Meditation For Dummies E-Book

Stephan Bodian

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 656

Beschreibung

Take an inward journey for a happier, healthier life Meditation has been used for centuries to reduce stress, increase energy, and enhance overall health and well-being--so it's no wonder more and more people in today's fast-paced and stress-centric world are adopting this age-old practice. If you want to achieve a greater state of calmness, physical relaxation, and psychological balance, Meditation For Dummies is your life raft. Covering the latest research on the health benefits of meditation, this new edition explains in plain English how you can put meditation into practice today and start reaping the benefits of living a more mindful life. Whether you're new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner coming back for a refresher course, this plain-English guide provides a wealth of tips and techniques for sitting (or lying) down with your mind to meditate successfully. From preparing your body for meditation to focusing your awareness and being open to the present moment, it covers everything you need to put distractions to rest and open yourself up to a meditation practice that works for you. * Provides the latest research on the causes of happiness and how meditation can improve your mood * Includes a new chapter on the growing trend of meditation in the workplace * Explains how meditation and other mindfulness practices have made their way into hospitals, schools, prison, and military groups * Illustrates the benefits of taking time to consciously cultivate mindfulness through meditation If you're ready to find some zen and benefit from all meditation has to offer, this friendly guide sets you up for success.

Leseprobe

Meditation For Dummies®, 4th Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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ISBN 978-1-119-25116-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-25117-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-25118-7 (ebk)

Meditation For Dummies®

To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Meditation For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Table of Contents

Cover

Foreword

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part 1: Getting Started with Meditation

Chapter 1: Embarking on Your Meditation Journey

Getting an Overview of How the Journey Unfolds

Developing and Directing Awareness: The Key to Meditation

Making Meditation Your Own

Chapter 2: Why Meditate?

How Life Drives You — to Meditate

How to Survive the 21st Century — with Meditation

A Dozen More Great Reasons to Meditate

Chapter 3: Zen and Now: Where Meditation Comes From

Making the Indian Connection

To the Roof of the World — and Beyond

From the Middle East to the Rest of the West

The Americanization of Meditation

The Latest Developments in Meditation

Chapter 4: Your Brain on Meditation and How It Impacts Your Life

Tracing the Origins of Meditation Research

Mapping the Meditative Brain

Part 2: Beginning Your Meditation Practice

Chapter 5: Laying the Foundation: Motivation, Attitude, and Beginner’s Mind

Beginning (and Ending) with Beginner’s Mind

Exploring What Motivates You to Meditate

Living in Harmony with Your Meditation

Chapter 6: How Your Mind Stresses You Out and What You Can Do about It

Taking a Tour of Your Inner Terrain

The Bad News: How Your Mind Stresses You Out

The Good News: How Meditation Relieves Suffering and Stress

Chapter 7: Mindfulness Meditation: Awareness of the Here and Now

Turning Your Attention Inward

Relaxing Your Body

Developing Mindfulness

Training Your Puppy: Reining In Your Wandering Mind

Chapter 8: Preparing Your Body for Meditation

Putting a Snake into a Stick of Bamboo — or the Subtle Art of Sitting Still

How to Sit Up Straight — and Live to Tell About It

Chapter 9: Where to Sit, What to Wear, and Other Practical Stuff

What to Wear: Choosing Comfort over Fashion

When to Meditate: Any Time’s the Right Time

How Long to Meditate: From Quickies to the Long Haul

What to Eat and Drink — and Avoid — before You Meditate

Where to Meditate: Creating Sacred Space

Chapter 10: Just Doing It: Discipline, Effort, and Letting Go

Discipline Just Means “Again and Again”

The Right Kind of Effort: Not Too Tight or Too Loose

Knowing How to Let Go and What to Let Go Of

Chapter 11: Opening Your Heart with Love and Compassion

How Your Heart Closes — and How You Can Open It Again

Generating Love for Yourself and Others

Transforming Suffering with Compassion

Part 3: Troubleshooting and Fine-Tuning Your Practice

Chapter 12: Meditating with Challenging Emotions and Habitual Patterns

Making Friends with Your Experience

Meditating with Challenging Emotions

Unraveling Habitual Patterns with Awareness

Setting Patterns Aside — for Now

When Meditation May Not Be Right for You Now

Choosing a Therapist to Help with Your Patterns

Chapter 13: Troubleshooting Common Roadblocks and Side Effects

Navigating the Roadblocks on Your Meditative Journey

Enjoying the Side Effects of Meditation without Getting Sidetracked

Chapter 14: Developing a Practice That Works for You

Fitting the Puzzle Pieces Together

Whenever Two or More of You: Meditating with Others

Part 4: Meditation in Action

Chapter 15: Cultivating Spirituality

What Does Spirituality Mean, Anyway?

