January 1, 2017 - lyltadmin

Meditation – simple, yet not easy for all!

Meditation is the starting point for anybody who wishes to embark on a journey that helps them connect with their spirit and, through this ‘inner’ connection, explore how they are connected to the ‘outer’ cosmos. Conceptually speaking, it is the simplest entrainment exercise though not necessarily the easiest, at least in the beginning.

For the beginner, it might seem initially that they have started off on a journey that takes them nowhere but that’s the inherent nature of meditation. As long as they feel they are ‘going nowhere’, they must realize they are blessed because ‘going nowhere’ means being at the same place. This means the physical body (and everything in it!) is getting grounded. (Everyone knows what a well-grounded individual is.) This also means that the mind is getting used to staying ‘at the same spot’. In other words, the mind is learning how to stay focused. One this is firmly established, the outward journey to connect with the cosmos begins as the mind knows how to filter out thoughts that end up doing more harm than good, often unknowingly and surreptitiously. This, in essence, is the process of meditation. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yes, the process, per se, appears to be simple but it is by no means an easy-to-do practice because the journey – both inward and outward – doesn’t ever really come to an end. Only the true seeker realizes this! The search, the quest, the journey, the voyage continues unabated even after the world around the seeker starts to recognize the seeker as a seer. The search, the quest, the journey, the voyage continues unabated even after the seeker discards the physical garb we call the body. The seeker lives on… immortalized, as it were!

Let’s continue exploring the nuances of meditation. Meditation is often used synonymously with relaxation. This is erroneous. At most, it would be okay to say that some people may feel relaxed after a meditation session, especially those who have been regularly meditating for a few weeks. So, relaxation is an outcome of meditation and that too, only for some. The other notion that a lot of people hold is that meditation means just sitting down quietly in one spot for a few minutes at a time and doing nothing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality, those who meditate are doing something within the recesses of their mind. Some practitioners, for instance, could be focusing their attention on one thought and one thought alone. This is by no means easy to do. But the fruits of this one-thought focus are amazing indeed. Obvious, isn’t it? Another meditating practice is to stop any thought from entering the mental space, howsoever briefly. Practitioners know from experience that some thought or the other somehow manages to creep in. The name of the game is to expunge this intruder before it drops anchor in the mental space. Simple though in concept it may seem, meditation is hard work. Practice, practice, practice and more practice is the only way to get better at it. Progress is measured by how long the mental space is allowed to harbor just one thought or even stays thought free.

Thanks to modern science, scientists are able to study what happens to the brain during meditation and why it is recognized as a powerful tool for helping people cope with a variety of health conditions. Incidentally, there are literally hundreds of Tibetan monks working closely with brain surgeons, psychologists, physicists and other researchers all over the world. Tests on these monks are yielding data that help researchers understand what happens to the brain and its down-the-body extension, the spinal column. This data is used for a variety of therapeutic applications.

A list of some benefits for individuals follows:

• Vastly improved attention spans
• Relief from chronic pain
• Relaxation
• Improve memory
• Develops ability to think ‘out-of-the-box’
• Enhances ability to deal with conflict calmly
• Lowers impulsive and compulsive behaviors

Executives and entrepreneurs are bound to succeed in bringing about permanent changes for the better in themselves, paving the way for emerging as authentic leaders.

For the organization too, these are some specific benefits:

• Higher productivity and higher level of staff wellbeing
• Improved relationships among stakeholders
• Lower absenteeism
• Lower health maintenance costs
• Lower staff turnover
• Higher levels of job satisfaction and employee contribution.

For more information on meditation and how it serves as a base for career advancement, spend some time at www.thelyltprogram.org.

Uncategorized