Most people experience anxiety in some form or other, and in these uncertain times stress and worry are very much on the increase. But according to statistics, around one in 20 people are now thought to suffer from Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), where negative and anxious thoughts dominate daily life. Doctors dish out anti-depressants as a quick-fix for these problems but this doesn’t provide a long-term solution. Here are some techniques for tackling anxiety that I’ve found to be helpful, and I hope you find them helpful too.

photo credit: spaceodissey 

Breathing exercises
If you are feeling anxious, a simple way to calm yourself down is through focusing on and regulating your breathing. When we feel nervous the in-breath becomes more dominant than the out-breath, so in order to restore a sense of calm we need to reverse this.

Focus on your breathing and try to breathe in for a count of five and breathe out for a count of five. Don’t worry about the speed at which you’re counting, just keep to a steady pace of five in and five out. Now start to extend the out-breath by holding the exhalation for an extra count of two. Don’t strain, just let the breath settle into a gentle rhythm. As your out-breath becomes longer your relaxation response will begin to take over. The only thing that will take you away from this are your thoughts and imagination. The more you practise this the more you will feel able to gain control of your anxiety.

Visualisation
Visualisation is a powerful tool for calming the mind and reducing feelings of anxiety and nerves. A simple visualisation exercise involves conjuring up in your mind an image of a ‘special place’, a place where you feel safe and free from fear. (I’ve used this very exercise during a harrowing visit to the dentist and I can tell you it got me through the ordeal.)

Start by closing your eyes and bring to your mind an image of a place where you feel safe and happy. It might be a tropical beach, a meadow, a forest, or even your bed. It’s entirely up to you – just use your imagination. Make the image vivid in your mind by thinking about what you can see, hear, feel and smell. Use your senses to guide you to a state of calmness. Stay in this calm place until you notice that your breathing is more regular and your mind is calmer. When you feel ready, open your eyes and breathe deeply in and out.

photo credit: p medved

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a technique which originates from Buddhist meditation and it’s particularly effective in calming anxiety and focusing the mind. We spend so much of our time worrying about the future or agonising about the past that we forget to enjoy the present moment. This is where mindfulness comes in as it encourages us to focus on the present without allowing our minds to get caught up in unhelpful thought patterns. Here’s a few ideas you might want to try:

Sit or lie somewhere comfortable and begin scanning through each part of your body, paying attention to all the physical sensations you feel. Start with your toes and move up your legs to your stomach, chest, shoulders, neck and head, gently easing away any tension you notice. Finish by taking a few long, deep breaths.

When you are getting ready in the morning, really pay attention to everything you are doing, instead of worrying about what’s coming ahead in the day. When you’re in the shower, focus on the sound of the water and feel the sensation of it washing over your body. Enjoy the feeling of getting clean. When you’re brushing your teeth, focus all your attention on the task. Do the same with getting dressed and making breakfast.

Each morning make sure you take five to 10 minutes to be quiet and meditate. Look out of the window, listen to the sounds you can hear and be aware of everything around you. Be aware of the stillness and enjoy the quietening of your mind.

Dietary changes
Stabilising your blood sugar is an important factor in keeping anxiety at bay. Nervousness and a rapid heartbeat can often kick in when blood sugar levels become too low. The trick is to eat little and often, aiming for three meals and two snacks per day, and try to eat some protein with every meal. Good sources include fish, chicken, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, tofu and eggs.

photo credit: DennisSylvesterHurd

Refined and sugary foods and stimulants such as coffee initially cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels, quickly followed by a crash. So it’s best to steer clear of sugar, caffeine, alcohol and processed foods as these can all trigger panicky feelings. (If, like me, you love a good espresso and a glass of red, I feel your pain.) Swap refined (white) and sugary foods for brown, wholegrain alternatives such as brown rice, pasta and wholemeal bread and try swapping caffeinated drinks for fruit or herbal teas like calming camomile. You could also keep a diary of everything you eat and drink to see whether this is affecting your moods. One last tip is to try supplementing your diet with magnesium as this naturally relaxes the body and mind and a deficiency can cause anxiety and rapid heartbeat.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
This is an interesting technique which is based on similar principles to acupuncture in that it addresses imbalances in the body’s energy flow. I must confess I felt a bit silly when I first tried it, but it did help to calm my nerves, which is why I’m sharing a shortened version of it here with you.

EFT works by gently tapping specific meridians or energy points whilst mentally and verbally tuning into the issue or problem (in this case, anxiety or nerves). The belief is that disturbances to the flow of energy are removed along with the emotional response and anxiety.

If you find yourself getting really anxious about something, try tapping gently five times on each of the following points with the forefinger and middle finger of one of your hands: between your eyebrows; under one of your eyes; under your arm (about two inches lower than your armpit); on the chest (just below the collarbone in the middle, you will find a spongy indentation). Lastly, tap on the outer side of the hand five times. You should begin to feel your breathing regulating.

Good luck and I hope these techniques help you in your anxiety. I’d love to hear any feedback you might have.

About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.

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Have you ever had a chronic injury or illness that caused you a lot of pain no matter what you tried? It can be quite horrible. But did you know that science is now finding that meditation can help reduce pain just as much as pain killers? Fascinating isn’t it?

In this article we’ll take a look at some of the things science is discovering about meditation and pain and then look at some different resources you can tap in to if you want to give it a shot for yourself.

My background with pain and meditation

Although I have been lucky enough to meet quite a few meditation teachers, I have never really capitalized on my fortune. I am not someone who can speak about meditation from experience because I simply don’t do it enough.

