Mindmasterclass dot Com: Health and Medical Blog

Tai Chi is known as a soft martial arts technique that emphasizes health, longevity and proper form above self-defense. Tai Chi originated in China but in recent years it has become popular around the world, particularly among older people looking for an exercise that is smooth and easy for them but that also contains a mental or spiritual aspect.

The idea behind Tai Chi is that you are working to balance two extremes, the yin and yang. It works to balance the flow of energy through the body, which can improve:

Blood circulation

Body heat retention

Breath movement through the body

Functioning of the lymph system

Tai Chi also focuses on relaxation through slow, repetitive movements rather than muscle contraction, which makes the exercise less stressful and more relaxing than other martial arts styles.

Many think of Tai Chi as a moving meditation because there is so much focus on making precise body movements, breathing steadily and seeking balance. The way Tai Chi is often practiced in Western countries the martial arts/self defense aspects are set aside for more emphasis on the health and meditative aspects.

Like yoga, Tai Chi is a practice that can lead you to spiritual growth, even if that is not what you were intending when you began the practice. Focusing inward to do the movements steadily and properly causes people to pay attention in a way they might not have for a long time previously. This can help open you up to spirituality and a deeper feeling of connection with the world around you (especially when Tai Chi is practiced in nature).

If you are looking for spiritual growth through practice of Tai Chi, mindfulness is the key. Pay attention to your breathing, to what parts of your body are moving and which are standing still as you go through the movements, and where your balance is coming from.

Move through the practice with thoughtfulness and grace, and visualize yourself becoming more in balance, both internally and with the world around you. Breathe in golden light and breathe it back out as your gift to the world.

Whatever reason brings you to Tai Chi, you will find many health and spiritual benefits. Some studies have show Tai Chi may help people lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular and respiratory function. You may find you have more literal balance as well as more grounding and spiritual balance after just a few weeks of regular Tai Chi practice.



By: Conrad Raw

About the Author:

Che Guevara

Meditation is the path to inner revolution. It’s the road to Bliss and complete independence from all vices. Meditation is the single solution of all problems of life and it gives us incomparable peace and relaxation. It makes us absolutely clear in life and removes all haze in our mind. Meditation gives us an understanding of the real purpose and meaning of our life.

There are many techniques of practising Meditation. Each one is unique in its approach and makes use of different objects as the focus point of channelling the awareness of the Meditator. The Goal is common in all meditation techniques – to increase the level of Awareness. Each session of Meditation goes a long way in this direction.

Often many meditators come across a problem, they feel that the method that they are practising has come to a point where it is becoming a monotonous affair and is not leading to increased Awareness. One easy way of overcoming this issue, is to change the meditation technique. One should then choose such a technique which can help in opening the floodgates of his stuck awareness.

One such wonderful Meditation technique is the Sacred Spaces Meditation. It is devised by the Living Enlightened Mystic – Anandmurti Gurumaa. The meditation is based on the Ancient Tibet practise of listening awarefully to certain sounds and the gaps arising between those musical sounds. The object of meditation is the sacred sounds of ancient musical instruments of the Tibet Tradition. The Buddhist Monks and meditators have used these instruments and their musical sounds very successfully through the ages as a means of meditation

The fact is that even to create the sound out of these sacred instruments also requires the person playing it to be in a certain higher state of Awareness and heightened Consciousness. The meditator focuses his Alertness towards these sounds and this leads to a great improvement in his Awareness levels over time. The mind comes to the present moment and tremendous amount of energy is released.

The usual habit of the mind is to wander around in thoughts and oscillate in pleasure and pain, thus it loses a lot of its energy this way. By the practise of Sacred Spaces Meditation, that energy is prevented from wasting away in useless thoughts and thus we enter a deep state of relaxation and become like a reservoir of energy. We are relaxed completely and experience higher altitudes of Consciousness.

Each session of meditation gives us great lightness and a feeling of Bliss. The routine activities of the day start to reveal new insights that we had never seen before and even the most mundane task becomes divine. We start to see the beauty in every smallest object in our life. Great Satisfaction arises and we achieve the highest potential in our life, which we are totally unaware of right now.

The Sacred Spaces Meditation is a great meditation technique to accompany other techniques or can be practised by itself also. It’s a meditation of the Buddhist line of tradition. The advantage in this Hi-Tech Age is that one does not need to go the deepest caves in the Himalayas to learn such awesome techniques from the Gurus, but its available in the form of musical pre-recorded CD. One can easily make it a part of his daily routine and practice it on his own convenience.

