Is Mindfulness Meditation Worth All The Hype It Is Getting These Days?

Everywhere you turn in the psychotherapy and self-help world these days, people are talking about mindfulness meditation.  Is it worth all the hype?

My short answer: yes.

For a couple of decades, scientific studies have been demonstrating the power of mindfulness and meditation to:

• lower blood pressure and respiratory rate
• decrease muscle tension
• help with stress management
• decrease anxiety and depression
• increase self-actualization
• help with pain management

And now, amazingly, neuroscience research is documenting how the actual physical structure of the brain changes with mindfulness meditation, strengthening those parts of the brain that support executive functioning, integrative thinking, and compassion.

This research is documenting what many people have experienced for centuries:  mindfulness meditation helps you feel more peaceful, more centered, and more connected to spirit.

I once heard someone say that when you first sit down for meditation, your brain is like a bull raging in a very small pen.  But over time, the raging bull will have a huge meadow to roam in, and occasionally he will be surprisingly content.

However, beginning a meditation practice can be a challenge.  Because of that raging bull, initial attempts at meditation can be almost painful, and often people end up feeling, "I'm not doing this right" or "I just can't meditate."

This is why I recommend a course to learn meditation.  While it seems simple, meditation is actually very hard to learn.  Sitting with other people, and realizing that most people are having the same difficulty "taming" the mind, can be enormously reassuring.  It is also easier to make the effort to practice regularly when you feel accountable to a class.

Meditation classes can be found at a variety of places, including:

• Town Continuing Education Programs
• Offerings at Local Churches, Temples or Community Centers
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses, which are time limited, non-denominational courses offered by instructors across the country.
• National Organizations, which have locations across the country, such as the Insight Meditation Society or Shambhala Meditation Centers

If you've been thinking of learning, why not do a little googling right now, and sign up for a class?



Jack Kornfield's Guided Meditation: Six Essential Practiceshttp://<a target='new' href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=i3FwvFglNQk&offerid=180450.10000027&type=2&subid=0">Guided Meditation [Download]</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=i3FwvFglNQk&bids=180450.10000027&type=2&subid=0" >

Which Runs Your Life? Your Priorities Or Your To-Do Lists?

Quite a number of years ago, I realized my to-do list was running my life.  I was well versed in time management, and knew how to prioritize the to-do list to get the most done.  However, the to-do list didn't allow for my real priorities in life.

I began to put my mission statement and true priorities at the top of every to-do list.

My mission (to live a sane and joyful life, while helping others do the same) is a wonderful guide to help me decide what to focus on, and what to let go of.  I break my true priorities down into five areas: my children, my relationships, my work, my health and my spirituality.

Here's an example in the area of parenting:

Let's say your true priority with your children is to help them grow into healthy and happy adults.  The day-to-day aspects of this include a huge number of tasks.  Beyond simply making sure they are clothed, fed and loved, today's world demands that you help them balance a schedule that includes music lessons, sports, schoolwork, etc.  There is tons of paperwork, hard-to-keep-track-of deadlines, and (where I live) lots of driving!

So, focused on the enormous list of to-do's, you become stressed and irritable.  Your focus shifts to accomplishing the task, not on the quality of the relationship.  In rushing to get one child to an activity on time, you snap at their sibling for holding up the process.  The mood darkens for everyone.

When we rush, the amygdala gets activated (the part of our brain that gives us our fight-flight-freeze response). All of a sudden everything feels urgent.  Our amygdala does not care about relating, it cares about survival.

Learning to breathe deeply at these moments helps to insert a "pause" in what is happening.  This pause enables you to think through "how important is it?"  Is it more important that my child be on time for their music lesson or that we have a good relationship?  Breathe.

If running late is going to make me late for my next appointment, will activating my amygdala help?  Is it better to arrive late and totally stressed out, or arrive late and, apologetic, but accepting, functioning and not in disaster mode?  Breathe.

Try inserting a pause into your day-to-day routine when you feel stressed, breathe, and put whatever is happening into the perspective of your true priorities.   Let me know what happens!