately, and observantly.)

-Physical Meditation (yoga, walking, dance, tai chi etc. * note that other forms of meditation can be blended with physical meditations)

-Chanting Meditation – (Through experiencing the harmonies created through chanting, brain waves are charged and stimulated. This can improve voice quality significantly as well as improve our ability to hear; also heightening our awareness. )

-Simple mantra meditation (repetition of phrases/mantras while in relaxed position.)

-Breath Watching (Sole concentration of the act of breathing in and out.)

-Mindfulness Meditation (focusing on your surroundings and awareness of your feelings and energy of the present moment.)

Purpose/Benefits :

“The purpose of meditation is not to cure physical aliments , but to free people from emotional suffering”. – Dalai Lama

According to the website: http://1stholistic.com/meditation/hol_meditation_healing.htm#Benefits the physical as well as physiological benefits are:

Physical benefits:

·         Deep rest-as measured by decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.

·         Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate-two chemicals associated with stress.

·         Reduction of free radicals- unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage. They are now thought to be a major factor in aging and in many diseases.

·         Decreased high blood pressure.

·         Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.

·         Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.

·         Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. This has been very helpful to asthma patients.

·         Younger biological age. On standard measures of aging, long-term Transcendental Meditation (TM) practitioners (more than five years) measured 12 years younger than their chronological age.

·         Higher levels of DHEAS in the elderly. An additional sign of youthfulness through Transcendental Meditation (TM); lower levels of DHEAS are associated with aging.

·         Psychological Benefits

• Increased brain wave coherence. Harmony of brain wave activity in different parts of the brain is associated with greater creativity, improved moral reasoning, and higher IQ.
• Decreased anxiety.
• Decreased depression.
• Decreased irritability and moodiness.
• Improved learning ability and memory.
• Increased self-actualization.
• Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
• Increased happiness.
• Increased emotional stability.

Purpose # 2:

“The purpose of meditation is not to cure physical aliments , but to free people from emotional suffering”. – Dalai Lama  ( http://meditationblog.com)

Purpose #3:

“To explore the nature of what we are.” (http://www.naturalbloom.com/articles/meditation-136/)

Quotes

“If you were to ask me what was the most important experience of my life, I would say it was learning to meditate.”  - Deepak Chopra

“Meditation is the comfort in life.”  Sri Sri

Ravi

Shankar

“You don’t have to be some sort of a freak to meditate; all meditation means to us is that we have more output in our work. More energy for things like recording and filming. ” – John Lennon

“I cannot always control what goes on outside, but I can always control what goes on inside.” – Wayne Dyer

“The unconscious has no time. There is no trouble about time in the unconscious. Part of our psyche is not in time and not in space. They are only an illusion, time and space, and so in a certain part of our psyche time does not exist as all.” – Carl Jung

“Meditate. Breath consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. Make the connection.” – Oprah Winfrey

“The world can only change from within.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Sometimes we need to remove ourselves from the world and reconnect with our spirit.” – Madonna

“ In the attitude of silence the sound finds the path in a clearer light , and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.” -  Mahatma Ghandi

Interesting Blogs on meditation:

1.)   http://www.meditationblogger.com/

2.)   http://www.wildmind.org/category/blogs/meditation-zeitgeist

                           3.) http://www.meditationdna.com/blog/