Composed by Tahl Ghitter- Kalsi
& Deepak Singh Kalsi
Benefits of Meditation
Physically:
Psychologically & Emotionally:
Increases:
- Clarity in thinking & creativity
- Ability to sleep better
- Increase energy levels
- Emotional stability
- Ability to deal with difficult situations and people
- General feelings of wellbeing and happiness
- Feelings of calm and inner peace
Decreases:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- Mental and Emotional Instability
Please note: Practices that increase these reactions are
considered destabilizing and should not be continued.
The Nervous System & Meditation
Strictly Speaking: What Meditation Is and What Meditation Is Not
Drishti or Focus in Meditation (Dharana)
- the breath as a way of perpetually being in the moment.
- mentally we can cultivate focus with japa, i.e. repetition of affirmation or mantra or even simply counting. Some people use japa malas – prayer beads to keep focus.
- single pointed focus, dharana, cultivates meditation. With out focus, the mind is not conditioned to allow meditation arise.
- sustained awareness without thoughts is considered meditation.
Order of Practice (Succession through the 8 Limbs)
1. Social Codes – living well with others (Yamas)
2. Personal Codes – living right with yourself (Niyamas)
3. Postures – to open the body and nervous system (Asana)
4. Breath work – to control energy flow in the body (Pranayama)
5. Withdrawal of mind from external world inward (Pratyahara)
6. Single Pointed Focus (Dharana)
7. Meditation (Dyana)
8. Bliss State. (Samadhi)
When we live in balance with others and with ourselves we are balanced enough to benefit from the practice of the physical discipline of postures. Postures open up the body to circulate energy and when we learn how to control that energy flow and with the conditioning of breath work we can more easily withdraw inward to be able to focus. Focus cultivates the conditions for meditation to arise and sustained focus without thoughts is considered meditation, which ultimately, with practice, leads to bliss states or Samadhi.
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Intro to Meditation: Notes 2
Some Common Disruptions to Meditation: The Buddha lists 5 Chief Obstacles: Grasping, Anger, Sleepiness, Restlessness and Doubt.
Pain in the Body – it is important to make sure you are comfortable. If you are continually distracted by pain, it will be difficult to settle in and focus.
Doubt – Expect the mind to criticize and judge. There will be times where you are not sure of yourself, and that is okay. As with all thoughts, acknowledge it, but allow it to pass.
Mental Busyness – Worry about the future or regret about the past take you out of the moment. Go beyond the patterns of the mind, let them be there, and follow the breath as it will bring you back to the present moment. Get to know your mental patterns, observe them and be able to recognize when they arise in life.
Desire & Wanting Results – Be patient, be willing to observe the journey and accept exactly where you are with love and compassion for yourself. With high expectations and unrealistic goals, you limit yourself from being able to experience the unexpected, as the human mind does not easily conceive infinity.
Strong Emotion – Emotions are things we strongly hold on to. Let emotions be there, but rather than participate and engage emotions or create thoughts and stories around them, simply observe it from a witness point of view. Stand outside of it. It will shift and change as all things do. Sometimes it is okay to cry.
Unfinished Business Outside – “To Do Lists” – Trust that you have allotted this time for your practice and that everything is taken care of for the time being. Believe that nothing else is more important. Everything else can wait.
No time – You only need about 5 minutes a day to start. If you make it a priority, you will end up creating more time and space in your life.
Avoiding the Issues in your Life– The moment you become comfortable with the mental, emotional and physical issues, they tend to resolve themselves. The moment we resist, there is a holding on, a tension of sorts, prevents the energies from shifting and moving on. Advancing in meditation will require getting real with your self.
Observing Your Patterns (Samskaras)
Almost like computers have programs, humans also fall into behavioral patterns of thoughts and feelings. When we observe ourselves in meditation, we become increasingly aware of these patterns and are even able to witness them occurring in the moment. Once we are aware of a pattern, that, perhaps at one point in our life, served us, but now, ceases to be of use, we can chose to stop these negative patterns from evolving into poor choices or negative actions. It is okay to have thoughts and feelings, but when we buy into them and create a story around them, we reinforce behaviors that may no longer be useful to our growth. Most people will recycle the same thoughts day in and day out and some patterning can be so ingrained, the result is an automatic, mindless response. As you progress in meditation, you may get an idea of the top ten places your mind haunts. Meditation helps us to be familiar with our patterns so we can make better choices in the moments as the events arise.
