How to Beat Stress and Angst Through Meditation

And they come out of the woodwork

Everyone's coming out to plug their own form of meditation. Some even claim theirs is the best. How sad.

Wait a minute

I just read in another blog here at USNEWS that all you have to do to lower your blood pressure is listen to Barry Soetoro (aka B.H. Obama)give a speech. Maybe that is the kool-aid.

World Peace

I believe all religious and nonreligious alike can practice meditation as a way for each individual to send out the message of world peace.

Serene Impulse

My favorite practice is Serene Impulse (http://sereneimpulse.com/). I have been meditating for almost 20 years and I agree with this article that meditation is a powerful way to reduce stress. However, Serene Impulse is not described as meditation, yet it has replaced the prior meditation I practiced for about 15 years. Serene Impulse is a unique mind-body skill that seems more powerful than any of the meditation techniques I've been taught over the last 2 decades. What I like about it is that I have gotten immediate health benefits that previously eluded me. Yet I also continue to enjoy other benefits traditionally associated with meditation such as inner peace, stress reduction, greater mental clarity, more energy, improved emotional management and accelerated spiritual growth.

I suspect there are lots of good meditations out there (and probably some bad ones too). In my experience, the most important thing is to learn from a qualified teacher. The people I know who have learned entirely from books or web sites have not enjoyed the same benefits as people who were taught by a teacher. I think this holds true regardless of the specific practice. What you save by buying a book you will waste in lost time trying to do it on your own.

Disclaimer: I am a current Serene Impulse instructor and a former partner at a venture capital firm. I believe technologies of consciousness (whether Serene Impulse or meditation) are the future, so I put my career in alignment with my beliefs and I began teaching what I practice. I still find the financial field fascinating, and I am now recognizing that deeper insights into human consciousness are a key to understanding financial market behavior too. Personally, I think consciousness holds a key to better economic performance. Countries who do the best job training their citizens to function at their best through practicing a technology of consciousness (such as Serene Impulse) may find themselves with surprising advantages in the global economy in the decades ahead.

Good luck to everyone with your investments in 2009 and I hope you have a stress-free year!

Research Finds TM to be Most Effective

While some other forms of meditation have been found to produce good effects in specific areas, research shows they don't produce the wide range of benefits found to result from practicing the TM technique. For example TM is the only technique known to create widespread brainwave coherence and enliven all areas of the brain.

One study that is a scientific comparison or meta-analysis of 597 studies of different meditation practices was published in the American Journal of Health Promotion. The study found the Transcendental Meditation technique to be significantly superior to other forms of meditation and relaxation in a wide range of criteria related to mental and physical health. To fid out more about this research try this link:

http://www.consciousnessbasededucation.org.uk/UniqueEffectivenessofTM.shtml

Acem meditation

One form of meditation not mentioned here, undoubtedly because it is best known in Europe and also Taiwan and India, is Acem-meditation. This meditation can have some superficial resemblance to TM, but is based on modern Western psychology. It is developed in Norway, but is now being taught over most of Western Europe, India and Taiwan, and occasionally in other countries, including US. Information is to be found here: http://acem.com/ . I have practiced it for more than 30 years, and it really changed my life. Description of results, including references to research published in peer reviewed journals can be found here: http://acem.com/english/hard_facts_acem_meditation.shtml

More on Transcendental Meditation

When I saw it was acceptable to put URLs, I wanted to add some more thoughts because there are some informative sites on the unique nature of the Transcendental Meditation technique. One of the best ones I have found is http://truthabouttm.org/; this is a comprehensive site that answers many common questions.

Also, more and more schools are instituting a quiet time where studenst can do what they choose in a quiet way. Many students have opted to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique and practice during their quiet time. The stories at

http://www.stressfreeschools.org/ are very moving.

Mindful Meditation

I read about mindful meditation, just sitting quietly and keeping your concentration on your breath. Avoiding day-dreaming and wandering after my thoughts took a while to control, and I don't always manage to do it, but over the few years I've been practicing this I've grown able to step away from my concerns and deal with them rationally. I've grown much calmer in my mind and behavior. I have developed a patience I had no idea I was capable of.

Just sitting and breathing, listening to it, being quiet.

Transcendental Meditation

Yes, TM is a wonderful meditation technique. I've been at it for 37 years. Simple and easy and anybody can learn it. What's unique about it is that it's a technique for 'transcending.' It takes the mind beyond thinking, beyond emotion, beyond concept, to the inner reservoir of creativity and intelligence at the source of thought. You discover for yourself, through direct experience, that there's this field of immense potentiality of energy and intelligence inside you. Another unique thing about it is the scientific research studies. One of Maharishi's great contributions to the field of self-development was to open the doors for scientific research into meditation and establish the benefits of meditation on solid scientific grounds. A great source of info about meditation is the website www.askthedoctors.com, where doctors and scientists answer questions about the effects, research and health benefits for mind and body.

The Benefits of Meditation

I've also been meditating a long time, and also Transcendental Meditation. It knocked out my high blood pressure within months and replaced it with an ever increasing sense of stability and bliss. We sure need those things in these shaky times. There are a lot of forms of meditation available. Transcendental Meditation has many scientific studies behind it, including research funded by the National Institutes of Health showing indeed a big impact on high blood pressure. For more information on that, go to the web site www.tm.org.