The door to inner harmony and immense bliss is thus within the reach of every individual. Meditation opens the door to ecstatic experiences in this very life and Sacred Spaces Meditation is an easy step towards that point. The official website outlines the various meditation techniques devised by the Meditation Maestro Gurumaa along with their extraordinary benefits.

A new research has been done by the Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which may lead to some very interesting observations regarding the effects of meditation on human brain. The research suggests that meditation can indeed lead to larger brain sizes. That would mean, that people who meditate grow bigger brains than those who don’t. When it comes to gray matter, the thickening turns out to be more pronounced in older than in younger people. That’s very interesting as the thickening or as regards the sections of the human cortex get thinner as we age.

Meditation practice can promote cortical plasticity in adults in areas important for cognitive and emotional processing and well-being and the findings are consistent with some other studies. The medical society and those actively following on meditation regularly are very excited with the findings. If you are still surprised, be aware that previous findings have led to similar conclusions when it was noticed that visual areas in brains of jugglers get thickened due to repeated practice and more usage of that particular area of brain during performance. The same holds true in case of musicians whose music areas of brains reported thickening. In the meditation related research, brain scans of 20 experienced meditators were compared with those of 15 non meditators. People with varying backgrounds were taken as control groups, those who worked in careers such as law, health care, and journalism. During scanning, the meditators were told to practice meditation as usual while the others just relaxed and thought about whatever they wanted.

Those who meditated practiced Buddhist “insight meditation,” which focuses on whatever is there, like noise or body sensations. No chants or mantras were used during the meditation process There were an average of about 40 minutes meditation sessions per day. As reported, there were mediators of varying experience, some had been doing it for only a year, others for decades. Very profoundly, it was noticed that those most deeply involved in the meditation showed the greatest changes in brain structure. This made the researchers conclude that the differences in brain structure were caused by the meditation.

One great benefit of meditation is that it can be helped to control random thoughts Experts believe that random thoughts and the like actions continually deprive brain of the energies that can be instead used for constructive purposes.

Insight meditation can be practiced anytime by all those people. We all face worries all the time but worrying too much for trivial matters also becomes a habit. Often that leads to self sabotage when we can’t perform to our fullest extent. People tend to worry about what will happen if they miss it, or if the end product will be good enough to suit the boss, at workplace. Most people drive themselves crazy with unproductive “what if” worry. While to increase performance and for greater achievements, “If, instead, you focus on the present moment, on what needs to be done and what is happening right now, then much of the feeling of stress goes away”. The increased thicknesses in the grey matter are very proportional to the time devoted to meditation and the depth of meditation.

Another great benefit that meditation doers find is the way it reduces aging. There are several small benefits as well but you can bet those differences are going to lead to lots more positive changes in your life.

There are still several questions that scientists need to answer regarding the study like whether meditation produces more connections between brain cells, or more blood vessels? Can brain thickness influence daily behavior? And other questions that might lead to even more positive conclusions regarding meditation. Larger studies are planned at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard-affiliated.

Such studies are very encouraging for those actively believing in meditation and alternative therapies. As further research is done on a larger number of people and testing them multiple times, more examination of peoples’ brains both before and after learning to meditate is done, we may find even better results. Scientists are very keen to find the effect of slowing aging on the regular meditators.

Since meditation counteracts the natural thinning of the thinking surface of the brain,there is a high probability that it plays a role in slowing – even reversing – aging? Well, that is what only time and further studies can prove but definitely meditation techniques is something you must have a look into if you are planning to live healthier and longer!

For over 30 years, I have been meditating. For almost as many years, in workshops, consultations, friendly conversations, and writing, I have been encouraging, teaching, or leading people to meditate and create quiet times. During this time, the world has changed considerably, and so have I. My most important learning is: everyone is different. Certainly there are commonalities in meditating, but each individual is unique. I consider that meditation is one of the most empowering practices that anyone can engage in.

A “quiet revolution” is an oxymoron, of course. Meditation is generally a private, quiet practice. In North America its acceptance has changed dramatically over the last several years, although it is still not universally accepted. As with most revolutions, an underground is established before, during, and after the outward manifestations of the awakening. In this culture which I know, more and more individuals are speaking and writing about their meditation practice.

Meditating in groups is also common and very powerful, and yet each meditator still has a unique, quiet, private experience. In the workplace, meditation is rarely practiced openly, nor is it discussed, except in safe, small groups or among friends. When I was a frequent workshop presenter, I had many participants speak to me privately in hushed tones at break times to confess that they meditate. The voices may not be as hushed these days, but still there is a quietness, even a silence, about the practice in many settings.