The Path of Devotion: In Search of Union

The Path of Insight: Discovering Who You Are

How to Find a Teacher — and Why You May Want to Bother

Chapter 16: Don’t Worry, Be Happy — with Meditation

Checking Out the Hallmarks of Genuine Happiness

Studying Up on the Art and Science of Happiness

Finding True Happiness with Meditation

Chapter 17: Meditating in Everyday Life

Being at Peace with Every Step: Extending Meditation in Action

The Family That Meditates Together: Partners, Children, and Other Loved Ones

Chapter 18: Using Meditation for Healing and Performance Enhancement

Meditation Has the Power to Help Heal Your Body, Too

Meditation Can Enhance Your Performance at Work and Play

Part 5: The Part of Tens

Chapter 19: Ten Commonly Asked Questions about Meditation

Will Meditation Make Me Too Relaxed or Spaced Out to Succeed at Work or School?

How Can I Find the Time to Meditate in My Busy Schedule?

Can I Meditate in a Chair or Lying Down Instead of Cross-Legged on the Floor?

What Should I Do about the Restlessness or Discomfort I Experience While Meditating?

What Should I Do If I Keep Falling Asleep While I Meditate?

How Do I Know If I’m Meditating the Right Way?

Can I Meditate While I’m Driving My Car or Sitting at My Computer?

Do I Have to Give Up My Religious Beliefs to Meditate?

What Should I Do If My Loved Ones Don’t Support My Meditation Practice?

Can Meditation Really Improve My Health?

Chapter 20: Ten Favorite All-Purpose Meditations

Practicing Relaxation

Following Your Breath

Walking Meditation

Mindful Eating

Cultivating Lovingkindness

Softening Your Belly

Healing with Light

Grounding into the Earth

Practicing a Half Smile

Peaceful Place

Part 6: Appendixes

Appendix A: Meditation Resources

Organizations and Centers

Websites

Books

Appendix B: About the Audio Tracks

How to Access the Audio Tracks

What You’ll Find on Dummies.com

About the Author

Advertisement Page

Connect with Dummies

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

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Foreword

The title of this book is a little misleading because learning to meditate was one of the smartest decisions I ever made.

Meditation is power. Whatever you do, meditation can help you to do it better.

For example, my colleges and I demonstrated, for the first time, that the progression of even severe coronary disease often can be reversed when people go on my program of comprehensive lifestyle changes. Although many people believe that this program is based primarily on diet, meditation is actually an equally important part of it.

So — why meditate?

In Meditation For Dummies, 4th Edition, Stephan Bodian helps dispel many of the most common misconceptions about meditation.

Many people view meditation as:

In fact, meditation is:

Boring

Interesting

Esoteric

Familiar

Ascetic

Sensual

Unproductive

Extremely productive

Difficult

Natural

Wimpy

Powerful

Meditation is the practice and process of paying attention and focusing your awareness. When you meditate, a number of desirable things begin to happen — slowly, at first, and deepening over time. As I describe in Love & Survival:

First, when you can focus your awareness, you gain more power. When you concentrate any form of energy, including mental energy, you gain power. When you focus your mind, you concentrate better. When you concentrate better, you perform better. You can accomplish more, whether in the classroom, in the boardroom, or in the athletic arena. Whatever you do, you can do it more effectively when you meditate. It is for this reason that spiritual teachers and texts often caution that one should begin the practice of meditation only in the context of other spiritual practices and disciplines that help develop compassion and wisdom to use properly this increased power.

Second, you enjoy your senses more fully. Although people sometimes view or use meditation as an ascetic experience to control their senses, meditation also can enhance your senses in ways that are profoundly sensual. Anything that you enjoy — food, sex, music, art, massage, and so on — is greatly enhanced by meditation. When you pay attention to something, it’s a lot more enjoyable. Also, you don’t need as much of it to get the same degree of pleasure, so you are more likely to enjoy without excess.

When you keep a wall around your heart to armor and protect it from pain, you also diminish your capacity to feel pleasure. When your life is in a continual rush, you may miss exquisite pleasures that exist from moment to moment. Attention spans get shorter. The need for stimulation continually increases just to feel anything. Meditation increases awareness and sensitivity; as such, it can be an antidote to numbness and distraction.

Third, your mind quiets down and you experience an inner sense of peace, joy, and well-being. When I first learned to meditate and began getting glimpses of inner peace, this experience changed my life. It redefined and reframed my experience. Before, I thought peace of mind came from getting and doing; now, I understand that it comes from being. It is our true nature to be peaceful until we disturb it.

This is a radically different concept of where our happiness and our well-being come from. In one of life’s great paradoxes, not being aware of this truth, we often end up disturbing our inner peace while striving to get or to do what we think will bring that same peace to us.