But last year I got quite sick with a strange problem; a giant stone was stuck in my saliva gland and causing me more pain than I had ever experienced. And in my agony and despair I tried to do a bit of meditation and mind training in order to find some relief as well as to make the experience perhaps a little bit more meaningful.

And it worked. The most stress and pain free moments of that month were when I managed to calm down and focus on my breath for a little while. At that time I realized how much better off I might have been if I had trained in mediation prior to getting sick. It is no wonder Tibetan Buddhist Lamas are able to endure great hardships and illness without showing any pain at all. They have done years and years of isolated meditation.

Science and meditation for pain relief

So what exactly has science been finding out about meditation and pain relief? Actually, quite a lot. Since the early 1970′s American researchers and scientists have been working with Buddhist meditation experts because they discovered that meditation actually changes the way the brain works.

Realizing that they understood very little about all this, the scientists began taking MRIs and CAT scans whilst the yogis or lamas were meditating. The results were very interesting. Here is an excerpt from a recent article in the Sacremento Bee:

Researchers have found that people who meditate on a regular basis actually develop thicker brains – they increase the connections between their brain cells, and they also increase the network of blood vessels in the brain, especially in those areas that help us to focus and pay attention, as well as areas of the brain involved with self-awareness and empathy.

Meditation can also lead to a reduction in the area of the brain that is associated with pain and stress. In other words, we can literally change our brain by what we focus on. And you don’t have to be an expert at this in order to benefit.

This falls in to a new area of neuroscience called Neuro Plasticity. Basically, what this means is that the brain is constantly changing and can be changed by what we think and do. A decade ago scientists didn’t think this was possible but are now discovering that we can literally change the shape and function of our brain by our thoughts.

But it gets better. The study also showed:

In this study, 15 healthy adults were taught to meditate in four 20-minute classes. Prior to and at the end of the study, the participants underwent a special kind of MRI that measures activity in the part of the brain responsible for the perception of pain.

While they were getting the scans done, a device that produces painful heat was placed on each participant’s leg for five minutes.

At the end of the study, all participants noted a reduction in their pain ratings, some by as much as 93 percent – this is more than the pain reduction seen with narcotic and other pain relieving drugs.

Now we are on to something! Here we see a concrete example of how meditation can actually help with physical pain more so than strong pain relieving drugs. This could have wonderful implications for millions around the world who are suffering with long term injuries that they can’t seem to shake.

Of course, you don’t want to stop medication and just start meditating. That is a bad idea. But a combination of the two could prove to be very useful when done in conjunction with your doctor’s advice and the guidance of a qualified meditation instructor.

Where to start?

photo credit: fauve50

If you want to give meditation a try to see whether it helps you with your pain there are a few things you can do.

• See your doctor
  Firstly, go and see your doctor and make sure it is alright with him/her. Some mental illnesses, for example, aren’t very compatible with meditation. It is always good to check with your GP first.
• Read some books
  There are wonderful books available on mediation from both the philosophical point of view and the medical/scientific point of view. It would be good to start with some titles by the Dalai Lama and Mingyur Rinpoche as they have written books in conjunction with scientists and as such you get a very good mixture of the East and the West. Mingyur Rinpoche’s book is called the Joy of Living.
• Find a meditation teacher
  The most important step is to find a good meditation teacher who can guide you based on tradition, experience as well as your own personality. A good mediation teacher can guide his/her students differently depending on their experience level, neurosis, etc. This type of instruction cannot be found in a book. In the USA some good places to start include Shambala, Karmapa, FPMT, Lotus Speech USA, Sakya Trizen, etc.

If you do all of these steps you should be able to get some wonderful information that might really make a difference to your mental and physical health for years and years to come.

Have you tried meditation?

I would love to know whether meditation has helped to improve your life in any way. Please leave a comment with any stories you might have or advice that might help anyone who reads your comment. Also, if you know of any good books or meditation centers please feel free to share a link. Here are some excellent resources for using meditation to alleviate pain:

Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief

Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness

Break Through Pain: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Meditation Program for Transforming Chronic and Acute Pain

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For thousands and thousands of years meditation has been helping people achieve good health, a long life and lasting happiness. But just as little as 200 years ago you had to travel to India, China or Japan to learn anything about this wonderful practice. Now, however, with the help of scientists and engineers we can study meditation on the internet and meet Tibetan lamas in our own towns! For those of you interested in meditation I have put together a list of 13 articles that could help you change your life.

Karmapa teaches a Buddhist text for lay people
At the Kagyu Monlam the 17th Karmapa taught a text called Nagajurna’s Letter to a Friend which is a letter that the author sent to his friend, the king. As such it has been a wonderful guide book for lay people who are interested in meditation and applying Buddhist philosophy to everyday life.

The Dalai Lama teaches us how to meditate
Here is a wonderful teaching by the Dalai Lama on how to meditate. He goes through the stages very clearly and shows us how to meditate on an external object or an internal one. At the end there is also a very interesting question and answer session.

The science of meditation
Science is now becoming extremely interested in meditation as it has found evidence that simple ten minute sessions can help to combat anxiety even perhaps as much as some medications. This article from Psychology Today looks at some of these discoveries.

The world’s happiest man
Daniel Goleman is a scientist who has contributed wonderful things to society by investigating meditation from a scientific viewpoint. In this article for the New York Times he looks at someone who is possibly the world’s happiest man.

A short teaching on meditation by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Dligo Khyentse Rinpoche was one of the greatest meditation masters of our time. He was even a teacher to the Dalai Lama. In this article he goes through some extremely potent instructions for how to meditate properly.

The world’s happiest man teaches us to meditate (video)
Remember the world’s happiest man from above? Well, we are in for a treat. In this video Mingyur Rinpoche takes us on a guided meditation that relaxes us and opens us up to our own awareness. It is just like being in the same room with him. Very exciting!