I am comfortable with the variety of words used to describe meditation. My own purpose for meditation is to connect with the Divine and be replenished by the Source. Some speak about mystical experiences and higher consciousness, while others are more comfortable talking about relaxation, calmness, and resilience. Heightened awareness, intuition, imagery, and vision are frequently used to describe experiences of meditation. I find that helping others to express their own meditation experiences is a powerful process for them, even when the words do not flow smoothly.

Long-time meditators can find other long-time mediators easily. Meditators give off signals or vibrations that are calmer and more aligned with self than those who do not meditate or do not have a meditative-type practice that taps into higher consciousness. Gardening, yoga, certain athletic activities, and regular relaxation can achieve the same soothing signals when practiced in ways that achieve harmony with self.

No matter how or where you meditate, you must make a choice to meditate and practice it regularly in order to benefit fully. Full benefits come with regular practice over a period of time. Meditating only when stressed may certainly be beneficial in the immediate situation, but the long-term benefits of a regular practice include general well-being, health, a strong immune system, longevity, clarity of thought, and balance.

Meditation is sometimes associated with certain religions. Meditation can be practiced in any and all religions, but the two are not synonymous. In my work, I keep meditation distinct from religion; if my clients choose to join the two, that is fine. Those with strong religious beliefs gravitate to the types of meditation that fit their beliefs. Wikipedia has a comprehensive listing of meditation methods at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation

Regardless of the chosen method, the benefits of regular meditation, over time, are as varied as the individuals who meditate. It is quite common for long-time meditators to acknowledge they benefit physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Recently I received an email message from a long-time meditator in India talking about her meditation experiences. It was a delight to read. It became clear to me that she has integrated the same elements that I encourage people to discover and use.

She uses her breath to relax. She has several processes to handle mind chatter and stress so that she is not disturbed by them in her meditation. She has two different “focal points” for her attention. One is a visual focus, a traditional Indian lamp, which she visualizes as divine light that lightens her heart. Another focal point is one of the most famous mantras, Om, which she chants repeatedly, finding that it takes only a brief time to achieve the state of consciousness that is her purpose for meditation. And she has a regular practice.

Her message was a beautiful summary of what many long-term meditators might report. While working with both new and long-time meditators, I have discovered that the most difficult aspect of meditation is to practice it regularly. All the elements of meditation are easy to understand, but to sit and do it challenges many new meditators.

If you have not meditated before, it may seem mysterious. However, meditation is simple. I recommend a maximum of twenty minutes for new meditators. Here are the elements:

* Arrange time when you will not be disturbed;

* Sit in a comfortable position and relax;

* Close your eyes, unless you prefer an open-eye meditation;

* Breathe intentionally for a few breaths;

* Choose a focal point, such as music, a chant, a pleasing image, a guiding voice;

* Stay with the focal point; if your mind wanders, gently return to the focal point;

* Bring the meditation to a close and return to your activities, refreshed.

If this is your first time meditating, you may feel that “nothing is happening” during the first few times you sit to meditate. That is a common sensation. At the end of your chosen meditation time, simply get up and continue with your day. The benefits are cumulative, which is why I advocate a regular practice.

If you want to meditate, yet are not meditating or are not meditating as frequently as you want, please be gentle with yourself. While it is true that only you can sit down and do it, you can also find ways to make it more appealing. In order to have a meditation practice, you must practice meditation. Above all else, follow your heart and trust your own inner guidance.

What about you? Do you want to be part of this quiet revolution? Are you already part of the revolution but wanting to meditate more regularly? If so, meditate one session at a time until it becomes a natural part of your life.

Now, with meditation chairs, you can easily enhance the experience of exploration. This unique chair gives you an opportunity to sit in a relaxed and comfortable position when you are engaged in a relaxation session.

A meditation chair will help you a lot in enhancing your knowledge related to meditation and also meditating in the right form. People with problems inflexibility or restricted flexibility, this chair provide a comfortable alternative to sitting on the floor.

People who have just begun with their meditation practice will definitely find this chair, a great way of increasing concentration level.

You can easily get different types of meditation chairs available on the market. You would find an amazing variety of meditation benches, inflatable cushiness and even ergonomically designed filt chairs.

With a meditation chair, you can easily sit straight and that too without putting too much pressure on your back.

A meditation chair lets you provide adequate support to the back and also helps you to remain in the best possible upright position.

