Dr. Rick Levy
Fear is rampant in today’s society. You have the power to banish fear from your life, and you should resolve to do so because of its highly destructive nature. If it is allowed to go unchecked it will paralyze your efforts to succeed and eventually cause illness in your mind and body. Moreover, chronic fear generates negative energy that broadcasts out from your mind into the world around you, where it infects society and serves only to attract more fear. For all these reasons, fear must be dealt with effectively.
At the psychological level, fear is our built-in warning system. Just like you have pain in your body to alert you to illness or injury , you have fear in your mind to alert you to a threat to your safety. When fear arises it triggers the release of stress hormones that divert blood flow away from the vital organs to the large muscles. The body does this because it is preparing to fight or run away from something - the classic “fight or flight” response.
A single brief episode of fear serves an important function that might save your life if the threat were a street thug or a tiger. But there are so many threats that prey on the public mind these days that the stress response never abates. The result is that people succumb to a chronic fear-based stress syndrome with dangerous long-term health effects. These include poor digestion, autoimmune problems, glandular disease, retarded healing, poor functioning of vital organs like the heart and lungs, anger, rage, fear, terror, distorted thinking, impatience, erratic emotional states, memory loss, anxiety, and depression.
At the spiritual level, chronic fear is a destructive energetic force ( avidya ) that leads us away from one another and from God. People who suffer from chronic fear tend to pull back from the collective and become increasingly more distrustful, alienated and frightened. Where there is chronic fear among many, avidya energy intensifies and becomes a contagion that will captivate the entire society. This is the purpose of avidya , which always functions to alienate people from each other and increase suffering.
To deal with fear effectively, first recognize it as a warning when it arises - your mind is telling you to pay attention. Do not try to dismiss it or “tough it out.” Instead, slow down long enough to examine why you are fearful and honestly face the threat. Then directly address it by coming up with an effective action plan to deal with it. Do what you need to do to increase your safety (even the threat of terrorism can be minimized by changes in policy and behavior). Once you’ve done this, recognize that you’re in need of healing.
The best antidote for fear is vidya - the virtuous forces that work to lead us into God by promoting the nobility of every person and the oneness of humankind. So to heal yourself from fear, start by doing things that make you feel secure and bring you love and happiness. Reconnect with family and friends. Make a determined effort to reach out to others in heartfelt compassion, and even consider doing a little public service. You’ll feel much better, and at the same time you’ll help shift the societal energies away from avidya disunity and into vidya unity and compassion.
The most effective way to banish fear is to meditate. Even a little daily meditation (15 minutes) will heal you from fear. Meditation has been scientifically proven to produce the opposite of the human stress response: blood pressure goes down, circulation is equalized throughout the vital organs, immune functioning is elevated, breathing and heart rate are slowed, and brain waves relax to produce a peaceful mental euphoria. Meditation has these effects because it brings you into conscious awareness of your soul ( Atman ), which is eternal, blissful, all powerful and impervious to threats of any kind. The fountain of ensuing joy that follows soul contact in meditation is more than sufficient to banish the energy of fear from body and mind.
Meditate in the morning, then use this simple technique to banish fear if it arises during the day in response to a new stimulus. To use it, you must remain aware of your emotions so you can intervene as soon as you feel fear rising. When it does, place your attention on the third eye (the point between the eyebrows). Then draw in a deep breath while you silently affirm “I am soul - eternal, all knowing, ever-new joy.” As you breathe out, silently chant Om . Do this (breathe in with affirmation; chant Om while breathing out) for three slow consecutive breaths. You will feel better immediately. Use the technique as often as fear rises. As you do, you will train your mind to focus constantly on the highest of vidya virtues - your unity with God - at which point, fear will cease to exist.
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Meditation: The Art of Being Centered
By Bharat Cornell
Last spring while I was in New Jersey on a lecture tour, Thomas, my host, told how his meditation practice had helped him calm a potentially dangerous situation. Thomas is the superintendent of a small, rural school district, with three schools and 125 teachers. He had recently suspended the high school wrestling coach for verbally abusing his players. The suspension had been bitterly resented by the young coach and his large, extended family-so much so, that some of them had physically threatened Thomas.
