Meditation. The Easy Way
61Do We have the Time?
Everybody knows that meditation takes ages to learn, and when we have the basics, we find that our busy lives do not allow the luxury of leotard living, weird and wonderful exercises and do we really want to anyway?
I am writing this as an addition to SEM Pro's mini series on 'Stress and Freedom of Stress' where I posted this comment -
This might sound wierd, SEM, but I think I have perfected the meditation , can now do it whilst going about the daily grind, have found that I can, at will , lower my blood pressure, putting me in a conscious state of meditaton. Works wonders for stress, What stress?
SEM Pro's reply was -
Wonderful - and the hub to show us all how to do that is called: ___? :) I do tremendously look forward to hearing your technique Hawkesdream! Or if it's simple, can let us know in a response?
So, here it is, later than intended but here-
I could not just write about my technique, it would not have been politically correct to have omitted the 604,000 sites ,all explaining the art of meditation, The first site alone possessed no less than 40 different styles that can be used for the sole purpose of finding inner peace and tranquility.
Do we really feel that to meditate is to levitate?
I don't know about yourselves, but the last thing I need is to sit in the Lotus position and levitate, all it would take is one thought out of place and you would come down to earth with a nasty bump.
The art of stress free living in my life is - laugh a lot, watch a comedy, listen to a good comedian, 'Lee Evans' or ' Billy Connelly'. Read your e-mails, no funny ones? ask me ? have an arsenal of em.
Exercise, put on your favourite piece of music and dance whilst doing the housework..my idea of exercise.
Cry, you might say this adds to stress, but believe me the pouring out of emotion , really does work..this can also be achieved through listening to music.
I recommend that all of the above should be done in the first place initially once or twice a week. Don't question just do it , it works.
OK..Here goes, my explanation of how I meditate and achieve all the benefits , without, the time. My day starts at 5.30 in the morning, and it is very rare that stress, now, invades my life. This method , I found , purely by accident. I have known for a long time how to relax my body and mind by lying still and willing all the frustration out head to toe. For me this was too time consuming but had done it anyway.
Back to my happy accident - I was in hospital, ahhhh, and they wouldn't let me go home, and why ? because my blood pressure was too low. I recall saying that that was nothing and that i'll bring it back up again. It was at this point , realizing what I had been doing ,decided to hone in and perfect the technique.
This is so easy!
To begin with, I focus on whats in front of me, and try to see , what I see, rather than what I know. I see in front of me a painting in the making. It is in this way that I detach from reality and become an onlooker.
This, you may think, is too difficult. Persevere, try squinting just a little and it will happen.
Now imagine that you are watching yourself , going about your life, and breathe slowly and steady.
Traditionally, we are told to breathe in through our nose, and out through our mouth.
Two seconds ,in through your nose.............five seconds out through your nose..
Yeah right! I hear you say, try it you will feel your whole body relax , tingle and your mind will empty ,allowing for fresh thoughts and feelings.
One min in every hour is more than enough to enhance the quality of your life. I do this on a regular basis throughout the day and receive great benefits from this practise.
I do not claim that this will benefit everyone, nor is it a proven method by anyone else but me. If it works for you,. Great. I am pleased to be of help.
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Comments
Thank you (again) Hawkes! It's amazing how shallow our breathing is during the day..If people really took the time to check it they would be horrified. Breath is the one thing we can use to turn our stress level around. Breathe in.............Breathe out........... ah!
Cheers frog, finding our way is always the most effective for us.
Haha Candie, breathing is the art of life ain't it.
Someone introduced me to the breathing through the nose technique recently, assuring me that it would help calm the mind. And while I've never been successful meditating in traditionally accepted ways, I do believe the breathing is working. Can you see my beatific smile? :)
All sounds good to me -- I also find that music, movement, and daft thoughts can make me laugh, which forces me to breathe, gives me more energy, calms me down, and it's a happy cycle. I don't know about blood pressure, since mine has always been good. Thanks for this happy hub.
My wife has taken up meditation. I have used my own style to survive lo these many years. It is powerful stuff.
I like bicycling for excercise with a little danger. Keeps me young, kinda.
I am a big Yoga fan so am into meditation but I have no funny jokes so get sending em : )
Feline, I do believe that your smile is very beatific.
Teresa, My BP has also been good, somehow , by doing this it lowers dramatically. I can also bring it back up to normal with ease.
Tom, Young as a spring chicken,Eh!!
BC - Your jokes are on their way, Watch out for them.
Yeap. Meditation is very relaxing it drives out stress in our body.