Fourth, you may directly experience and become more aware of the transcendent interconnectedness that already exists. You may have a direct experience of God or the universal Self, whatever name you give to this experience.

Meditation is simple in concept but difficult to master. Fortunately, you don’t have to master meditation to benefit from it. You just have to practice. No one ever really masters it completely, but even a few steps down that road can make a meaningful difference. It is the process of meditation that makes it so beneficial, not how well you perform.

In my research studies, most of the participants reported much greater difficulty practicing meditation than exercising or maintaining their diet. Why? You have to eat; it’s just a question of what you eat. Meditation, on the other hand, is not part of most people’s daily routine or experience. Exercise is more familiar to people, and also there is a macho quality to exercise — you’re out there really doing something, whereas meditation still has what some of our research participants at first called the “wimp factor.” From outward appearances, it looks as if you’re not doing anything when you meditate. In fact, meditation is a powerful, active process.

There are many different types of meditation. It is found in all cultures and in all religions all over the world — because it works. Truth is truth. Whereas the forms vary, certain principles almost always are found.

This attitude of paying attention can help transform everything we do into a form of meditation. Whatever we do with concentration and awareness becomes meditation.

As the editor of Yoga Journal for many years, Stephan Bodian has had the opportunity to become familiar with many different approaches to meditation and yoga. He has distilled the best of these here and gently leads you step by step to discover a form and style of meditation that works best for you.

Meditation For Dummies, 4th Edition. Smart. Very smart.

Dean Ornish, MDFounder, President, and Director, Preventive Medicine Research InstituteClinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San FranciscoAuthor, Love & Survival and Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease

Foreword © 2012 by Dean Ornish, MD

Introduction

Everyone seems to want to know how to meditate these days. From anxious teens to their overwhelmed parents, harried construction workers to hurried executives, retired Baby Boomers to busy Gen Xers and curious Millennials, more and more people are seeking solutions for the stressful, time-urgent, overstimulated lives we lead. Because the Internet can’t provide satisfying answers to all of life’s questions, people are turning in increasing numbers to time-honored practices like meditation for proven remedies to life’s inevitable ills.

Indeed, according to a recent government survey, more than 10 percent of adults in the United States meditate regularly. That’s tens of millions of people! Why do they bother? Because it works. Whether you’re seeking greater focus to get your job done more efficiently, less stress and more peace of mind, or a deeper appreciation of the beauty and richness of life, the simple practice of sitting down and turning your attention inward can do wonders for your body and your mind.

The truth is, you can learn the basics of meditation in five minutes. Just sit in a comfortable position, straighten your back, breathe deeply, and rest your attention on the coming and going of your breath. It’s as simple as that! If you do it regularly, you’ll find that it won’t be long before you’re feeling more relaxed and enjoying life more. I speak from personal experience: I’ve been practicing meditation and teaching it to others for more than 40 years.

Simple though it may be, meditation also has tremendous subtlety and depth, if you’re interested in pursuing it further. It’s a lot like painting: You can buy your materials, take a few lessons, and have fun applying paint to paper. Or you can attend classes at your local education center or community college, specialize in a particular medium in art school, and make painting a central part of your life. In meditation, as in art, you can keep it simple — just get up every day and sit quietly for five or ten minutes — or explore the subtleties to your heart’s content. It all depends on your needs, your intentions, and your level of interest and passion.

About This Book

When I began teaching meditation, I was always hard-pressed to come up with a single book that taught the basics, provided a comprehensive overview of techniques and practices, and offered guidance in going deeper. Global surveys generally ignore the nuts and bolts — what to focus on, how to sit, what to do about your crazy mind, and so on. Books that teach you how to meditate tend to offer just a few techniques. And those that show you how to explore the rich inner world of meditation often have a sectarian spiritual perspective that limits the breadth of their presentation. (In other words, you may have to be a Buddhist or a yogi or a Sufi to know what they’re talking about.)

Unlike those other books on meditation, Meditation For Dummies, 3rd Edition, covers all the bases. If you’re looking for simple, easy-to-follow meditation instructions, you can find state-of-the-art guidance here that’s filled with helpful tips from seasoned meditators as well as time-honored wisdom from the great teachers of old. If you want to get an overview of the meditation field before you zero in on a particular method or teaching, you can catch a glimpse of the primary approaches that are readily available these days. If you’ve been meditating in a particular way and want to expand your horizons to include other techniques, you’ll be pleased to discover that this book features dozens of different meditations for a variety of purposes. They’re drawn from a range of sources and traditions. And if you just want to understand why other people meditate — for instance, your partner, your friends, the guy in the office next to yours — and why you may want to join them, jump on board! You can read through whole chapters on how meditation makes you happier (and healthier), what science has learned about the physical and psychological benefits of meditation, and how you can get the most from meditation.