Most companies have started providing quality meditation supplies. They are also manufacturing inflatable cushions, portable meditation chairs and folding benches. Now, with so much of variety, you can easily focus on meditation in any environment.

You must consider investing in a good portable meditation chair. This will help you in meditating even while you travel.

Meditation will be possible only when the mind and body is in harmony. When you face any sort of physical discomfort, you will not experience the best of meditation.

You need to be as comfortable as possible in order to expand your consciousness and obtain good clarity of mind. You also require to sit at a single position for a longer period of time. This usually causes a lot of distress and cramping in the body.

Meditation chairs are specially designed for adequate support and alignment one requires in order to obtain the maximum out of your meditation experience. Remember that an ordinary chair will never work towards providing you the same ease as a meditation chair.

If you are about to purchase a meditation chair for yourself, there are certain things you need to take in to consideration.

You need to focus on buying a meditation chair that has a slight forward angle. This will prevent you from slumping while you meditate.

Also take care that the chair is not too steeply angled. Too much of steel angle will result in over-arching. A good meditation chair will not angle more than just a few inches.

The best option for you would be to purchase a meditation chair that you can easily adjust as per your body weight, height and comfort level.

Try to take advice from an experienced person in this field. This will let your purchase the best.

If you are keen on practicing Zen meditation, then nothing would be better for you than a sitting device. You can find the best meditation chairs at your nearest furniture house with a little detailed research on your part.

Try to visit a few places prior to deciding on purchasing a meditation chair for you.

Those who do real meditation increase their joy, even if they live in most trying circumstances.

We utilize a meditation technique based on the process of deep, analytical thinking on a seed thought. Through proper meditation, a person will be able to expand his consciousness slowly and safely. Meditation helps us understand the mysteries of life. Meditation, in essence, is the path of contact with our soul.

Meditation is the process of learning to clear the mind and emotions of automatic reactions and replace them with clear thinking and observation in the light of the soul. Those who learn to do real meditation increase their joy and creative living even if they live in life’s most trying circumstances.

We utilise the meditation discipline known as seed thought meditation. In this method, the student prepares himself by the purification of his environment and his bodies, attains a quiet emotional body, a serene and focused mind, and then, the student will think about a given seed thought. This thinking process will be simple at first, and slowly will deepen and expand commensurate with the expansion of his mental mechanism. In this process, the person learns to observe a tangible or intangible aspects of life from various persectives. In so doing, the person learns how to see life in a larger perspective.

Our meditation lessons are based on the teachings of the Ancient Sage Patanjali. Torkom practiced this method and based his courses on how he learned to meditate. He meditated continuously throughout his life. As a result, he had boundless creativity and energy and his life and works are a testament to his ability to focus and think clearly.

Our meditation lessons are based on the courses taught by Torkom Saraydarian. He meditated continuously throughout his life. As a result, he had boundless creativity and energy. His training was based on the solid instructions given for meditation and expansion thousands of years ago by the Great Teacher Patanjali. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, instructions are given that are still valid today. See for example A. A. Bailey’s magnificent commentary on the Sutras titled The Light of the Soul.

The courses that were designed by Torkom have benefited thousands of students all over the world. These are still in use today. New courses have been added and continue to be added based on the same tradition.

The meditations taught at The Torkom Saraydarian University follow this ancient tradition. The courses are based on the concept of seed thought meditation. In this method, the student prepares himself by the purification of his environment and his bodies, attains a quiet emotional body, a serene and focused mind, and then, after saying various mantrams, the student will think about a given seed thought. This thinking process will be simple at first, and slowly will deepen and expand commensurate with the expansion of his mental mechanism.

Below are a few excerpts from Torkom Saraydarian on the subject of meditation. You can also read the entire first chapter of The Science of Meditation, “What is Meditation”.

“Meditation in the New Age is creative thinking through the light of the Intuition and in conformity with the Divine Plan. In the New Age, meditation will involve not only the mystical efforts of humanity, but it will involve, as well, the political, educational, philosophic, artistic, scientific, religious, and economic fields. It will create harmony within and between all these fields under the rhythm of the Divine Plan, of the Divine Will. Thus, meditation will be not only to gain insight, to contact great powers, to have inspiration and joy but also to bring them down to practical life, to transform our life on all levels, healing the wounds of humanity, building bridges and revealing the unity, the synthesis behind all creation.”

The Science of Meditation, p. 19

“The purpose of meditation is to annihilate hindrances on the path of this expansion and to make you more aware of your Cosmic relationships and your Cosmic destiny. Meditation leads you into freedom, and instead of being the slave of your egocentric viewpoints and cravings, you become a part or even one with the Cosmic viewpoint. Thus you help to end the misery of all former civilizations which grew out of human tears, sufferings, pain, and blood.”