One Sunday Thomas was working alone in the district office, when he observed four cars charging into the parking lot. The cars came to a screeching halt in front of his building, and out came a furious mob of the coach's relatives. As they charged into the building, Thomas quickly called his daughter to notify school security. In the seconds remaining, Thomas centered his energy, and waited for the approaching storm. And storm it did; as his "guests" barged into his office, they began yelling, trying to intimidate him. Thomas sat quietly and weathered their rage. Seeing they couldn't scare him, they began vigorously stating the reasons why he was wrong. Calmly, and without fear, Thomas listened to their ranting, and then quietly shared why he had done what he did.
During the confrontation, the relatives didn't want to agree with Thomas. They did, however, admire his courage and centeredness. They were very physical people, and they respected strength. Thomas's demonstration of it won them over, and soon afterwards they not only accepted, but helped resolve, the situation.
The more centered we are, the more outer events adjust themselves to our inner control, because centered energy is stronger than dissipated, reactive energy. Meditation is the art of learning to live from one's center, because it dynamically brings our consciousness into the spine. When our energy is centered there, we are in tune with God and our spiritual nature.
Albert Einstein said that the significant problems of today can't be solved at the same level of thinking that created those problems. When we react in kind to a negative or even mundane situation, we only perpetuate its consciousness. We can never control things outwardly. We can, however, control our own energy. Lahiri Mahasaya's advice for overcoming any problem was always the same-to meditate more, because meditation centers and raises our consciousness and strengthens our aura. Through regular meditation we literally change our destiny.
Last spring while I was in New Jersey on a lecture tour, Thomas, my host, told how his meditation practice had helped him calm a potentially dangerous situation. Thomas is the superintendent of a small, rural school district, with three schools and 125 teachers. He had recently suspended the high school wrestling coach for verbally abusing his players. The suspension had been bitterly resented by the young coach and his large, extended family-so much so, that some of them had physically threatened Thomas.
One Sunday Thomas was working alone in the district office, when he observed four cars charging into the parking lot. The cars came to a screeching halt in front of his building, and out came a furious mob of the coach's relatives. As they charged into the building, Thomas quickly called his daughter to notify school security. In the seconds remaining, Thomas centered his energy, and waited for the approaching storm. And storm it did; as his "guests" barged into his office, they began yelling, trying to intimidate him. Thomas sat quietly and weathered their rage. Seeing they couldn't scare him, they began vigorously stating the reasons why he was wrong. Calmly, and without fear, Thomas listened to their ranting, and then quietly shared why he had done what he did.
During the confrontation, the relatives didn't want to agree with Thomas. They did, however, admire his courage and centeredness. They were very physical people, and they respected strength. Thomas's demonstration of it won them over, and soon afterwards they not only accepted, but helped resolve, the situation.
The more centered we are, the more outer events adjust themselves to our inner control, because centered energy is stronger than dissipated, reactive energy. Meditation is the art of learning to live from one's center, because it dynamically brings our consciousness into the spine. When our energy is centered there, we are in tune with God and our spiritual nature.
Albert Einstein said that the significant problems of today can't be solved at the same level of thinking that created those problems. When we react in kind to a negative or even mundane situation, we only perpetuate its consciousness. We can never control things outwardly. We can, however, control our own energy. Lahiri Mahasaya's advice for overcoming any problem was always the same-to meditate more, because meditation centers and raises our consciousness and strengthens our aura. Through regular meditation we literally change our destiny.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Nurturing a Happy Heart: Yoga
Stand up. Really, stand up. Inhale deeply and reach for the sky, as high as you can. Next, slowly blow your breath out, sweeping your arms past your sides and bending toward the floor as you empty your lungs. Draw fresh air into your lungs and slowly roll back up to a standing position, arms by your sides. Feels good, doesn’t it?
