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Meditation: Why Just Sitting There Isn't Just Sitting There
By: Abigail Beal
At first you might not think this is a tool for creativity. Meditation does typically involve sitting quietly by yourself for a period of time. No computers or pens or pads of paper included to record your inspiration. So how can this help you as a writer or an artist? Meditation is an excellent tool to increase your focus, to stimulate creativity, to reduce stress. Meditation has been shown in a number of health studies to have numerous health benefits, including lowering blood pressure. Even doing something to help reduce the stress in your life might help you focus more on your writing, hence lead you to more creative writing. People that meditate also often have mentioned they get flashes of inspiration, either when they mediate or sometime after they have done so. So how do you get started? Meditating is very easy to begin. You do not need to sit in meditation for a long period of time for it to have positive effects in your life. Just meditating for fifteen minutes a day will give you all the benefits of meditation. If you are new to meditation then consider starting with fifteen minutes of meditation. Before long you may find yourself sitting in meditation for longer periods of time. To meditate you must have a place that you will not be disturbed. Let your family and friends know that you need to not be disturbed for a short period of time. Put the ringer off on your telephone and let the answering machine pick it up. You can meditate at any time of day, but it is best to get into the habit of meditating at about the same time of day every day. You will begin to expect to meditate and you will soon look forward to it. Lower the lights of the room you are meditating in. Sit on a pillow on the floor or on a blanket. If you are in your bedroom you could also meditate lying on your bed. Don’t worry if you do not remain alert enough to stay awake. Many meditators fall asleep sometimes, this is a signal from your body that you need rest, not that you have done meditation “wrong”. Also be sure to wear comfortable and loose clothing. When you meditate, do so in a warm room. Your body temperature will cool slightly while you are still during meditation. Sit in silence and focus on your breath. If thoughts come into your mind, thank them for coming but release them. You could imagine them rising up through the ceiling as if they had balloons attached to them. Some people that meditate focus on counting on their breathing. Not counting each breath, simply counting one as they inhale and two as they exhale. Or you can focus on a word when you inhale and another word when you exhale. Inhale “peace” and exhale “love”. Select words that have meaning to you. Don’t say the words outloud, simply think of them. It takes twenty one days for a new habit to become routine for most people, so before long meditation will be a part of your life. Don’t be surprised if during meditation you see images or get inspiration for your writing. You may get some wonderful ideas. Or meditation may simply offer you great peace and restoration which will refresh and renew you to look at your creative projects with a fresh pair of excited eyes. Most community centers, temples, churches and hospitals now have meditation groups. Meditating with a group can be a wonderful experience. Some groups meditate to guided meditate, with a speaking voice guiding through the entire meditation. If you are interested to learn more about meditation, please consider reading Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This is an excellent book about meditation, with short essays about meditation and paying attention to even the smallest thing. Kabat-Zinn teaches his meditation program at the Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. About The Author Abigail Beal meditates and is the author of two zines Creative Crafts Teacher – for crafts teachers and Gift Wrap Goddess Wraps – all about gift wrap. To subscribe: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GiftWrapGoddessWraps/ or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreativeCraftsTeachers/ giftwrapgoddess@yahoo.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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How to Benefit from the Mind-Body Connection
(excerpt)
You are about to gain insight into the
mind-body connection. The number of
people who truly understand these principles on our
planet are relatively few.
There is an undeniable connection between our minds and
bodies, you can learn
to use this fact to your benefit.
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and
Miracles" was once a
distraught cancer surgeon until he
began to understand the greater principles
of the mind-
body connection. He felt dragged down by the artificial
barriers
that existed between patient and doctor, and the
helplessness he often felt as
a result of his inability
to effectively serve those patients. Eventually, those
barriers
were disintegrated by Dr. Siegel's recognition
and growing understanding of the
mind-body connection and
how it could serve his patients and himself.
Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he began to have his patients
refer to him, had some
startling realizations as a cancer surgeon. He found that
there were actually
quite a few people in the world that successfully beat
the statistics on cancer
survival. He began to recognize that a patient's ability
to defeat something as
serious as cancer had to do with the patient's mind and
attitude about their
disease.
If you would like to see the rest of
this article, please go here:
http://www.tobeinformed.com/repository/mind-body.html
copyright 2004 - David Snape
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