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Meditation

Meditation

 

 Reset, Refresh & Re-Heart

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." Albert Camus  

Meditation helps you manage anxiety, stress and depression

The transformative potential of meditation shouldn’t be underestimated. Among many similar findings studies conducted at the University of Wisconsin proved that meditation has physiological effects on the brain. For example, researchers found that the part of the brain that regulates stress and anxiety shrinks when meditation is practiced consistently. By focusing on moment-by-moment experiences, meditators are training the mind to remain calm, even in stressful situations. Along with this, they also experience significantly less anxiety due to uncertainty about the future.

Here are some benefits of Meditation that will change your life

  • Greater Sense of Self-Awareness. Meditation allows us to mentally take inventory of our bodies. ...
  • Reduce Stress and Anxiety. ...
  • Increase Mental Clarity and Focus. ...
  • Emotional Intelligence. ...
  • Trigger the Brain's Relaxation Response.
  • Development of Spirituality and Peace

 

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR MEDITATION

Kamlesh D. Patel

Many of us live in a fast-paced, busy world, working long and late hours. We have information coming at us from all directions nearly all the time, stimulating our senses, including through our phones, computers, TVs, or even gas station pumps!

When we move so fast and process so much information, it is difficult to be still and peaceful, because our lives are largely governed by the state of our minds and the information contained within them. Meditation is a highly effective practice to calm the mind, and direct it towards positive thoughts while reducing the burden of negative thoughts and emotional complexities.

 

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When you tell someone to do something that you think is good for them, the first thing they ask is, “Why should I?” This is very reasonable considering the ‘busy-ness’ of the modern world.

In my professional life, I was a businessman, so I was also full of ‘busy-ness’. I will layout a ‘business’ case for why a meditative practice is good for you:

1. Enhanced creativity — Creativity is a very valuable skill. According to a 2010 IBM survey(1) of more than 1500 CEOs, creativity is seen as the most important skill to successfully navigate the increasingly complex world of the future. Researchers at Leiden University conducted a study(2) which suggests that certain types of meditation (Open-monitoring meditation in this case) can enhance an aspect of creativity known as divergent thinking, or “… a style of thinking that allows many new ideas being generated, in a context where more than one solution is correct.” The OM meditators showed enhanced “flexibility, fluency, and originality” relative to a control group. Meditation can help you think ‘outside-the-box’ and solve complex problems in new ways.

2. Better decision-making — Professionals in all walks of life and at all levels of organizations are being called on to make decisions more quickly, in an ever more complicated environment. Making decisions and getting things done are crucial skills for the modern professional. Researchers from the University of Rochester and Virginia Commonwealth University found that mindfulness-based stress reduction significantly improved executive function(3) in study participants. Researchers at Stanford University and Santa Clara University found that mindfulness-based stress reduction improved “moral reasoning and ethical decision-making, as well as mindful attention, emotion, and well-being.”(4)

3. Improved quality of life — Researchers at Wellspan York Hospital conducted a 12-week Heartfulness Meditation program for hospital faculty. They found that Heartfulness Meditation significantly improved all measures of burnout, nearly all measures of Emotional Wellness, as well as increased telomere length (shortened telomeres are considered as a sign of aging). In addition to enhancing our performance, meditation can also simply help us feel better in general.

Meditation can be very ‘profitable’, so please consider taking up a practice of meditation that helps you to feel, perform, and become better; one that is suitable for you.

At the Heartfulness Institute, we offer Heartfulness Meditation practices and training free of charge. You are welcome to try it for yourself and experience the benefits of a heart-based practice with Yogic Transmission. You can find a nearby trainer at http://heartspots.heartfulness.org/

References:

1. IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future Success (https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/31670.wss)

2. Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking, Lorenza S. Colzato*, Ayca Ozturk and Bernhard Hommel, Front. Psychol., 18 April 2012, (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00116/full)

3. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Older Adults: Effects on Executive Function, Frontal Alpha Asymmetry and Immune Function, Moynihan J.A.a · Chapman B.P.a · Klorman R.b · Krasner M.S.c · Duberstein P.R.a · Brown K.W.d ·Talbot N.L.a (https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/350949)

4. Mindfulness-based stress reduction effects on moral reasoning and decision making, Shauna L. Shapiro, (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2012.723732)

