Interested in beginning meditation but don’t know where to start? The good news is that all you need is 5-10 minutes a day to get started.

Are you thinking to yourself, ‘Ten minutes, I don’t have an extra ten minutes a day! My life is already jam packed with work, family, social obligations, and I’m not even mentioning my growing to-do list”?

Well, what if I told you that the benefits of meditation include a reduction in stress, sharpened concentration, improved circulation – and as you get further into your practice you’ll experience a quieter mind, a more open and receptive heart, a sense of inner freedom – and perhaps even a streak of creativity that’ll help you make films like David Lynch. (Lynch has been practicing Transcendental Meditation for over thirty years.)

Sound good?

Here are six easy tips and meditation techniques for beginners that will help get you started.

6 Tips for People Who Don’t Have Time to Meditate – PickTheBrain

Fellow yogi and teacher Jamie Elmer shares her observations on multitasking. She notes that multitasking helps the ego feel more important. “Look at how important I am. I have a million things to do all at once,” the ego thinks. But in reality when we instead have single pointed focus, we feel calmer and are more effective.

Check out Jamie’s post here:

http://jamieelmer.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/isnt-observation-fascinating/

This past weekend I had to visit the emergency room at our local hospital. (Thank goodness, we’re all okay.) Upon leaving, I was given a 7-page printout of Discharge Instructions.  In addition to a summary of the prescriptions and their usage, the packet included a lengthy Pain Management section which included the breathing and visualization techniques below. Of course, we’re all familiar with the Lamaze techniques taught to pregnant women for pain management, but as a yogi, I was excited to find that pranayama along with other alternative exercises are now being taught in a more main stream environment — the ER.

Alternative Techniques for Pain Management

1) Breathing exercises

Deep breathe/tense, exhale/relax, yawn for quick relaxation:

1. Clench your firsts; breathe in deeply and hold it for a moment.
2. Breathe out slowly and feel yourself becoming limp.

Slow rhythmic breathing for relaxation:

1. Breathe in slowly and deeply.
2. As you breathe out slowly, feel yourself begin to relax; feel the tension leaving your body.
3. Now breathe in and out slowly and regularly, at whatever rate is comfortable for you.
4. To help you focus on breathing slowly and rhythmically:
   • breathe in as you say silently to yourself, “in, two, three”
   • breathe out as you say silently to yourself, “out, two, three”
5. End with a slow deep breath. As you breathe out say to yourself, “I feel alert and relaxed.”

2) Imagery

There are a number of ways to help your body relax when you are having pain. Remembering a relaxing experience that happened to you in the past can make you relax again. Close your eyes and take yourself away from the present as you think of the answers to the following questions.

• Can you remember a time when you felt calm, peaceful, secure, hopeful or comfortable?
• Have you ever daydreamed about something peaceful? What were you thinking of?
• Do you get a calm feeling when you listen to music? What special music helps you relax?
• Do you have any favorite poetry that you find uplifting or reassuring?
• What favorite readings, hymns, or prayers do you find calming?

3) Music

1. Get a CD player or cassette player [ipod] and play the type of music you enjoy and find relaxing. Some people find fast, lively music can help distract them.
2. Get earphones or headset. Reduce the other noise in your immediate area, if possible.
3. Mark the time to the music by tapping out the rhythm with your finger or nod your head. This will help you concentrate on the music rather than on the pain.
4. If the music alone is not enough, try adding one or more of the following:

• massage your body in rhythm to the music
• add other music
• mark the time to the music

4) Simple touch, massage or warmth

• Try holding onto someone’s hand.
• Try briefly touching or gently rubbing the painful area.
• Try a warm foot soak in a basin of warm water, or wrap your feet in a warm, wet towel.
• Try taking a warm bath.
• Get a massage (from a whole body massage or a specific area of the back, hands or feet). Use a warm lubricant (small bowl of hand lotion warmed by putting it in warm water for 10 minutes).
• The person massaging the area for you should use smooth, long, slow strokes. Gently putting some pressure on your body may feel comfortable.
• A back rub will produce relaxation in just 3 minutes with continuous hand pressure.
• Setting aside a regular time for a massage will give you something to look forward to and be a very important strategy to control pain.

The Future is Integrative Medicine

Integrative medicine (which is the exploration of new ways to treat the mind, body, and spirit — all at the same time) is an exciting evolution of our health care system. Duke Integrative Medicine, one of the leading institutes in this area, offers a program called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which uses meditation and yoga to cultivate awareness, reduce stress and promote healing. The Duke model emphasizes preventive care and patient responsibility alongside conventional, Western approaches to health care.