Compassion can change your brain
Here is an article from Science Daily which shows that meditating on compassion can actually change your brain and make you a more kind and empathetic person. These scientific studies are wonderful for people who might need a little “modern” evidence before giving meditation a try.

How to meditate, a talk for young people
This is a transcript of a teaching given by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, one of the first people to take meditation and Buddhism to America. His teachings are extremely well adapted to westerns and as such a lot of people find his talks very alive and powerful. There is also a list of his other teachings here.

Tibetan masters from the 1960s
When China invaded Tibet the Tibetan people fled to India and there waiting for them was a documentary maker who captured footage of some of the greatest meditation masters of the day. In this extremely rare footage we see some of the ancient Tibetan practices being done in the traditional environment. These are extremely inspiring.

How meditation could save your life
A nice article written by someone who feels that meditation saved their life. This is a great read for anyone starting to get interested.

The seven points of mind training
Here is a type of meditation that was made popular in Tibet and has now swept its way across the world. It is the practice called Lojong or Mind Training and it involves using short slogans to change the way you think about everyday situation. A very profound and simple practice that is used by every single Tibetan Buddhist Lama.

Meditation and cancer
A few years ago a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer and during his treatment he began meditating as a way to deal with the stress. This article is about a study that has been done on cancer patients and how meditation might help them.

Blazing Splendor
This is an amazing blog written by a long time western student and translator of a great Tibetan Buddhist yogi. The blog is full of wonderful stories and inspiring resources that are sure to recharge the batteries of anyone interested in the practice of meditation.

Conclusion

If you know of any other helpful meditation resources please leave a comment with the link. I would really like to build up a large amount of information so people can just stop by and find something new to help them on their path to a quieter and more loving mind.

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“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.” – John M. Richardson, Jr.

A few days ago we looked at how to let go of the past; the first article in our two part series on letting go of the past and facing the future. Today we are going to go over part two – learning how to not fear your future. I hope something I write is helpful to someone out there.

Letting go of the past is necessary before you face your future

The reason I spent the first article talking about letting go of the past is because it is necessary to do so before you can face your future with any real sense of fearlessness. Those people who have accepted their mistakes/failures and moved on from times gone by are much better equipped to deal with what is going to happen in their future.

If you are really serious about learning to face your future with bravery you need to let go of the past. Accept your failures and mistakes and let go of that baggage.

How to not fear your future

photo credit: jiulliano

I have always found it extremely interesting how some people are caught in the past while others are terrified of the future. I don’t know why, but it always seems as though we are trapped in one extreme and never balanced in the middle.

When you fear the future you are unable to truly live in the present moment. You destroy your chances for happiness because you spend all your time worrying about what is going to happen instead of enjoying the life you actually have. Here are some suggestions that might help you move away from fearing the future. If you can apply these to your situation you will, hopefully, be able to find some happiness.

1. Understand that the future is uncertain
If you think that something bad is going to happen down the track you need to realize that this is uncertain. No body knows what is going to happen even a few hours from now, let alone ten years down the road.

If you find yourself worrying about the future it is important to remind yourself that it is uncertain as to what is going to happen. Your situation might not be as bleak as you think. In fact, what you understand that the future is uncertain you will be well equipped to understand the second point.

2. The future can be created
Your future is in your hands. No body is going to make anything happen for you unless you go out and try to achieve it yourself. Now, instead of being depressed by this fact it is important to realize that you are in an extremely hopeful place. You are living in a time and a place where opportunities are everywhere. At no other time in history have human beings been able to give up their livelihood and search for something new or something better. But we can.

Why fear the future when we have control over it? Why worry about the next few days or weeks when we know we can do something about it now? And while everyone tells you to live in the present moment you still need to make preparations for tomorrow. That is fine as long as you do it with mindfulness and awareness.

3. Realize that things change slowly
When I was in India a few years ago I was staying in a Buddhist Monastery where a very powerful Tibetan lama was staying. People often reported that being near this particular lama caused powerful emotions to arise and you could either deal with them or let them scare you away. Well, I decided to deal with them. True to legend I started having very emotional thoughts about the future. I was scared. Panicked even. I was worrying about where I was going to be, who I was going to be with and whether I’d ever be happy.

After a few hours of this emotional mess I had a bit of a breakthrough. Although it wasn’t anything like a sudden realization or awakening moment, it has stayed with me my entire life. I understood that things change slowly. It does not all happen at once. You do not wake up one day and all your friends are dead and you have no one to talk to. Things change slowly. When you understand this fact you give yourself a lot more room to move – it is not as scary.

4. Meditate on mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation is one of the premier ways to deal with a fear of the future. Why? Because it brings you in touch with the present moment better than almost anything else. And when you can do that you will find that all of your fears and worries dissolve of their own accord.

photo credit: hylah

Again, I want to point you to this article on meditating on mindfulness. It is simple to do and extremely effective. As soon as you notice that you are becoming worried about the future begin the meditation. Focus on the breath going in and out of the nose. Count the breaths. Relax. Once you become expert at this you will find that your thoughts no longer control you as much – you learn to see through their illusion. Perhaps your idea of the future was just a false concept that you cooked up?

5. Remember you are not alone
Community is a very important thing. Human beings are social creatures and, more often than not, they need the love and affection of other humans. This is important to remember when you are thinking about the future. You need to remind yourself that you will always have people who love you.

Let me give you an example. A few days ago I was getting quite uptight at the possibility that I might have to leave my home town to go and live in another city. The idea really frightened me – leaving my friends and family behind. But, after a while I realized that a lot of my good friends are now overseas doing other things. We stay in contact on email or sms and usually see each other once or twice a year. Furthermore, I realized that I could always call home or book a flight back for the weekend. No matter how lonely your prospects of the future might seem remember that you are never alone.