As a special bonus, this book includes instructional tracks, which are available online at www.dummies.com/go/meditation. With these tracks, I guide you step by step through a dozen of the most powerful and effective meditations described in the book. When you’ve had your fill of reading and want something more experiential, you can sit down in a comfortable position, pop in the disc, and let my voice lead you effortlessly through the complete meditation process, from start to finish. What could be more accessible and user-friendly than that?

This book is many things at once: an instructional manual, a survey course, and a guidebook for deeper exploration. Feel free to read it from cover to cover if you want, or just browse until you find the chapters that appeal to you. Throughout the book, you find meditations and exercises you can experiment with and enjoy. Some of them are also offered at www.dummies.com/go/meditation, so you can discover how to practice them directly without referring to the text.

The best thing about this book, in my humble estimation, is that it’s fun to read. Meditation doesn’t have to be a dull or somber affair. Quite the contrary: The whole point of meditating in the first place is to lighten up and experience more peace and joy in your life. So forget those stereotypes of the enigmatic Zen monk or the reclusive navel-gazer! You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about meditation and enjoy yourself in the process.

Feel free to skip the sidebars that appear throughout the book; these shaded gray boxes contain interesting info that isn’t essential to your understanding of meditation.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

When I wrote this book, I made a few assumptions about you, dear reader, that I thought I should share with you before we begin:

You’re intrigued enough by the topic of meditation to pick up this book, but you haven’t yet discovered how to meditate. Or if you have, you still feel the need for more guidance.

You want less stress and more happiness and peace of mind, and you’re willing to devote a little of your precious time to achieve it.

Because you can’t afford to spend long hours meditating in a monastery or ashram, you want instruction that you can put to use right now at home or at work.

You don’t live on a desert island or in some isolated part of the globe; instead, you inhabit the ordinary world and confront the usual stresses, pressures, and responsibilities that most people face.

If these assumptions apply to you, you’re definitely in the right place!

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, I use icons in the margins to draw your attention to particular kinds of information. Here’s a key to what those icons mean:

For direct personal guidance in practicing the meditations marked by this icon, just put down your book, cue up the audio track, and follow my lead.

If I haven’t said it before, I should have — it’s important information that bears repeating.

If you want your meditations to be easier and more effective, follow these tidbits of insider advice.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for tips on how to prepare for meditation, how to get the most from your meditation, how to make sure you’re meditating correctly, and more. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Meditation For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

After you know the lay of the land, your next step is to decide where to go. Remember that you don’t have to read the book sequentially, from cover to cover — you can pick it up anywhere your interests lead you. I’ve written it intentionally with just such an approach in mind.

If you’re drawn to a more theoretical discussion of the philosophical, historical, and scientific background of meditation, by all means start with Part 1, in which I discuss meditation’s history, its health benefits, and its positive effects on the body and brain. But if you’re eager to get to the nitty-gritty and can’t wait to sit down and start practicing, you may want to head directly for Part 2, which provides everything you need to know to meditate effectively.

After you’ve been practicing for a few weeks or months, you can return for a refresher course and fine-tune your meditation by reading in Part 3 about the various difficulties and obstacles that may arise as well as about strategies for developing and expanding your practice. And if you have particular areas of interest, such as spirituality, healing, or performance enhancement, you can find what you’re looking for in Part 4. Feel free to browse, meander, and read whatever strikes your fancy!

Finally, I would love to hear from you. To get in touch with me, check out my website at www.stephanbodian.org or email me at [email protected].

Part 1

Getting Started with Meditation

IN THIS PART …

Get an overview of the meditation journey to help guide you in your practice.

Motivate yourself by realizing the many great reasons to meditate.

Explore the multicultural history of meditation to understand how it evolved.

Discover how meditation has entered the mainstream in education, business, and healthcare.

Delve into the research into meditation’s effectiveness in order to appreciate its many benefits.

Trace the many ways meditation actually changes the brain for the better.

Chapter 1

Embarking on Your Meditation Journey

IN THIS CHAPTER

Climbing the mountain of meditation

Finding picnic spots and lesser peaks along the way

Checking out the major meditation techniques

Knowing what you’ll see when you get to the top

Developing concentration, receptive awareness, contemplation, and cultivation

Access the audio tracks at www.dummies.com/go/meditation

The great thing about meditation is that it’s actually quite simple. Just sit down, be quiet, turn your attention inward, and focus your awareness. That’s all there is to it, really (see the sidebar “”). Then why, you may be wondering, do people write so many books and articles about meditation — including detailed books like this one? Why not just offer a few brief instructions and forget about all the verbiage?