You can sit down now.
What you just did was sample the simple science of yoga -- moving your body to fend off sitting disease while clearing your mind to nurture a peaceful, happy, healthy heart.
Unlike Western medicine, which takes the Jiffy Lube approach to wellness by directing you to a fix-it specialist for each of your broken parts (Bunions? See a podiatrist. Depression? That’s a psychiatrist’s job!), traditional Eastern medicine uses holistic systems such as yoga to treat your mind and body as one.
Developed 5,000 years ago in India, yoga reached American shores with immigrants back in the 1800s. Only in recent decades, though, has our faster-moving, increasingly stressed population embraced this exercise that’s more serene than sweat, more meditative than muscle. Today in the United States, more than 15 million people include yoga in their regular fitness routines. Its advocates range from Madonna to Sandra Day O’Connor and from NFL running backs to Wall Street brokers.
Although some people focus their practice more behind -- striving for the coveted firm “yoga butt” -- than inward, scientific evidence from the past 10 years shows that this traditional-yet-trendy, mind-body medicine can relieve symptoms of chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and yes, heart disease. Even hospitals are getting in on the act. At New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, cardiologists routinely steer patients into programs that offer yoga as part of their preventive and rehabilitative care.
Hooked?
Once you get a taste of yoga, you may find yourself craving a full course. Investing more time will help you reap even more benefits. If you’re interested, try a Sun Salutation workout -- a popular series of 12 yoga postures performed in a single, graceful flow. The Sun Salutation builds strength, as well as increasing flexibility and promoting a sense of calm. If that isn’t enough to quench your thirst, yoga information is easy to find. Bookstores have loads of great guides; almost all gyms and senior centers offer classes; videos are available at the library; yoga magazines are on newsstands; and, of course, the Internet has an overwhelming amount of information.
Disease Reversal
Internationally renowned heart disease researcher Dean Ornish, M.D., of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, may have been the first Western physician to place yoga alongside diet and exercise at the foundation of a heart-healthy lifestyle. In his most cited study in 1990, Dr. Ornish tested 48 men and women with medically documented coronary heart disease. The doctor assigned 28 participants to a lifestyle regimen that included yoga, group counseling, and an extremely low-fat vegetarian diet. The rest received their usual care and continued their regular lifestyle habits.
After a year, those in Dr. Ornish’s test group actually had clearer, more supple arteries -- indicating that their heart disease was reversing -- while the arteries of those in the control group continued to clog and harden. Eight years later, he published a follow-up study showing that 80 percent of 194 men and women with heart disease were able to avoid bypass surgery by following a similar lifestyle intervention program that included yoga.
Although the lion’s share of his colleagues credited the spartan, zero-saturated-fat food plan with bulldozing built-up plaque, Dr. Ornish steadfastly argues that adherence to yoga is as strongly correlated with reductions in artery blockage as is adherence to the diet.
During a 2003 study, a research team in India tested 113 men and women, ages 35 to 70, with documented coronary artery disease. They placed 71 in a yoga lifestyle program, which included stress management, exercise, and a plant-based diet, while the remaining volunteers took heart medications and followed a more typical Western medicine prescription of diet and lifestyle tweaks. One year later, the yoga group had fared much better, averaging a 23 percent drop in cholesterol levels compared with only a 4 percent reduction among the med-taking volunteers. What’s more, 44 percent of the yoga participants showed reversals of their heart disease, and artery hardening was stopped in its tracks for 47 percent -- significantly greater improvements than those in the control group.
Fight-or-Flight Deactivated
While there’s no denying that diet is a powerful component of the “yoga lifestyle,” the ability of this flowing, serene exercise to defuse stress is probably yoga’s most potent power in battling heart disease. We’ve all heard of the fight-or-flight response, which occurs when, at the slightest whiff of threat, your body’s Fort Knoxian personal security system gushes adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream to mobilize fat from your body’s stores to fuel your muscles -- and your escape. The problem is, in modern society, you’re more likely to face an angry boss than a charging buffalo, so instead of fighting or fleeing, you’re left stewing in that toxic self-defense cocktail. The result: elevated blood pressure, higher cholesterol, and an increased likelihood of blood clots.
