Meditation Monday

Introduction:

The practice of meditation is over 2,500 years old, and countless individuals have utilized its power to cultivate compassion and wisdom. Scientific and medical research has shown that meditation can reduce stress, improve health, enhance performance, and measurably make us happier. Meditation is a way to calm the spirit, relax the body, and to become more in tune with oneself. At Raw Food Nation, we are not only dedicated to promoting the health benefits of eating raw foods, but also the lifestyle choices that come with it. For this reason, we are introducing Meditation Monday as a reminder for you to take a moment to center yourself. We hope that these posts will be educational, and beneficial to your well being.

What is mediation?

Simply put, meditation is a form of relaxation. All meditation involves substituting your thoughts for an alternate object of attention. Whether it is your breath, an image, or a sound, when the mind becomes absorbed in something other than thought, it relaxes.  According to the book Quiet Mind by Susan Piver, meditation is “a profound relaxation of your conventional mind which then naturally calls forth the mind of wisdom” and understanding.

How am I supposed to sit?

There are several different practices that offer a variety of ways to meditate, but one of the overlapping foundations of them all is to take good posture, in other words, finding a way to sit that is both upright and relaxed. Generally speaking, you can sit on a pillow on the floor with your feet crossed or you can sit at the edge of a chair with your feet pressed firmly on the ground. Once you have chosen the way to sit that suits you best, make sure your back is straight and relaxed. Susan Piver recommends that you “feel the crown of your head reaching up to the sky while your sitting bones reach down to the center of the earth. This way…you are joining heaven and earth simply by being a human being who is sitting down.” (we bet you didn’t know you had that ability!)

Your hands should rest comfortably at mid-thigh or just above the knee, or you can place one hand within the other. Depending on the particular practice of meditation, you may have your eyes open or closed. If your eyes are open, they should gaze slightly downward to a spot on the floor that is 4-6 feet away. Your gaze is soft, your jaw is relaxed. Your body also begins to relax.

As you sit, pay attention to your breathing, as it comes in and out of your nose. “Your breath is always in the present moment,” says Susan Piver, “so the simplest way to ‘be present’ is to be with your breath. Sitting this way is a basis for meditation.” See if you can do this at the beginning and end of your day, for just five minutes – ten minutes. What a fabulous way to decompress, center yourself and to gain clarity.

References:

We are not experts and nor do we claim to be, so whenever possible we will provide the resources we used so that you can explore further. For this post we used the following:

Quiet Mind: A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation, compiled and edited by Susan Piver

By admin Tags: center, clarity, decompress, health, meditation, posture, relaxation, wellness
Posted in Lifestyle Tips | 1 Comment »

One Response to “Meditation Monday”

1. Meditation Monday: How to Start « Raw Food Nation says:

   June 29, 2009 at 5:24 am

   [...] (For instructions on how to sit, please see our introduction to meditation article) [...]