This is a basic model of a pattern:
(Physical Sensation or An External Event) -> Emotion -> Thought -> Action
For example:
My back hurts when sitting for a long period of time -> I feel frustration with the practice -> I think, “meditation is too difficult for me” -> I chose to watch TV instead to relax.
OR Positive patterning: I feel freedom in the body when I stretch -> my heart feels open and joyful -> I think, “ I can do this,” and -> choose to eat a healthy dinner instead of fast food.
Think of some examples of patterns in your life...
& Deepak Singh Kalsi
Benefits of Meditation
Physically:
- Stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system -
- Lowers levels of the stress hormone – Cortisol (steroidal –irritating and inflammatory to the body systems)
- Lower heart rates and decreases high blood pressure.
- Decreases cholesterol levels, lowering the risk for cardiovascular disease.
- Improves flow of prana/O2 to the lungs promoting ease of breath.
- Improves post-operative healing
- Increases levels of natural DHEA produced in the body to decrease aging.
- Enhances the immunity response in the body.
Psychologically & Emotionally:
Increases:
- Clarity in thinking & creativity
- Ability to sleep better
- Increase energy levels
- Emotional stability
- Ability to deal with difficult situations and people
- General feelings of wellbeing and happiness
- Feelings of calm and inner peace
Decreases:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Irritability
- Mental and Emotional Instability
Please note: Practices that increase these reactions are
considered destabilizing and should not be continued.
The Nervous System & Meditation
- Turns off sympathetic nervous system (Stress Response – Fight, flight, freeze - Adrenals and Cortisols [steroidal, i.e. inflammatory]) vs. Stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (Relaxation Response, Healing Mode, Rest and Digest).
- Use breath to access parasympathetic branch of the nervous system and move out of stress response.
- Pranayama (or breath work) vibrates the nervous system, which opens blocked energy channels and ciculates a free flow of prana (or vital life force) to the organs and increases communication between the endocrine and the various systems of the body.
Strictly Speaking: What Meditation Is and What Meditation Is Not
- Meditation and yoga is individual and an inward journey. Your practice will almost certainly be different from other’s and so you must practice and observe your experience over time to guage what works for you. Not all practices will be suitable for everyone.
- Everyday is different. The practices do not change, the practitioner does. Observe day to day differences and with time and practice, you will begin to notice real change occurring.
- Asana, i.e. physical postures and Pranayama, breath work prepare the body and mind to focus, the condition which must be present for meditation to happen.
- Mostly, people do not “do” meditation, rather spend most of the time practicing turning off the senses, disengaging from the external and sensate world, i.e. Pratyahara, in order to be able to shift focus inward and maintain single pointed focus.
- Mostly, practitioners do not experience actual meditation until after sufficient training, sometimes even years.
- Mostly, people are learning to focus. Do not get discouraged. Most experience the benefits of the practice as they learn to cultivate meditation.
- Maintaining a meditation practice is a discipline and requires regular practice and an open the flow of energy in order for meditation to arise.
- True meditation is not thoughtful contemplation but rather the absence of thoughts all together. The practice does require us to observe the mind’s patterns, tendencies and habits to bring awareness to perpetual sources of distraction and mindlessness. Although contemplation will arise as you practice and can even be a useful tool to deal with thoughts and emotions, it is not considered actual meditation.
- Sustained awareness without thoughts is considered meditation. Meditation is a spontaneous state of clarity, focus and emptiness.
- Distraction will take you out the moment making meditation impossible, so limit discomfort.
- Be moderate with your practices. Meditation cannot be forced. Be patient with your progress and learn to accept and even enjoy where you are with the practice rather than wish you were more advanced.
Drishti or Focus in Meditation (Dharana)
- Concentration is the precursor to meditation so it is important to cultivate focus in yoga with drishtis, i.e. gaze/focal points at all times.
- Focal points can be a place for the mind to rest as an internal gaze, or an anchor point for the eyes when gazing externally.Have a focal point in all postures and practices to train the mind to concentrate.
- Focal points anchor the wandering mind in the present moment.
- Avoid lingering mentally in the past or future. Observe tendencies and chose to exist in the richness of the present moment.