WRITTEN BY

Kamlesh D. Patel

Affectionately known as Daaji, is the fourth spiritual guide in the Sahaj Marg or Heartfulness meditation, author of the best seller book, The Heartfulness Way

 

GUIDED RELAXATION

Sit comfortably and close your eyes very softly and very gently. Let's begin with the toes. Wiggle your toes. Now feel them relax. Relax your ankles and feet. Feel energy move up from the earth... up your feet to your knees relaxing the legs. Relax your thighs. The energy moves up your legs... relaxing them. Now, deeply relax your hips... stomach ... and waist. Relax your back. From the top to the bottom the entire back is relaxed. Relax your chest … and shoulders. Feel your shoulders simply melting away… Relax your upper arms. Relax each muscle in your forearms ... your hands... right up to your fingertips. Relax the neck muscles. Move your awareness up to your face.Relax the jaws... mouth ... nose ... eyes ... earlobes ... facial muscles ... forehead ... all the way to the top of your head. Feel how your whole body is now completely relaxed. Move your attention to your heart.As you rest there, gently have the idea that the Source of Light is illuminating your heart from within and is attracting or pulling your attention inward... Feel immersed in the love and light in your heart.Remain still and quiet, and slowly become absorbed in yourself. Remain absorbed within this deep silence for as long as you want, until you feel ready to come out again

Heartfulness Meditation
  • Choose a place where you can meditate without being distracted, preferably at the same place and same time daily. Turn off your phone and other devices. Sit with your back upright but not rigid.
  • Sit comfortably. Gently close your eyes.
  • If needed, take a couple of minutes to relax your body, using the Heartfulness Relaxation.
  • Turn your attention inward and take a moment to observe yourself.
  • Then, suppose that the source of light is already present within your heart, and that it is attracting you from within.
  • Gently relax into that feeling. If you find your awareness drifting to other thoughts, do not fight them and do not entertain them. Let them be, while simply reminding yourself that you are meditating on the source of divine light in the heart.
  • Allow yourself to become more and more absorbed within until you feel ready to come out of meditation.
  • Remain absorbed within this deep silence for as long as you want, until you feel ready to come out.

 

Non-attention is the best response to unwanted thoughts, as thoughts without our attention have no power. With practice, as we learn to regulate the mind, mental chatter gradually disappears and we become more receptive to the guiding influence of the heart. Mind and heart thus begin to work together in a balanced way. As our practice deepens, we learn to maintain this balanced state in the midst of life’s activities.

 

Remember, meditation isn't an extra job we're adding to our day - it will become the best time of day, something we can't wait to do.
Even if you can start with 5 or 10 minutes - try to do it each day, it will make a difference.

Watch Video

Please note: To get the most from your Heartfulness Meditation it is recommended to have 3 introductory meditations over 3 days  (these meditations can be taken remotely), from a Heartfulness trainer. You can also take these 3 meditations on the 'Meditations MasterClass' online Video 

Heartfulness Cleaning

Do the cleaning practice at the end of your day’s work, preferably not close to bedtime. This process will rejuvenate you and purify your system of any accumulated heaviness. There are a few steps to the cleaning process, so in the beginning, it is best to practise them in the following sequence:

  • Sit in a comfortable position with the intention to remove all the impressions accumulated during the day.
  • Close your eyes and relax.
  • Imagine all the complexities and impurities are leaving your entire system.
  • Let them flow out from your back in the form of smoke, from the area between the tailbone (at the base of your spine) and the top of your head.
  • Remain alert during the entire process without brooding over the thoughts and feelings that arise. Try to remain a witness to your thoughts.
  • Gently accelerate this process with confidence and determination.
  • If your attention drifts and other thoughts come to mind, gently bring your focus back to the cleaning.
  • As the impressions are leaving from your back you will start to feel lightness within.
  • Continue this process for up to twenty to twenty-five minutes.
  • When you experience inner lightness, you can start the second part of the process.
  • Feel a current of purity coming from the Source entering your system from the front.
  • This current is flowing into your heart and throughout your system, saturating every particle.
  • You have now returned to a more balanced state. Every particle of your body is emanating lightness, purity, and simplicity.
  • Finish with the conviction that the cleaning has been completed effectively.
  • Feel immersed in the light in your heart, and let yourself become absorbed.
  • Remaining still and quiet, rest there for as long as you want, until you feel ready to come out.
Heartfulness Prayer

This is a prayer or affirmation that is offered at bedtime, as a way of connecting to the Source before sleep. This may take around ten to fifteen minutes. It is also offered once before meditation in the morning. The word 'Master' refers to Godly energy however you may understand this.