Awesome article Hawkesdream! I love to meditate, but like you, I just do not have the time. I enjoy all the tips that you mention and know that it works wonders on lowering my stress levels. Now we know why everyone goes around saying, "just breathe." what many people do not know is how to breathe in a constructive manner, now they do :-) Nice Hub Hawkesdream. :-)
I meditate in my car on my way to work or coming home, not in a traditional sense, I guess but it helps to be actually travelling and listening to my thoughts
I need to meditate again. Life has been so crazy as of late. I am still meditative, but I really need to just set aside time and do it. Perhaps this will be the spark to start me. Thx.
Hello to you all, ladyvenus, Whikat, GT, and Paper Moon, thankyou for reading, I think so many feel that a time and place has to be set aside in order to meditate, but seriously it's not necessary. Like GT says ,he will meditate in his car, as I do sometimes. The whole idea really is just to mentally relax and then to prioritize your thoughts and life.
Cheers, yer a little diamond : )
Perfect Hawkesdream! Thank you :) Your method incorporates all the essential aspects of mindfulness, the foundation of meditation: stillness; in the moment focus without allowing distractions; detachment; and deep breathing to release tension. Love it! You also added Ram Dass's methods - when doing the dishes, BE the dishes - profound to mention how much calm one can achieve with a slight twist of attitude toward daily chores.
Covey says he meditates at every red traffic light saying there's always someone kind enough to let him know when the light changes with a honk lol
I'd love to be on your list to receive comedic emails too. I've seen hubs with just positive quotes, and a couple with jokes - why not bring 'em on for all of us? Laughing is the BEST stress reliever!
The only thing I'd add is to your list of "laughing, exercise, crying" - I would add singing (probably just a personal thing).
I love this approach to meditation - in the past I found that many 'tecniques' stressed meditation as a skill - to me it is a frame of mind. Yes awareness, mindfulness and a knowledge of oneself through breathing is all a part of it - but it can come naturally. it doesn't have to be a big deal - and so-called 'masters' or 'adepts' that I have met over the years all seemed to be very self-satisfied and carried egos that belied their meditational status!
Like you I don't want to sit in a lotus position or to levitate. If we are properly aware/mindful everything we do incorporates meditation.
Hi SEM, you are on my laughter list, haha, as far as 'be the dishes' I forgot that one, I do that regularly, don't remember where I heard it but I am often seen as 'a car' 'a road' 'a chair' in fact just part of the furniture..Thanks for reminding me.
Hi Iphi, glad you came for a look, I can't sing so didn't think of that, am musical and play instruments but singing Nah! Appreciation of those that can YEAAH!
Wow! This is great information. By the way all the best for the hub challenge!
Thanks Anamika, not totally confident about the challenge, thanks for the encouragement.
Hi Hawke, waking up at 5:30 to start your day with meditating? Sound great to me! :-) The more we meditate, the more calm we are and able to respond better to life's situations and challenges! Thumbs up! :-)
How very true , do get tired by night time though.
I have tried a number of different alternative healing therapies. I have always thought that meditation was one of the most powrful forces the average person can make use of. It enhances almost every other approach to healing. Thanks for a simple meditation technique.
Thank you Alan for reading and commenting, hope it helps.
Meditation is a state of being, just as thought defines the type of person you ultimately become, meditation grounds and helps you focus and overcome situations you may otherwise not be able to confront under normal circumstances.
Whilst many schools of thought always associate meditation with the lotus position or sitting somewhere peaceful and quiet, nothing could be further from the truth!
By focusing your energy on something, and releasing your energy and letting go by way of giving thanks, you're channeling, and that, in a nutshell, is also meditation!
Great resource and worth reading, over and over again...
I thank you rainmak3r, for leaving such a great comment, a pleasure to meet you, again thanks.
I am very concerned about the process of alcohol rehabilitation and the aftercare required to keep a recovering alcoholic on-track. Many alcoholics are influenced by stress. Stress can act as a trigger mechanism. Do you think your approach to meditation would help the recovering alcoholic to maintain sobriety?
Brise, thank you for your interesting comment and the opening to a good discussion. Personally, this has helped me through a lot of stressful situations, and, as an accompaniment to other help given, I see no reason at all why it wouldn't help a recovering alchoholic.
frogdropping says:
7 months ago
Hawke - this reminded me that I haven't meditated in a long time. I used to do this ... maybe 4/5 years ago. I don't even know why I stopped come to think of it.
Anyway, the point being, I found 'my' way. And I have to agree with you, when it's done correctly, it works. I always felt refreshed. My main problem was that I could go too deep, too easily, though why, I don't know.
Great hub and thanks for reminding me what I'm no longer doing! Thumbs (or whatever it is) up :)