Now for some good news. Just as your body is equipped with a punch-and-run reflex during times of perceived danger, it also has a pretty good peacetime plan, known as the relaxation response, which gives your battle-weary nervous system some much-needed R&R. The catch: Like a day spent with your mind wrapped up in a novel and your toes nestled in warm sand, the relaxation response doesn’t just happen during everyday chaotic life. You have to pursue it -- and yoga is one of the best paths you can take.
As you draw in deep belly breaths and release built-up tension by extending your limbs through their full range of motion, focusing your thoughts on each pose, you flip the switch that deactivates the fight-or-flight system and engages the relaxation response. Your heartbeat slows and your blood pressure drops. Over time, if you practice regularly, you can even lower the “alert level” of your autonomic nervous system so that you’re walking around more relaxed all the time.
Like standard stretching, yoga also increases circulation and improves blood supply to the heart. With better blood flow, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver fresh nutrients and oxygen to your organs and muscles. By entering a relaxed state, you also increase your coronary blood flow by decreasing artery constriction.
As a side benefit, regular yoga stretching lengthens muscles and connective tissues, improving your flexibility and range of motion so you can enjoy heart-healthy aerobic and strengthening activities with less muscle soreness and chronic aches and pains.
Source : Readers Digest
You can sit down now.
What you just did was sample the simple science of yoga -- moving your body to fend off sitting disease while clearing your mind to nurture a peaceful, happy, healthy heart.
Unlike Western medicine, which takes the Jiffy Lube approach to wellness by directing you to a fix-it specialist for each of your broken parts (Bunions? See a podiatrist. Depression? That’s a psychiatrist’s job!), traditional Eastern medicine uses holistic systems such as yoga to treat your mind and body as one.
Developed 5,000 years ago in India, yoga reached American shores with immigrants back in the 1800s. Only in recent decades, though, has our faster-moving, increasingly stressed population embraced this exercise that’s more serene than sweat, more meditative than muscle. Today in the United States, more than 15 million people include yoga in their regular fitness routines. Its advocates range from Madonna to Sandra Day O’Connor and from NFL running backs to Wall Street brokers.
Although some people focus their practice more behind -- striving for the coveted firm “yoga butt” -- than inward, scientific evidence from the past 10 years shows that this traditional-yet-trendy, mind-body medicine can relieve symptoms of chronic diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and yes, heart disease. Even hospitals are getting in on the act. At New York Presbyterian Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, cardiologists routinely steer patients into programs that offer yoga as part of their preventive and rehabilitative care.
Hooked?
Once you get a taste of yoga, you may find yourself craving a full course. Investing more time will help you reap even more benefits. If you’re interested, try a Sun Salutation workout -- a popular series of 12 yoga postures performed in a single, graceful flow. The Sun Salutation builds strength, as well as increasing flexibility and promoting a sense of calm. If that isn’t enough to quench your thirst, yoga information is easy to find. Bookstores have loads of great guides; almost all gyms and senior centers offer classes; videos are available at the library; yoga magazines are on newsstands; and, of course, the Internet has an overwhelming amount of information.
Disease Reversal
Internationally renowned heart disease researcher Dean Ornish, M.D., of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, may have been the first Western physician to place yoga alongside diet and exercise at the foundation of a heart-healthy lifestyle. In his most cited study in 1990, Dr. Ornish tested 48 men and women with medically documented coronary heart disease. The doctor assigned 28 participants to a lifestyle regimen that included yoga, group counseling, and an extremely low-fat vegetarian diet. The rest received their usual care and continued their regular lifestyle habits.