 

At bedtime, sit comfortably, gently close your eyes, and relax. Silently and slowly repeat the affirmation:

O Master! Thou art the real goal of human life.
We are yet but slaves of wishes putting bar to our advancement.
Thou art the only God and Power to bring us up to that stage.

 

Now silently repeat these words a second time and go even deeper into this feeling. Allow yourself to get absorbed in the feeling beyond the words. Allow yourself to melt in this prayerfully meditative state as you go to sleep.

Meditate for ten minutes over its true meaning, feeling the words resonate in your heart rather than trying to analyse them. Let the meaning surface from within. Try to get lost in it. Go beyond the words and let the feeling come to you.

In the morning, reconnect yourself by silently offering this affirmation once before you start the Heartfulness Meditation.

Constant Remembrance

Meditation, cleaning and prayer make up the basic elements of the Heartfulness practice. Our practice becomes dynamic and infused with life and feeling when it leads to the remembrance and experience of our connection with the divine within. We cultivate this ongoing connection through a specific training of mind and heart referred to as constant remembrance.

In our efforts to remember constantly we engage a subtle suggestion, putting the divine in the place of self in all our thoughts and activities – indeed the godly energy in the heart is the doer. Feeling that presence within guiding our thoughts and actions we then proceed with faith and confidence, giving every task our best effort without attachment to results.

When we love someone, we remember him or her. Heartfulness teaches us that the reverse is also true: what we remember, we will also come to love. The practice of remembrance eventually leads to constant thought of the divine in all of our activities, ultimately cultivating our growing love for, and union with God.

Transmission

The body lives and grows at the physical level and so sustains itself on physical food. The soul, being spiritual in nature, needs nourishment of a higher plane. In Heartfulness this spiritual food is called transmission.
Transmission is described in Heartfulness as “the utilization of divine energy for the transformation of human beings.”

The Sanskrit word for transmission is pranahuti (prana meaning life force; ahuti meaning offering). When it is directed into our hearts, we are filled with a force that transcends our own level of development. All that is required of us is that we  are sincere in our daily meditation practice. If we cooperate in this way, the transmission will expand our capacity for growth and accelerate our spiritual progress.

We use the word ‘Transmission’ because this subtle energy is transmitted from the heart of the yogic trainer into the heart of the aspirant. Transmission does not require any physical contact, but is activated by thought force, which is the essential instrument of training in Raja Yoga. As Swami Vivekananda wrote in his treatise, Raja Yoga, “Thought is a force, as is gravitation or repulsion. From the infinite storehouse of force in nature, the instrument called chitta (consciousness) takes hold of some, absorbs it and sends it out as thought.”

“In every action that we perform, or by which we receive, an act of transmission is involved. But in the transmission of  Heartfulness it is the highest gift of life’s life itself, and it is this that sets the Heartfulness system of raja yoga apart from all other extant systems of yoga."
-Chariji

AIT Library Positive Living Guide

Contact TUS Midlands Heartfulness:  mdoheny48@gmail.com

Please note: To get the most from your Heartfulness Meditation it is recommended to have 3 introductory meditations (these meditations can be taken remotely), over 3 days from a heartfulness trainer. You can also take these 3 meditations on the 'Meditations MasterClass' online Video 

Times and location: Heartfulness meditation, Xmas semester 2024,  in room E3202 at 12.30 - 1pm on Monday 11th and 25th November and in room E3208 on Monday 4th  November (12:40pm start) and Monday 9th Dec.

All are very welcome 

 

Meditate with a trainer online using the APP. 

HeartsApp lets you meditate with certified Heartfulness trainers at your own convenience.

Learn the basic practices of Relaxation, Meditation, Cleaning and Inner Connect, or complete the 3 Masterclasses. After the three introductory sessions are completed, use HeartsApp to connect with our team of Certified Heartfulness Trainers from around the globe anytime to experience meditation with yogic transmission.

More Information and Links

Meditation Masterclasses