And, if worst comes to worst, you can always chat to me on Twitter. I will be happy to be a shoulder to lean on.

6. The future is the same as the monster under your bed
The final thing that I want to say is that worrying about your future is the same as worrying about the monster that was under your bed when you were four. Essentially, us grown adults, are worrying about something that doesn’t exist. The future has not come about yet. It is not a solid thing that will hurt you.

The future is like the monster under your bed – recognize that it is a concept created by your own mind and you will have a great deal of power over it.

Conclusion

Letting go of the past and not fearing the future can be hard. But it is important to try and do it. If you can learn to live in the present moment your life will be a lot more spontaneous and joyful. It will be a lot lighter and spacious and you will feel less stressed and trapped.

If anyone has any other tips on how to not fear the future please leave a comment. I would love to hear what you have to say.

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I know a lot of readers here at The Daily Mind dabble at meditation. Some do it for relaxation, some for enlightenment. And when you practice meditation you expect certain results. But sometimes those results don’t occur. Sometimes, in fact, signs arise that show that your meditation is not working properly at all.

In this post I am going to show you 6 definitive signs that prove that your meditation practice is not working. If you happen to identify one or two within your own practice do not become discouraged. You should instead consider yourself extremely lucky for now you know what is holding you back.

6 definitive signs your meditation practice is not working

Meditation is a practice. It is like soccer, football, running or chess. The more time you spend doing it the better you will become. And, like soccer, football, running and chess there are signs that show whether you are succeeding or not.

If you keep missing the goal when you take a shot in soccer it means your technique is wrong. If you can’t checkmate your opponent in chess, even after years of playing it means your strategy is off. Meditation is no different. And once you recognize these signs you will be able to rectify the problem and move on.

1. You have become more opinionated
The great Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa once stated that the first sign of a successful meditation practice is that you become less opinionated. I couldn’t agree more. Meditation should make you more gentle and spacious. It should make your mind less rigid. And when that happens your become less opinionated. You have more room to hear others opinions and you have more room to allow them to swirl around and settle. You do not react at the first sign of a challenging opinion.

If you find that you have become more opinionated it is a sign that your meditation practice is not working. Try and look in to your mind and find why that might be happening.

2. You have become less patient

photo credit: simon5952

As I have mentioned many times, patience is the greatest of all the virtues. It is the direct remedy to anger and as such it should increase as you begin to become more expert at meditation.

Next time someone cuts you off in traffic take a look at your mind and see if it was more patient than it might have been two years ago. Or, the next time you get woken up in the middle of the night or have to get up super early. See if you are getting more patient. If you aren’t then something is wrong.

3. You have become more dogmatic
Wikipedia defines “dogma” as Dogma “…the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from”. And let’s face it – all of us are dogmatic in some way. We hear a teaching we like or join a club we identify with and we automatically want to prop up its teachings.

But when you practice meditation you become less dogmatic. You start to see that all teachings have a time and a place and a meaning. Some people like Buddhism. Some people like Islam. It is not that one is more right than the other. The truth is that both have their place and work for certain people. It might be right for you but not for me. Meditation opens you up to this possibility.

4. You have become more irritable
I once used to hang out at a little Buddhist Center in Australia and got to know the people there. One day I went out for lunch with a lady whose partner was one of the more “senior” meditators at the center. She was a little upset so I asked her what was wrong and she told me how her partner had yelled at her while he was meditating the day before. “What happened?” I inquired.

“Well,” she said. “I was watering the plants outside his room and all of a sudden he screamed out ‘Would you SHUT UP I am trying to meditate!‘ and then slammed the door.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Meditation is supposed to make you more open to situations in your life. It is not as if you are trying to make everything all perfect and lovely and quiet – you are trying to work with all situations that you encounter. If you are become more irritable then something is wrong.

5. Your desire/aggression has not decreased
When you meditate you start to work with your thoughts and emotions. You become more tuned in to the ups and downs of your mind and you learn to see through its games. This means that you should become less desire-filled and a lot less aggressive.

One sure sign that someone is not a very good meditator is when they become agitated, aggressive and angry at the smallest thing. It means they have little control over their mind and cannot separate their awareness from their emotions and thoughts. As meditators we should be able to deal with these strong emotions in a more patient way.

6. You still lack love and compassion
The final and the most important point is that meditation is supposed to make you more loving and compassionate. When you start to get in touch with your true self you automatically become more compassionate. We see this in great masters and the songs they write when they reach a new level of realization. Many of them break down in tears of sadness over the fact that they have realized their true potential while other beings still wander in suffering.

The more you meditate the closer you should come to this realization. If you are not becoming more loving and compassionate it means you are getting further and further away from enlightenment, God, or whatever it is you are seeking.

Recognizing is not faking

Now that you know some of these signs it is important that you stay honest with yourself. A lot of people would read this information and then try to mimic what they think a good meditator would do. This is not very helpful. The idea behind meditation is to work with your current situation, whatever that may be. If you are an angry person you need to deal with that, not fake being a patient person. If you are a sex-addict you need to deal with that, don’t pretend to be a monk. This is important.

If anyone knows any other signs that meditation practice is not working I would love to hear them. Please drop us a comment.

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This is a guest post by Psychology student Brittany Miller from Rose Tinted Glass.

