Category: Meditation

Osho: Compassion – The Ultimate Flowering Of Love

“Osho examines the nature of compassion from a radically different perspective. He points out that ‘passion’ lies at the root of the word, and then proceeds to challenge assumptions about what compassion really is. He shows how the path to authentic compassion arises from within, beginning with a deep acceptance and love of oneself. Only then, says Osho, does compassion flower into a healing force, rooted in the unconditional acceptance of the other as he or she is.”

Learning “The Love Thy Neighbor As You LoveYourself” Meditation

Love Thy Neighbor … As You Love Yourself

by Sarah McLean

“Are you feeling overwhelmed and overcommitted? Do you have too much to do and not enough time to get it done? Are you dealing with health challenges or difficulties in your relationships at work or at home? Does caring for yourself take a backseat to daily demands?

I’ve taught meditation to thousands of people. At the start of each class, I ask the students to examine how they treat themselves. Many say they’re hard on themselves to meet the demands of their lives or to “do things right.” But getting angry or frustrated doesn’t serve them well when they meditate, and it truly doesn’t help anyone become more effective in their lives.

I remind them of the “Love Thy Neighbor” commandment. We all know it, yet the basis of this commandment is often overlooked: Loving thy neighbor is intrinsically connected with loving yourself. Maybe you’ve never been concerned about self-love, but it is vitally important. How you treat yourself, including how kind and compassionate you are toward yourself, can inform everything you say and do, and most certainly how well you love your neighbor.

Fortunately, a simple heart-based meditation technique, the “Loving-Kindness” meditation, used worldwide, can help you cultivate a new attitude. This practice will help you transform negative thinking into compassion and kindness toward yourself—and toward others. Here’s how to do it:

First, choose a phrase of kindness. Use one of these, or come up with your own:

  • May you be well, may you be happy, may you be free from suffering.
  • May you be peaceful and at ease.
  • May you be surrounded with loving-kindness.
  • May you be free from pain and suffering.
  • May you feel safe, cared for, and loved.

Next, set aside 20 minutes for your meditation. Begin with an open mind—leave any expectations or judgments aside.

Sit comfortably and relax. Breathe naturally through your nose. Focus on your heart center, noticing the rise and fall of your chest.

Feel what you feel—whether physical or emotional. When you notice your attention wandering from feelings to thoughts, gently return to your kindness phrase.

Think about one person you care about—your child, parent, partner, friend. Get a sense of his or her presence. Silently offer them the phrase of kindness. Imagine them receiving it for a few minutes.

Now with the same heartfelt intention, offer the phrase to yourself and fully receive it for a few minutes.

Next, identify a neutral person or someone you’ve met briefly. Get a sense of the person, and for a few minutes, offer the same compassion toward them.

Identify someone with whom you have difficulty. Get a feeling for their presence. For a few minutes, offer them compassion. If this is challenging for you, remember, it’s a practice.

Identify any living being you believe is suffering. Perhaps you heard about someone facing disaster or tragedy. Even if you personally don’t know them, sense their presence. Offer the same compassion to them.

Expand your blessing to include all beings in your immediate environment, extending it to the neighbors on your street, your city, your country and on earth.

Finish by bringing your attention back to yourself and keep your eyes closed for a few minutes. Slowly open your eyes.

As you practice this meditation, you’ll cultivate more kindness, equanimity and a compassionate heart for yourself and others.”  dailyword.com

Sarah McLean is the director of the McLean Meditation Institute, Sedona, Arizona.

The Role of Meditation in Mental Health

By UPLIFT on Thursday, September 24th, 2015

Science is finally able to record the Amazing effects of Meditation.

Meditation has traditionally been associated with Eastern mysticism but science is beginning to show that cultivating a “heightened” state of consciousness can have a major impact on our brain, the way our bodies function and our levels of resilience.

Clinicians are increasingly looking for effective, preventative, non-pharmacological options to treat mental illness. And meditation techniques – such as quietening the mind, understanding the self and exercising control – show promise as an alternative tool to regulate emotions, mood, and stress.

Body

Meditation influences the body in unexpected ways. Experienced meditators, for instance, can speed or slow their metabolism by more than 60% and raise their body temperature by as much as 8°C.

Meditating man
Experienced meditators, for instance, can speed or slow their metabolism

 

Even a little training in meditation can make people calmer, less stressed and more relaxed. As little as 20 minutes a day leads to physical changes, such as reduced blood pressure, lower heart rate, deeper and calmer breathing.  Improvements in blood pressure as a result of meditation have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attack.

Meditation is also beginning to prove effective as a treatment for chronic and acute pain.  One experiment showed that four days of mindfulness meditation substantially reduced the participant’s experience of unpleasantness and the intensity of their pain.

Mind, brain and beyond

Meditation increases left-sided, frontal brain activity, an area of the brain associated with positive mood. Interestingly, this increase in left-brain activity is also linked with improvements in immune system activity. And the more you practice meditation, the greater your immune function is likely to be.

Studies have shown that long-term meditators have increased volumes of grey matter in the right orbito-frontal cortex and hippocampus regions of their brain which are responsible for regulating emotion. Similar changes have also been found in non-meditators who completed an eight-week course in mindfulness training.

So even a limited stint of meditation has the potential to change the structure of the brain.

Elderly woman meditating
Meditating may increase longevity by protecting the brain and heart from the damaging effects of stress

Aging

The cortex in the brain usually thins as we age – a type of atrophy related to dementia.  Intriguingly, those who have meditated around an hour a day for six years display increased cortical thickness. Older meditators also show decreased age-related decline in cortical thickness compared to non-meditators of the same age.

Meditation may increase longevity by protecting the brain and heart from the damaging effects of stress. One study reported that meditation and yoga help to prevent cellular damage caused by chronic psychological stress. It has even been suggested that meditation may slow cellular aging.

Emotional stability

The causes and effects of emotional experience exist throughout the body and the brain, and as such they are deeply linked to physical and psychological stress.

Meditation enhances positive emotions and mood, and appears to make people less vulnerable to the stresses and upsets of daily life. Research shows that meditators are better at regulating  immediate responses to negative stimuli and have reduced activity in the amygdala – a region implicated in response to threat. These findings reflect greater emotional resilience among meditators as well as less psychological distress and anxiety.

Mindfulness, which can be cultivated through meditation, is just one technique that can increase mental health and wellbeing.  Several therapeutic techniques have been based on these practices, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. These treatments have had success in treating anxiety and mood disorders.

Next steps in research

Research has shown us that meditation improves our mood, reduces the body’s response to stress and, over time, alters the structure of the brain.

Our team at the University of Sydney is attempting to fill some of the gaps in our knowledge of how meditation acts on the mind and the body to calm emotional reactions. We’re currently investigating the effects of meditation on brain and body function during emotional provocation, such as viewing disturbing photographic images.

We want to better understand the effects of short, intensive periods of meditation on brain and body functions associated with regulation of emotional responses. We are also examining the genetic factors that may help determine what types of people benefit most from meditation training.

If we can demonstrate the efficacy of intensive meditation on emotion regulation, and characterize those who will benefit most, we will have established a significant role for meditation in improving mental and physical health.

WORDS BY Jonathan Krygier, PhD Candidate in Psychology, University of Sydney and Andrew H. Kemp,  Associate Professor, University of Sydney
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