- Some common focal points are:
- the breath as a way of perpetually being in the moment.
- mentally we can cultivate focus with japa, i.e. repetition of affirmation or mantra or even simply counting. Some people use japa malas – prayer beads to keep focus.
- single pointed focus, dharana, cultivates meditation. With out focus, the mind is not conditioned to allow meditation arise.
- sustained awareness without thoughts is considered meditation.
Order of Practice (Succession through the 8 Limbs)
1. Social Codes – living well with others (Yamas)
2. Personal Codes – living right with yourself (Niyamas)
3. Postures – to open the body and nervous system (Asana)
4. Breath work – to control energy flow in the body (Pranayama)
5. Withdrawal of mind from external world inward (Pratyahara)
6. Single Pointed Focus (Dharana)
7. Meditation (Dyana)
8. Bliss State. (Samadhi)
When we live in balance with others and with ourselves we are balanced enough to benefit from the practice of the physical discipline of postures. Postures open up the body to circulate energy and when we learn how to control that energy flow and with the conditioning of breath work we can more easily withdraw inward to be able to focus. Focus cultivates the conditions for meditation to arise and sustained focus without thoughts is considered meditation, which ultimately, with practice, leads to bliss states or Samadhi.
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Intro to Meditation: Notes 2
Some Common Disruptions to Meditation: The Buddha lists 5 Chief Obstacles: Grasping, Anger, Sleepiness, Restlessness and Doubt.
Pain in the Body – it is important to make sure you are comfortable. If you are continually distracted by pain, it will be difficult to settle in and focus.
Doubt – Expect the mind to criticize and judge. There will be times where you are not sure of yourself, and that is okay. As with all thoughts, acknowledge it, but allow it to pass.
Mental Busyness – Worry about the future or regret about the past take you out of the moment. Go beyond the patterns of the mind, let them be there, and follow the breath as it will bring you back to the present moment. Get to know your mental patterns, observe them and be able to recognize when they arise in life.
Desire & Wanting Results – Be patient, be willing to observe the journey and accept exactly where you are with love and compassion for yourself. With high expectations and unrealistic goals, you limit yourself from being able to experience the unexpected, as the human mind does not easily conceive infinity.
Strong Emotion – Emotions are things we strongly hold on to. Let emotions be there, but rather than participate and engage emotions or create thoughts and stories around them, simply observe it from a witness point of view. Stand outside of it. It will shift and change as all things do. Sometimes it is okay to cry.
Unfinished Business Outside – “To Do Lists” – Trust that you have allotted this time for your practice and that everything is taken care of for the time being. Believe that nothing else is more important. Everything else can wait.
No time – You only need about 5 minutes a day to start. If you make it a priority, you will end up creating more time and space in your life.
Avoiding the Issues in your Life– The moment you become comfortable with the mental, emotional and physical issues, they tend to resolve themselves. The moment we resist, there is a holding on, a tension of sorts, prevents the energies from shifting and moving on. Advancing in meditation will require getting real with your self.
Observing Your Patterns (Samskaras)
Almost like computers have programs, humans also fall into behavioral patterns of thoughts and feelings. When we observe ourselves in meditation, we become increasingly aware of these patterns and are even able to witness them occurring in the moment. Once we are aware of a pattern, that, perhaps at one point in our life, served us, but now, ceases to be of use, we can chose to stop these negative patterns from evolving into poor choices or negative actions. It is okay to have thoughts and feelings, but when we buy into them and create a story around them, we reinforce behaviors that may no longer be useful to our growth. Most people will recycle the same thoughts day in and day out and some patterning can be so ingrained, the result is an automatic, mindless response. As you progress in meditation, you may get an idea of the top ten places your mind haunts. Meditation helps us to be familiar with our patterns so we can make better choices in the moments as the events arise.
This is a basic model of a pattern:
(Physical Sensation or An External Event) -> Emotion -> Thought -> Action
For example:
My back hurts when sitting for a long period of time -> I feel frustration with the practice -> I think, “meditation is too difficult for me” -> I chose to watch TV instead to relax.
OR Positive patterning: I feel freedom in the body when I stretch -> my heart feels open and joyful -> I think, “ I can do this,” and -> choose to eat a healthy dinner instead of fast food.
Think of some examples of patterns in your life...