You’ve heard the popular mantra, you’ve seen the forms and know the behavior. It’s even prominent in the popular movie series Star Wars. Meditation is a mental discipline in which one “thinks” his or her way to a deep, relaxed state of awareness. How do we generate inner-peace through use of our own mind? Every day, your mind processes a barrage of emotions, visual images, memories, and more. Overcoming that internal chatter is hard, but when you meditate, you teach your mind to narrow its concentration to one thing, limiting the stimulation to your nervous system.

There are many ways to meditate, but they all strive for the same goal: Relaxation.

Since mediation is a mental discipline, one has to wonder: what exactly changes in the brain of a long-time meditator? Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior, and by applying a psychological perspective, I want to find out why meditation works so well as a simple stress reducer.

Physiological Psychology: What changes in the brain?

This subdivision of psychology studies the mechanisms of the brain and their relation to one’s behaviors and perception. I’ve done some research and listed a few important findings on what meditation accomplishes within the brain of a meditator.

photo credit: brentk

Though your mind is focused, some activities inside your brain go unchecked. In EEG (electroencephalograph) studies, brainwaves of different frequencies are measured, and many found an increase in these following brainwaves:

• Alpha Waves: Healthy alpha wave production supports mental resourcefulness, better mental coordination, and improves the general sense of relaxation and weariness. Many believe alpha waves are the bridges between consciousness and unconsciousness. Meditation synchronizes alpha activity between the four regions of the brain: left, right, anterior, and posterior, which positively correlates with creativity.

• Theta Waves: Theta waves come in strong bursts in long-term meditators who report a peaceful, drifting, and pleasant experience at the time. These waves enhance creativity, intuition, and daydreaming. It is also a storage area for memories, emotions, and sensations. Theta waves are strong during any sort of spiritual focus and they reflect the state between wakefulness and sleep.

• Beta Waves: When the EEG shows bursts of Beta waves, experienced meditators report an approach of yogic ecstasy or a state of intense concentration sometimes accompanied by an acceleration of heart rate. Beta waves can increase mental ability, focus, and alertness.

Meditation in Relation to Brain Hemispheres

Meditation seems to give us slight control of specific brain functions as well. We have two hemispheres to our brain each with different predominant functions: left (language/math/logic) and right (spatial abilities/face recognition/visual imagery/music).

Some studies show control of brain functions the importance of the right hemisphere during meditation:

• Bennett and Trinder (1977) reported that transcendental meditators could shift brain activity
• Davidson (1976) reported that, during mystical experience, the right hemisphere dominates cerebral function.

One study concluded that meditation might begin with activity in the left hemisphere, which then gives way to functioning characteristics of the right hemisphere. Another study suggests that meditation may inhibit the left hemisphere, shifting the focus of consciousness to the right hemisphere.

In conclusion, the right hemisphere (being synthetic and holistic) seems to be dominant in meditation. Both left and right hemisphere activities are slightly repressed in advanced meditation, however. These findings are evidence that meditation does indeed narrow focus in the brain and can even transcend a meditator to an even clearer mind by repressing both hemispheres.

“Self-awareness is the path to self-mastery; self-mastery is the way to happiness.”
-Unknown

Meditation vs. Frustration

photo credit: CCBImages

The best way to notice the benefits of meditation is to take a close look at the behaviors and health of meditators versus non-meditators. A study by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical School recorded the brain waves of stressed-out employees working in a high-tech firm in Wisconsin. The subjects were divided into two groups: 25 subjects were asked to learn meditation over eight weeks and the remaining 16 were left as a control group.
All participants had their brain waves scanned three times during the study: once at the beginning, once after eight weeks when the 25 subjects completed their meditation course, and once four months afterward.

The results?
The meditation group showed a shift in activity to the left frontal lobe. People with more activity in the left frontal cortex than in the right tend to have a cheerful temperament. These people tend to have a more positive disposition and are more willing to interact with people and be content with their lives.

Those with more activity in the right frontal area of the brain hesitate during encounters with people or situations and stress out over the smallest of situations.

photo credit: Nejron

Those who meditate and are happy are healthier on all levels and their brains are free to process information and solve problems more creatively. Meditation clears out the insignificant junk in your mind and boosts its performance.

There are many other effects of meditation from which a stressed out high-tech firm employee would benefit:

• Regulates heart rate, breathing, cholesterol, and blood pressure
• Increases creativity
• Reduces tension, anxiety, and stress
• Less activity in the amygdala where the brain processes fear
• Clears state of mind and makes it easier to kick addictions and self-defeating behaviors
• Greater intimacy with friends and family members
• Over-all positive emotions and state of mind
• Increases power of awareness by developing concentration on a particular object
• Investigate your inner self and question and contemplate the nature of existence itself

Go out and explore for yourself!

These are just a few aspects in which meditation can shape your life, but there are so much more. The mind is a powerful tool and mechanism with thousands of undiscovered talents and processes. Feel free to explore the inner workings of your mind, strive towards improving it for the better, and treat it well. Meditating gives your mind a healthy refreshing, just what it needs to keep you and your outlook healthy and positive.

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To me there is nothing more relaxing than a nice pond with trickling water and fish swimming about. Ever since I was very little I have found great pleasure in sitting by a lake or river for a few minutes of relaxing meditation. Recently I also discovered that a fish pond is great for Feng Shui. The Chinese even believe a pond by your front door can bring great wealth and success to the household.

A few weeks ago I set up my own very cheap fish pond complete with a solar powered water fountain. It is really quite sharp! In this post I will show you how to make a beautiful fish pond for around $100. It will take about an hour to set up but you will be extremely glad you took the time to do it.

What is Feng Shui?

I am not normally into Feng Shui but lately I have become a little more interested in it. As you know I have started my own business and when you are out on your own trying to earn money you will take any help you can get. And when I heard that certain Feng Shui activities could help to improve my financial situation I thought I would give it a whirl.