After a year, those in Dr. Ornish’s test group actually had clearer, more supple arteries -- indicating that their heart disease was reversing -- while the arteries of those in the control group continued to clog and harden. Eight years later, he published a follow-up study showing that 80 percent of 194 men and women with heart disease were able to avoid bypass surgery by following a similar lifestyle intervention program that included yoga.
Although the lion’s share of his colleagues credited the spartan, zero-saturated-fat food plan with bulldozing built-up plaque, Dr. Ornish steadfastly argues that adherence to yoga is as strongly correlated with reductions in artery blockage as is adherence to the diet.
During a 2003 study, a research team in India tested 113 men and women, ages 35 to 70, with documented coronary artery disease. They placed 71 in a yoga lifestyle program, which included stress management, exercise, and a plant-based diet, while the remaining volunteers took heart medications and followed a more typical Western medicine prescription of diet and lifestyle tweaks. One year later, the yoga group had fared much better, averaging a 23 percent drop in cholesterol levels compared with only a 4 percent reduction among the med-taking volunteers. What’s more, 44 percent of the yoga participants showed reversals of their heart disease, and artery hardening was stopped in its tracks for 47 percent -- significantly greater improvements than those in the control group.
Fight-or-Flight Deactivated
While there’s no denying that diet is a powerful component of the “yoga lifestyle,” the ability of this flowing, serene exercise to defuse stress is probably yoga’s most potent power in battling heart disease. We’ve all heard of the fight-or-flight response, which occurs when, at the slightest whiff of threat, your body’s Fort Knoxian personal security system gushes adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream to mobilize fat from your body’s stores to fuel your muscles -- and your escape. The problem is, in modern society, you’re more likely to face an angry boss than a charging buffalo, so instead of fighting or fleeing, you’re left stewing in that toxic self-defense cocktail. The result: elevated blood pressure, higher cholesterol, and an increased likelihood of blood clots.
Now for some good news. Just as your body is equipped with a punch-and-run reflex during times of perceived danger, it also has a pretty good peacetime plan, known as the relaxation response, which gives your battle-weary nervous system some much-needed R&R. The catch: Like a day spent with your mind wrapped up in a novel and your toes nestled in warm sand, the relaxation response doesn’t just happen during everyday chaotic life. You have to pursue it -- and yoga is one of the best paths you can take.
As you draw in deep belly breaths and release built-up tension by extending your limbs through their full range of motion, focusing your thoughts on each pose, you flip the switch that deactivates the fight-or-flight system and engages the relaxation response. Your heartbeat slows and your blood pressure drops. Over time, if you practice regularly, you can even lower the “alert level” of your autonomic nervous system so that you’re walking around more relaxed all the time.
Like standard stretching, yoga also increases circulation and improves blood supply to the heart. With better blood flow, your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to deliver fresh nutrients and oxygen to your organs and muscles. By entering a relaxed state, you also increase your coronary blood flow by decreasing artery constriction.
As a side benefit, regular yoga stretching lengthens muscles and connective tissues, improving your flexibility and range of motion so you can enjoy heart-healthy aerobic and strengthening activities with less muscle soreness and chronic aches and pains.
Source : Readers Digest
Friday, May 16, 2008
Mantra Meditation - Unlocking the Mystery of Om
Om (also written Aum) is the oldest and most sacred sound found in yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism. Not only does Om represent the entire universe, known as Brahman, it is also said to be the source of all creation. Om represents all time: past, present, and future; and is beyond time itself. Om represents the eternal oneness of all that is, and thus represents the ultimate goal of yoga: to become unified in body, mind and spirit. Chanting the mantra Om is perhaps the oldest of yoga’s spiritual practices. In the Mandukya Upanishad we find this beautiful passage: “The body is the bow, Om is an the arrow, the arrow’s tip is the focused mind, and the ultimate Mystery is the target.” Thus, meditating on Om is used to guide one to discovering the higher Self, and the true nature of the universe. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali instructs one in contemplating the meaning of Om as a direct path to enlightenment. “The repetition of the sound of Om, along with a deep contemplation of the meaning of what it represents, brings both the realization of the individual Self (Atman) and the removal of obstacles that normally block this realization” (Yoga Sutras 1.27-1.29).
