Meditation for health and stress relief

Everyone can benefit from setting aside time every day to meditate, restoring balance to what may be a life filled with stress and tension.

What to Do

Mindless activity generally is of not much value. Therefore when doing any T’ai chi or Chi Kung movements you need to be mindful of what you are doing. Attention, focus and intention are all needed. One way of achieving this is through meditation.

About Meditation

A large component of T'ai chi and Chi Kung practice involves meditation. Through the practice of meditation you can learn to be more in the moment, more in the present. Thinking takes you away from experiencing the present moment. At any moment in your mind you can be in the past, present or future. Thinking about the argument you had with your boss first thing this morning is definitely a projection into the past. Thinking about where you could go with your partner for a meal this evening is definitely in the future. So when are you in the present? To be totally in the present you need complete awareness and focus without any thought.

Imagine you are a heart surgeon operating on a critical case. Allowing your mind to wander at the moment of incision would be totally inappropriate and possibly fatal. Your focus would need to be totally on what you are doing.

When sitting or standing in meditation you will have the opportunity to observe your thoughts more clearly. Many of these thoughts go unnoticed by the conscious mind as they operate at a subconscious level.

Thoughts

Our thoughts can work for or against us. People often find themselves operating in a predictable, sometimes inappropriate manner resulting from thoughts adopted in the past. Their actions will be consistent with what they believe to be true, irrespective of how accurate their thoughts may be. Without looking or questioning their thought processes they may operate, to a certain degree, unaware of what they are doing.

Through practising meditation you become more attentive to your subconscious thoughts as they enter your awareness. You sometimes wonder where they come from as they dart in and out of your attention; some seem totally irrelevant appearing as if from nowhere, others may result from everyday worries and concerns. The more you meditate the more facility you develop for quietening and emptying your mind of irrelevant, distracting and sometimes disempowering thoughts.

Due to misconceptions and beliefs some people may have about their capacity to achieve what they want, they may not realise anything like their potential. Often they seldom realise the existence of such debilitating beliefs because they are submerged well below the level of consciousness. Meditation provides a constructive environment in which to observe and examine the validity of these beliefs. If you realise they are no longer true, you can then choose whether to hold on to them or let them go.

Ways of Meditating

There are various ways of meditating. You can be seated, standing, moving or lying down. When sitting you can be in the cross-legged 'lotus' position, in the Japanese 'sitting on the heels' position, or in a chair. It is important your back remains straight in whichever seated position you prefer. In standing meditation your back would be straight with your knees slightly bent, arms held away from your body.

Moving meditation would consist of a simple sequence of movements repeated for a period of time, with attention and focus. When meditating lying down, you would probably be in a supine position, that is, fully extended on your back, if possible with your head supported.

Meditation has been found to be an effective method for dealing with stress. For centuries people from different cultures all over the world have been practising various forms of meditative techniques. People have always been drawn to, or have searched for, some form of activity which will quieten their mind and give them peace. Meditational practices improve focus and concentration by quietening and freeing the mind of thoughts. The mind operates on many levels, yet most of us have been trained to use it only for thinking. In the past, people with insight discovered ways of operating in the world without having to use thought all the time. Obviously at times thoughts are useful. On other occasions they can be a burden, totally irrelevant, taking attention away from, and fragmenting, our focus.