Now Feng Shui is an art that originated in China and is all about using positive energies in your home or office to bring about certain outcomes. Many people think the whole thing is baloney but the more I look at it the more I can see there is some wisdom behind its practices.

For example, Feng Shui tells us that you should have pictures of running water, good crops and symbols of money on your work desk. This makes sense because they all act as mental ques for you and help to get you in the “money making zone”. You wouldn’t really want pictures of death and destruction in your workplace would you?

There are Feng Shui tips for money, health, a good sex life, love, spirituality, etc. Depending on your level of interest you can rework your whole house to be Feng Shui ready or just change a few positive items in a room. The hard thing about Feng Shui is that it is different for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere and there are different lines of thinking. For example, some schools work around magnetic North while other school believe North indicates the main entrance of your home (even if it faces another direction). So if a Feng Shui website tells you that the wealth section of your home is in the East you better make sure you know which way East really is!

Feng Shui, millionaires and fish ponds

I recently read an article about a whole pile of Asian millionaires who believed that a beautiful flowing water fish pond at the front of their businesses and homes was a big factor in their level of success. There was even a story about a Malaysian hotel (maybe the Hilton?) which was about to go bankrupt and in a last ditch effort to save the joint the owner built an elaborate fish pond at the entrance.

They are now the most popular hotel in the region.

If you think this is all hocus pocus I don’t blame you. It does sound very new-age. But, as I said earlier, when you start your own business you want all the help you can get. And seeing as we are in a big financial crisis right now maybe we all need a little more positive Feng Shui in our lives!

Fish ponds and relaxing meditation

Let’s put all this Feng Shui stuff aside for a moment and talk about creating a relaxing outdoor area for your meditation practice. A fish pond with trickling water is one of the best ways to turn a boring area into a place that is alive, inspiring and extremely relaxing.

Everyone these days is struggling with stress. We go to work and then come home tight bundles of anxiety. But a flowing fish pond can really help this. It has helped me. Every time I feel an attack of the stresses coming on I make myself a cup of tea and head out to sit by the fish pond. The sound of the flowing water alone is enough to calm me down and leave me feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

The fish pond I built cost around $250 but you could do it for much less. It is a small price to pay in order to have an area in your house that can act as a mini retreat center – peaceful, calm and beautiful – especially if you live in the middle of a busy city.

How to make a cheap fish pond for meditation and wealth

In order to maximize the Feng Shui related benefits of a fish pond it should be placed directly in front of the main entrance of your house. Now, your main entrance is the one you use the most often, not necessarily the front door. So, if you park the car out the front and then walk around the side gate entrance to come inside then that is your main entrance and that is where the pond should be placed.

The water also needs to be flowing. A Feng Shui teacher once told me that stagnant water is a very bad thing to have for creating wealth so make sure your pond is moving. As I said, I have a neat little solar powered water fountain in mine. Costs me $0 to run and works a treat.

Here is how I built my cheap fish pond. If anyone knows a better way feel free to leave a comment and let us know.

1. Get a cheap wine barrel or water tight pot

My fish tank from IKEA

The cheapest way to make a fish pond is to use an item like a wine barrel or a giant pot. I found a fantastic iron plant pot at IKEA which is about a four feet high and cost me $40. It is completely water tight and looks pretty nice.

You can go the whole nine yards and dig up an area, cover it in black plastic and then put rocks all around the outside but I didn’t have the time or the room. I needed something simple and portable and the IKEA pot worked perfectly.

A special note here – make sure the pot is fish-friendly. Many people use bathtubs (which look great) but for some reason the fish always die. They also don’t like zinc, lead or some plastics so make sure you read up on the material before you buy it. My tank is made of iron and the fish have been happy in there for about a month so far.

2. Fill up the pot with water and leave it to de-chlorinate
The next step is to clean out the pot and fill it up with water. You need to leave the water in the pot for about a week before you add any fish. The reason for this is that our tap water has a lot of chlorine in it and you need to let that evaporate out before adding your scaly friends. If you rush this part of the process your fish will die within a few hours.

There are also some products that you can buy at a pet shop to make this process a little quicker. One is a water ager that helps make the water the right environment for the fish and one is a bacteria mix which puts a good level of healthy bacteria in the water so the fish feel like they are in their natural environment. I bought both of these for around $15 but I am not sure how essential they are.

3. Add some plants

You need to have plants in the fish tank as they take out carbon dioxide and help to oxygenate the water. The fish also eat some of the algae that grows on the plant and they often use the plants to hide from birds and other animals that might pluck them out and eat them.

I bought a simple long leafed water plant (you can see some of it above) and put it in an empty ice cream container filled with rocks and gravel. I then sank it down to the bottom of the tank and it has flourished – its now about four times as big as when I first got it. Simple, cheap and effective.

4. Select the right fish
If your tank is going to be outdoors and unheated you really only have a few options. You can’t have beautiful tropical fish like Angels and Discus, you can only have goldfish. And as far as outdoor goldfish go the best breed is called a Comet. They are very hardy, tough and can survive some pretty cold temperature.

Now here is the weird part. Feng Shui teachers assert that you have to have eight golfish – seven orange ones and one black one. Eight is a very auspicious number in China (the Olympics even started on the 8th of the 8th, 2008!) and having eight fish is seen as essential. The one black fish is supposed to act as the fall guy – Feng Shui states that he absorbs all the bad energy.

In my opinion it is cruel to have eight fish if you don’t have a big enough tank. If you are buying a massive wine barrel then eight should fit no problems, but any smaller and you might be cutting it a bit thin. Ask your pet shop owner about how much room they need in order to be happy and healthy.