Om is said to be the essence of all mantras, and is used as the mula-mantra, the root and beginning of most mantras. Om is the bija (seed) mantra of the sixth chakra or third eye and chanting Om activates and opens this energy center. Om is also known as the adi-bija, the primary seed mantra. Om is used within sacred chants to increase their power and potency as well as to draw the practitioner into a deep internal state.
It is very important when repeating Om to pronounce the "O" sound correctly. In Sanskrit, the sound "O" is a diphthong-- a subtle speech sound that begins with one vowel and changes to another vowel within the same syllable. This “O” sound begins with an “A” sound as in “law” and ends with a “U” sound as in “put.” When these two vowel sounds are combined in this diphthong, it produces a single, pure vowel sound. Thus, when you pronounce Om it should sound like “home” without the beginning “h” sound. When pronouncing Om the sound should emanate from the navel, with a deep and harmonious vibration, and gradually rises upwards to resonate in the nostrils.
Though indivisible, Om has four subtle sounds that correspond to four levels of consciousness. The first sound of "A" represents Vaishvanara, the conscious waking state. The second sound of "U" represents Taijasa, the subtle, unconscious dream state. The third sound of "M" represents the Prajna, the casual, subconscious deep sleep state. The fourth sound is the silence that follows the sound of Om which represents Turiya, the absolute consciousness that illumines and pervades the three prior states.
When chanting Om, equal measure should be given to both the “O” and the “M” sounds, i.e. “oooommmm” and not “oommmmmm” or “oooooomm.” The mantra Om may be chanted aloud, whispered, or repeated mentally. The chanting of Om should be easy and natural, without strain. Usually when Om is chanted out loud it is long and when chanted mentally is it short, but experiment and do what feels most comfortable for you. When chanting Om you can also focus your gaze on the third eye center, the sixth chakra. If using Om as a mantra meditation you may wish to use a mala to count repetitions of 108.
Om is said to be the essence of all mantras, and is used as the mula-mantra, the root and beginning of most mantras. Om is the bija (seed) mantra of the sixth chakra or third eye and chanting Om activates and opens this energy center. Om is also known as the adi-bija, the primary seed mantra. Om is used within sacred chants to increase their power and potency as well as to draw the practitioner into a deep internal state.
It is very important when repeating Om to pronounce the "O" sound correctly. In Sanskrit, the sound "O" is a diphthong-- a subtle speech sound that begins with one vowel and changes to another vowel within the same syllable. This “O” sound begins with an “A” sound as in “law” and ends with a “U” sound as in “put.” When these two vowel sounds are combined in this diphthong, it produces a single, pure vowel sound. Thus, when you pronounce Om it should sound like “home” without the beginning “h” sound. When pronouncing Om the sound should emanate from the navel, with a deep and harmonious vibration, and gradually rises upwards to resonate in the nostrils.
Though indivisible, Om has four subtle sounds that correspond to four levels of consciousness. The first sound of "A" represents Vaishvanara, the conscious waking state. The second sound of "U" represents Taijasa, the subtle, unconscious dream state. The third sound of "M" represents the Prajna, the casual, subconscious deep sleep state. The fourth sound is the silence that follows the sound of Om which represents Turiya, the absolute consciousness that illumines and pervades the three prior states.
When chanting Om, equal measure should be given to both the “O” and the “M” sounds, i.e. “oooommmm” and not “oommmmmm” or “oooooomm.” The mantra Om may be chanted aloud, whispered, or repeated mentally. The chanting of Om should be easy and natural, without strain. Usually when Om is chanted out loud it is long and when chanted mentally is it short, but experiment and do what feels most comfortable for you. When chanting Om you can also focus your gaze on the third eye center, the sixth chakra. If using Om as a mantra meditation you may wish to use a mala to count repetitions of 108.
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