The Science of Meditation, p. 20

“Meditation is a process of harmonisation and attunement with the purpose of the incoming energies form the higher realms and from outer space. Our civilization and culture are the result of our responses and reaction to the incoming energies. These energies may hinder our progress toward liberation if we are not ready to assimilate and translate them through our life and consciousness, or they may stimulate and release our inner glory if we are able to respond to these energies in pure compassion and in active service to our fellow men.

“Meditation prepares us to become sensitive to these incoming energies. It enables us to be charged with them and to translate them in the form of light, love, and will-to-good. This is how a new age man is born, a man who is in tune with the purpose of the incoming energies and with the highest aspirations of humanity.”

The Science of Meditation, p. 20

“It is a fact that negative emotions wear out our body, and worries separative and selfish thinking cloud our minds. Meditation releases light upon these three levels, and we start to regenerate our vehicles and radiate vitality, peace, and serenity. Meditation makes you more able in your daily duties and works because it increases your right judgment, sharpens your power of observation, increases your control over your body, quickens your actions and makes them more accurate.

“Meditation gradually cleans you of your glamors to such a degree that you are no longer the slave of your emotions and their effects. Because of this you do not leak energy, you waste no time, and you do your work better and in shorter time.”

The Science of Meditation, by Torkom Saraydarian p. 21

by Gita Saraydarian

Meditation is an invaluable and proven science to optimize health and elevate the quality of one’s life. It not only promotes physical health, but also markedly improves emotional balance and psychological wellbeing. There are many types of meditation and in this article we will explore the popular and powerful Concentration Meditation Technique.

Concentration Meditation Techniques:

These are probably the most common and well know of all the meditations and often meditation is defined by these kinds of meditations exclusively. They are closely related to the Insight Meditation Techniques, with the difference being that Insight Meditation Techniques utilize the active application of intelligence and discernment, while the Concentration Meditation techniques use the power of focused attention to a greater degree. To some extent these meditations lay the groundwork for the Insight Meditations which need a high degree of concentration as a prerequisite to being effective.

1. Breath Meditation Technique (Zazen):

The heart of Zen Meditation is Zazen, the meditation of the Buddha. In this meditation, awareness and concentration are brought to the breathing process to help build mastery over the mind and free the system from dualistic thinking.

To practice Zazen one takes a seated posture and then begins to count the flow of one’s breath. Counting each inhalation and exhalation starting from one to ten. So, an inhalation is one, the next exhalation is two, and so forth. When one reaches the count of ten, one returns to one and starts counting again. This helps focus the mind and prevents it from drifting endlessly from one thought to another.

As one develops one’s ability to count undistracted from one to ten, one starts to count each breath cycle, instead of the inhalation and exhalation separately. So now one counts an inhalation and exhalation as one, the next complete breath as two and so forth till one reaches ten. After reaching ten, one returns to one and repeats the meditation.

In the advanced form of Zazen, one simply becomes the breath. In this form counting is dropped altogether and only keen awareness of the breath is maintained. One should not progress to this level until one has mastered the previous two.

Zazen breath meditation helps develop the power of focused concentration and creates a serene, peaceful mind capable of penetrating the veil of dualistic thinking.

2. Another breath based meditation is Vipassana:

In Vipassana one extends one’s awareness from one’s breath, to the body and the sensations that rise and fall within it. The objective being to have insight into the workings of the mind through self-observation. This form of meditation is also called Insight Meditation as it helps one develop insight into the true nature of things.

3. Object Concentration Meditation Technique:

There are many meditations that utilize an external object as a focus point for the mind. Zazen and Vipassana belong in this sections as well, but due to their widespread use I mentioned them separately.

The objects of focus can be anything from a point on the ceiling, to a flower, to external sounds in the environment. These meditations all develop focus, concentration, self knowledge, calmness and the witnessing consciousness. Their ultimate objective, though, is to have the meditator finally drop the object of concentration and encounter the non-dual nature of Reality directly.

Some examples of these meditations are Sound Awareness Meditation Technique and candle flame gazing (Trataka). Both these meditation utilize the sense modalities to accomplish the goals of concentration meditation.

Summary:

So you see from above that there are many types of concentration meditation techniques. This allows one to choose a type that is most suitable for their personality and disposition. The best way to discover the enormous benefits of meditation is to jump in and participate. What are you waiting for?