The Essentials Of Meditation

There are many forms of meditations. Most of the research has been done on Transcendental Meditation, popularly known as TM.

At the end of the day, whatever type of meditation is done, the end result is the same- the nervous system becomes calm and the muscular tension in the body is reduced. The focus of all forms of meditations is to bring the mind to a point when the senses are no longer intruding into the consciousness. In wakeful state, the nervous system is constantly stimulated. It experiences input from the senses, mainly the sights and the sounds in the environment. The senses of touch, smell and taste also have their input in stimulating the brain. The brain and the nervous system can get a rest from these stimuli if the person finds a quiet environment in which they can close eyes for a few minutes. But then something else starts to stimulate the nervous system from within.

When the person sits quietly, the thoughts and memories start to intrude in the mind. The more the person does not want the thoughts to come in, the more thoughts interfere, preventing the person to be stimulation free. In such a case the person starts fighting the thoughts. This never works successfully. One has to either ignore the thoughts or has to allow the thoughts to come in. These are techniques that are commonly taught in case someone has difficulties with meditation.

A principle that work in Nature is the ‘principle of seed.’ It simply means that you need a seed to make anything grow big. A tree starts with a seed too. It is only when it becomes a tree, that it can give fruits. A sugar candy is formed only when a small piece of candy is put into a sugar solution. If there is no piece of sugar candy for the sugar to deposit around, a big crystal of sugar will not be formed. Do you know how yogurt is produced? You dissolve a small quantity of yogurt in lukewarm milk and then let the milk stand for a few hours.

In all these examples, there are two qualifications. Each one of them starts with a core or a seed. In each one of them, you have to let the seed remain undisturbed and allow it to grow. What has this to do with meditation?

People who are extremely stressed out will lose their sleep. They will not be able to sit still without thinking even for a moment. They would be busy doing something physically all the time as if they are carrying the responsibilities of the universe around their shoulders. They do not have time ( to relax or to do anything personal). They cannot relax even for a moment. These people lack the ability to stay still even for a moment (the seed). They do not have time to allow themselves to be thought- free , undisturbed, even for a moment.

It is people who meet with these characteristics that have difficulty relaxing. They cannot meditate because they cannot keep their mind or eyes or their breath still, even for a moment. These are the people that would benefit most with meditation. But if you advise them to meditate, they would either consider it time-wasting or would not believe that meditation would help them. Such people are more prone to depend on sleeping tablets, alcohol and other habits that are self-damaging.

In order to meditate, a person needs to have the qualification of being able to relax a little bit. If that ability is not there, unfortunately, meditation is not possible for them to do. For such people I sometimes advise the following exercise.

Exercise: Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in. Hold the breath for a split second. Then breathe out slowly forcing the breath out through the nose, as if you are screaming at someone. Do it only for three minutes every day.

You will start seeing the results within a week and would be able to appreciate changes within a matter of three weeks. You have hardly anything to lose by doing this exercise regularly. This exercise can create ‘the seed’ around which you can start to practice meditation for longer periods.

Pradeep K Chadha is a psychiatrist who specialises in helping patients with meditation and imagery using little or no medication. He is the author of The Stress Barrier-Nature's Way To Overcoming Stress published by Blackhall Publishing, Dublin. He is based in Dublin, Ireland.His website address is: http://www.drpkchadha.com

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