Take a close look at the Duke circle diagram here. The patient (YOU) is at the center of the diagram meaning that personal responsibility and mindfulness are at the core of the Wheel of Health. Continuing outward, falling under the green “Self-Care” area shows each patient is responsible for their own:

• Nutrition
• Mind-Body Connection
• Movement, Exercise and Rest
• Personal and Professional Development
• Spirituality
• Relationships and Communication
• Physical Environment

Connected to the Self-Care area are the Professional Care areas of:

• Prevention and Intervention (I would add “Patient Education”)
• Conventional and Complementary Approaches

The genius of the diagram is that it is a circle — all areas are interconnected.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

I am excited about the potential for healing and growth as more and more experts treat the whole person and as more patients educate themselves and become their own health care advocate.  Aristotle wrote over 2200 years ago in his Metaphysica, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (paraphrased) and the same could be said about the application of integrative medicine.

Alternative techniques above provided by Little Company of Mary Medical Center

Today on the Musings blog (a blog about mind, art, productivity and more), Koroush Dini MD, talks about how he defines meditation. He tries to define it simply ~ in 25 words or less ~ as:

Meditation is a regularly practiced focus on a pre-defined object.

The object could be a mantra, a physical object, the breath, an emotion or just watching the flow of thoughts.

The one thing I *might* add to the end of his definition would be the words for healing or to become present or for self-awareness…. But maybe it’s not necessary to define the intention within the definition. Hmmm…

Do you agree with this definition of meditation? If not, what is your definition of meditation? (Remember the challenge is to keep it to less than 25 words.) Before commenting, be sure to link over to the blog and read his entire explanation of the definition: The Definition of Meditation | Musings.

Namaste to all and have a wonderful, beautiful week.

All religions teach love

New yogis (or those who are “yoga curious”) often wonder if Yoga is a religion. It is not. Regardless of your personal belief system, you can practice yoga. Yoga teachers need to understand this so that they can include people from all backgrounds and belief systems. If you attend a class where the teacher says something that makes you feel left out or goes against your religion, you may want to stay after and let them know so they can adjust their language for future classes. A mindful teacher will be open to your feedback.

As I continue my comparative religions study, the more I realize that all the world’s religions have more in common than they realize. Every religion teaches kindness; just as every religion teaches compassion and love.

Yoga helps us get in touch with our similarities and reminds us that we are all together on this one planet.

Thank you to The Leadership Blog for compiling these scriptural quotes from the world’s main religions.

Buddhism
Hurt not others with that which pains yourself. Udanavarga 5.18.

Christianity
Always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets. Bible, Matthew 7:12.

Confucianism
Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you. Analects 15.23.

Hinduism
This is the sum of duty: Do nothing to others which if done to you, would cause you pain. Mahabharata 5.1517.

Islam
No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. Traditions.

Jainism
In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self, and should therefore refrain from inflicting upon others such injury as would appear undesirable to us if inflicted upon ourselves. Yogashastra 2.20.

Judaism
What is hurtful to yourself do not to your fellow man. That is the whole of the Torah and the remainder is but commentary. Go learn it. Talmud.

Sikhism
As you deem yourself so deem others. Then you will become a partner in partner to heaven. Kabir.

Taoism
Regard your neighbor’s loss as your own loss. T’ai shang kan ying p’ien.

via Coaching Tip: The Leadership Blog: Are You Practicing the Law of Love?.

Inspire Me Today is a great blog chock full of pragmatic action and inspiration. Today Gail shares the Top 10 Ways to Find Magnificence During Tough Times. One of my favs is #7 – Go do something for someone else. The fastest way to get unstuck is to reach out and help someone else in need. Most times this act brings perspective into our own situation and we realize things are not so dire. Catch the whole article here: My Top Ten Ways to Find Your Magnificence During Tough Times | Gail Lynne Goodwin’s Blog.

I found this article about mindfulness in the New York Times interesting. It talks about more and more physicians becoming disenchanted with their profession because of the many distractions on the job: cell phones, email, text messages, etc. These distractions take away from the joy of the work. I think this is a problem not only for physicians, but for many people in today’s society.

“We all use mindfulness at some point,” Dr. Krasner said. “It’s not something that you go out and get, but it’s something you can cultivate.” Some examples of mindfulness in everyday life include nursing a baby, attending to a young child in distress or, for surgeons, being engrossed in an operation. “Mindfulness allows us to be in a whole host of situations with a sense of equanimity. We don’t get sucked into how charged an experience is but are simply having that experience.”

Doctor and Patient – How Mindfulness Can Make for Better Doctors – NYTimes.com.

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

The Threads of Union

Translation by BonGiovanni

Available at The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Would you join in?

Introducing a taste of The Urban Yogi Movement. Time lapse meets Group “Urban” Meditation. Filmed at Venice Beach Boardwalk, Los Angeles CA July 2009. Facilitated by Siri Shiva Singh. Directed, Photographed, and Edited by Ashley T. Hughes.

Here is the download for the essay previously posted, entitled The Awakening. To download it, simply click here:

Download The Awakening (pdf)

Please enjoy!

Namaste.