5. Introduce the fish to the water
Now that you have your fish you can introduce them to the water. The best way to do this is to leave them inside the plastic bag and plop them in the fish tank. Don’t take them out of the plastic bag for about 20 minutes as this lets them acclimatize to the water slowly. If you just pour them straight out of the bag and into the water they often die due to shock from the change in temperature.

6. Set up your solar powered water fountain

I was lucky enough to get given a solar water fountain for Christmas so I saved about $150. I am pleased to report that the technology is excellent and as long as the solar panel (pictured above) is in full sun the water fountain works a treat. However, it is fine to use a normal electricity powered water fountain as long as you are prepared to pay a bit extra on your power bill. I highly recommend the solar version as it will save you lots of money over the long run.

It is pretty simple technology. The solar panel sends power down a long chord which spins a little propeller inside the fountain itself. The whole thing is waterproof which means you can have chords going under water as you can see in some of the photos above.

Ideally you would mount the solar panel on your roof but I am unable to as the possums in my area seem to really like electricity chords! At the moment it is just on the ground but I will think of a better solution soon.

The best way to set up the water fountain itself is to jam it in between some nice rocks in the water. I used some broken bricks that were lying around my backyard and it works (and looks) fine. Just make sure you clean the rocks before you put them in and be careful to leave your fish enough swimming room.

7. Feed your fish
The only other thing you need to do is feed your fish occasionally. They do not need to be fed very often as they get a lot of bugs and algae from the pond already. There is a great saying, “a hungry fish is a happy fish” and I think it is quite true. Make sure your only feed your fish a tiny pinch every day or even every second day. That is all they need.

Conclusion

That’s it! Now you have your very own fish pond meditation sanctuary. If anyone gets around to doing this I would love to see some photos of what you create. And, if you make a lot of money maybe you could send me some!

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His name was Milarepa and he was a murderer. The start of this yogi’s life was marred by violence, hatred and revenge. But mention his name to any Tibetan and their eyes will well up with tears of devotion and joy. For this is a story about change. This is a man who recognized his flaws and mistakes and turned his life around. This is a man who became the greatest yogi the world has ever seen.

Who was Milarepa?

The murders
Milarepa was born into a wealthy family in the snowy land of Tibet in 1052. Early on in his teenage years his father passed away and, with no one left to control the estate, his aunt and uncle stole his entire inheritance. Filled with rage and hatred the young Milarepa went away to learn various dark arts and soon returned to murder them. In fact, it is said that the vengeful Milarepa was so angry that he killed 35 people in his uncle’s village on the night of the revenge.

Meeting his Guru
Soon after these dreadful events Milarepa’s life started to fall to pieces. He had reached an extremely dark place and realized very deeply that his life had turned out all wrong. He was ashamed of who had become and what he had done to his family. He realized the grave mistake he had made.

So he set out to make things right. On his quest of redemption Milarepa met a man named Marpa who had brought all of the Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India. Marpa had endured great hardships to bring these teachings back and it is said that without Marpa the Buddhist teachings would not have survived in the land of snows.

The moment Milarepa first saw Marpa was magic. Legend tells us that Marpa was out in a field having a drink and Milarepa passed him on the road. When his eyes first fell on Marpa the whole world stood still and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Milarepa had no idea who the man was but due to their strong connection from past lives it is said that Milarepa experienced a deep state of meditation by just looking at Marpa.

The great hardships that Marpa put him through

Pictured: the final tower built by Milarepa

Milarepa studied with many Buddhist masters but none of them seemed to be able to help him. In his heart he knew had to study with Marpa. So he went back to ask Marpa and asked for help but Marpa just scolded him and chased him away. Each time Milarepa requested teachings the wrathful Marpa would beat him and kick him out. Finally, though, he gave in and made a deal with Milarepa:

“Build me a large tower and I will teach you the Dharma,” he said.

So Milarepa set to work. He gathered stones and rocks and wood from all over the country side. After many weeks of backbreaking labor Milarepa went back to Marpa and told him the tower was complete. Marpa went to inspect the work and upon seeing it started yelling at Milarepa telling him that he had done it all wrong and that he needed to start again!

This went on nine more times.

The last tower Milarepa built was nine stories high and took many months to complete. Remember, this was before cars, cranes and cement mixers. It took such a toll on his body it is said that he had open sores all over his back and that he was now a hunch back from carrying all the rocks. But he did it. And his dedication to Marpa never wavered. He wanted the teachings so much.

After the last tower was built Milarepa stumbled back to Marpa’s house where the teacher was giving some advanced teachings to some other yogis. Milarepa fell on the floor by Marpa’s feet and begged for teachings. But, as always, Marpa told him to go away.

Completely at his wit’s end Milarepa decided to kill himself. He had murdered 35 people and without the teachings of the Buddha he felt there was no way he could make things right and no way to benefit those dead people. So he hung a rope on a tree and put it around his neck. He took a deep breath and braced himself and just as he was about to step to his death Marpa approached and said that he was now ready to receive the highest teachings of Buddhism. Marpa had accepted him as a disciple.

It is said that Marpa put him through all of these hardships to help him purify his negative karma and to make him a suitable vessel for the teachings. Without those hardships Milarepa’s mind would not have been prepared and he would have made no progress due to the severity of his past actions. Marpa’s foresight had allowed him to see how the back breaking work would benefit the new yogi and help him to make quick progress.

Studying with Marpa and meditating in caves
Milarepa then received all of Marpa’s teachings. One night during a very secret teaching Marpa had a dream where a beautiful female Buddha told him that Milarepa would become the holder of his lineage and to therefore teach him well. Thus, Marpa taught Milarepa everything he had learned in India, like one pot pouring water into another pot.

Once the yogi was fully trained he said his goodbyes and set off into the wilderness. He took a vow to stay alone in the caves until he achieved enlightenment and he never broke this vow. Milarepa would sometimes brick up the entrance of his cave so that he could not leave and meditate in there for years, food and drink being passed to him through a crack in the bricks.

Enlightenment in one lifetime
The Buddhist teachings say that it is possible for someone to attain enlightenment in one lifetime but that it is extremely rare. For most Buddhist practitioners it will take many many lifetimes to accumulate the wisdom and compassion that is needed. But Milarepa did it. He is renowned as the only person in Tibetan history to have attained complete enlightenment in one body, one life time. And that is why he is the greatest yogi of all.

What Milarepa can teach us about living life

Milarepa was known as a great poet. He would often roam around the countryside singing songs and writing poems for the local people. I would like to share with you some of Milarepa’s most famous poems, teachings and quotes in the hope that it might benefit someone out there.

1. Be humble

“Take the lowest place, and you shall reach the highest.” – Milarepa

Milarepa was known to be very humble. He would wear nothing but a few dirty old rags and he would never sit on a high throne or seat. He had no fancy monastery but instead chose to dwell in caves and on mountains.

Many of his songs are about humility. Milarepa often talks about how humility allows us to develop compassion and love whereas arrogance causes us to feel better and more important than everyone else. He often scolded local people for being arrogant saying that pride is the cause suffering because it is so self-centered. And when you are arrogant and proud and things don’t go your way, you suffer.

2. Be mindful of death

“Life is short, and the time of death is uncertain; so apply yourselves to meditation. Avoid doing wrong, and acquire merit, to the best of your ability, even at the cost of life itself. In short, act so that you will have no cause to be ashamed of yourselves; and hold fast to this rule.” – Milarepa

One of the key themes in Milarepa’s poems and songs is death. It seems as though his past as a murderer stayed with him and he was always mindful of the fact that death could come at any time. But Milarepa used this knowledge as inspiration, not as a cause for depression. Instead of worrying about death he faced his fears and used his mortality as his primary motivation to practice hard.

I often try to encourage my readers to do the same. We have no idea when we are going to die but we know that death is a certainty. So we should use this precious opportunity to achieve our goals and do some good. That is what Milarepa did. He made the most of his time by being constantly aware of the fact that time could run out.

3. Be mindful of impermanence

“All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.” – Milarepa

One thing that I wish my parents spent more time educating me on is the truth of impermanence. It is a very useful thing to understand but one which most people, sadly, never really grasp.

Milarepa often told people not to bee too attached to things because it wouldn’t last. Relationships, wealth, jobs, houses, countries, etc. All of it will fade like a rainbow. None of it will last forever. And by understanding and respecting this truth one is able to enjoy life a lot more. Our relationships to the world become more realistic and healthy. We are not always grasping at things trying to prevent them from ending. When we understand impermanence we are more likely to appreciate something while it is here.

4. Don’t be fooled by worldly distractions

“The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.” – Milarepa

I love this quote. In fact, I have it as my desktop background and I read it when I need to remind myself that there is something else to do other than work, eat, sleep and work.

We can all identify with this saying, even if we aren’t meditation practitioners. The affairs of the world will go on forever. There will always be someone or something getting in the way of our hopes and dreams. It might be work or money or some other obstacle but as soon as you overcome it, a new one will appear.

Milarepa is telling us not to waste time but to get on with it. There are always going to be distractions and problems but we need to make progress anyway. This is very important.

5. Live and die without regret

“My religion is not Buddhism. My religion is to live and die without regret.” – Milarepa.

This is my favorite quote of all time. Not just of Milarepa, but of anyone, anywhere. I read it and I feel inspired to be a better man and to do everything I can to make my life beneficial and worthwhile. I love it because it hits to the heart of the matter and expresses how horrible it would be to be on death’s door and have regrets about things you have done (or not done!) during your youth.

The Songs of Milarepa

If you are interested in learning more about this great yogi I highly encourage you to read the famous book called The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa. This is my all time favorite book. It is a majestic collection of all of Milarepa’s songs and poems and teachings.

It is an extremely pithy read. Sometimes he sings about what it is like living inside a cave and you really feel like you are right there next to him. Other times he sings about how his compassion burns inside him like a fire and you get a sense of what it must be like to experience true love.

All in all it is an amazing read. This book has been in every household in Tibet for hundreds of years. It is read to children at a young age and then studied in the monasteries by the monks. You would be hard pressed to find a single Tibetan who cannot recite at least one of Milarepa’s poems off by heart.

Conclusion

This post could have gone on forever. Milarepa’s life story can teach us so much about who we are and what we can become. Most of all, however, it shows us that we all have the potential to change our lives and our own situations. We are the masters of our own destiny.

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What’s in the videos?
In these videos you will see Tibet’s most famous meditation masters, its most secret yogis and its most enlightened beings. Anyone interested in meditation or spirituality will find the footage in these clips and the associated commentary truly amazing.

These videos are gifts. There is nothing else like them in existence. Many of these masters have passed away and this is the only footage we have of them.

I hope you will take some of your Saturday to sit back with a cup of tea and revel in the magic that is Tibet’s Tantric Yogis!

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I thought I would show you this video seeing as it is a Saturday and you are probably trying to relax. Watching these guys will help you do that! In this short film you will see some of the greatest meditation masters of the last generation. Most of them have passed away now but their example is still with us. In many cases their reincarnations have been found and are living and teaching in India, Nepal and all over the world.

This is what real meditation looks like.

Enjoy!

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