Meditation has become mainstream.  Once associated with spiritual and religious practices, a scientific plethora of evidence proving its psychological and physiological benefits has brought meditation into today’s culture. Athletes, patients, elderly, trauma victims and anyone who wants to reduce stress are using meditation techniques.

It can improve concentration, lower oxygen consumption and decrease respiratory rate. It lowers blood pressure and can eliminate headaches. It reduces anxiety attacks, increases blood flow and slows the heart rate. It can reduce pre-menstrual symptoms, enhance the immune system and increase levels of serotonin production, which influences mood and behavior. It enhances the immune system and reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress and increases exercise tolerance in heart patients.

A 2007 study published in October issue of Neurobiology of Aging found that regular meditation practice might protect brain tissue and lessen the cognitive decline that is normally associated with aging. Can’t remember where you put your keys, parked your car or put that important paper? Try meditating.

You say you don’t have the time to sit quietly and do nothing? As the evidence points out, you can’t afford not to take the time to meditate. It’s the easiest, least costly, least invasive method of healing what ails you. Anyone can do it.

The more you meditate the more you become aware of what you are doing on a moment-by-moment basis. You become more efficient, expending less time and energy to accomplish your goal. You can gain a better handle on weight, temper, time management, passivity, anger or other unbalanced areas of your life. What you have heard about meditation is true:  this centuries-old technique can make your life today happier, calmer and fuller.

Collie Agle
“It’s changed my life,” said Collie Agle, who owns a kayaking company on the Hill. “I feel more grounded. My life no longer feels so fractured and torn into various parts and pieces.” He also talks about how meditation has changed how he looks at others and the rest of the world. “I was going on a bus to Union Station. A guy sat next to me. Even though I was busy in what I was thinking I was open to him. We started talking. He had an incredible, inspirational story to tell – he was a barber for shut-ins. My hearing his story came directly out of my experience with meditation.”

Collie began meditating three years ago. He started because he needed quiet, reflective time. Two painful experiences – knee surgery and sciatica – caused him to become quiet. During that time he read about Keltic Christianity and Buddhism. “It was amazing for me and led me to associate with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington(www.imcw.org). He meditates for 20 minutes first thing in the morning. “That’s all I need to get me to a place of feeling centered” He also practices with a group on Monday nights at St. Marks Episcopal Church (see box).

Techniques for meditation are plentiful. You can repeat a mantra (a word or phrase to come back to when your mind wanders), you can follow a guided meditation from a CD or in a group, you can focus on the flame of a candle or you can focus on your third eye (the spot between both eyes). You can be quiet, chant or listen to music.

Margo Eyring and the Labyrinth
You also can walk and be present as Margo Eyring does in her back yard. She created a labyrinth where she does prayer walking. “There’s only one way to go and you don’t get lost. When you walk into a labyrinth, you let go into the present. As you walk out, you walk back into life. I love doing that when I’m shifting from being busy and crazy into becoming more contemplative.”

Margot first experienced meditation about four years ago. Now she meditates about 20 minutes each morning, practices yoga and reads traditional psalms. “I find I’m less reactive. I’m able to focus better. When I’m with someone, I’m more able to be present with them.” When she wakes up in the middle of the night she’s able to go back to sleep using mental contemplative practices. “I feel refreshed even if I’m awake some of the night.”

Margot said meditation is a method or strategy to train herself to be more aware of God’s presence in the world. She often practices mindfulness when she’s eating. She also uses prayer beads. “There are so many ways [to meditate]. I’m taking a class on leading contemplative prayer groups and I’m discovering what works best for me.” In a class that she teaches students used intention to change their experience of a daily activity. Students picked an activity in their life they wanted to approach more contemplatively. They visualized how, then, their homework was to actually do it. “It was amazing the difference some people experienced with a change in intention.”

Serena Cekan – Stress Relief
Serena Cekan, a single mother of two young boys who has her own consulting business and is a Reiki and Past Life Spiritual Regression practitioner, finds that meditation techniques help her cope with daily stress in her busy life. “At a red light, if I go into my breath, i.e. breathe in and breathe out mindfully, I’m not thinking about why the man in front of me isn’t moving as he should. I’m not imposing what ‘should’ be. I can be present. If I can go to a peaceful place within myself I’m astonished how much calmer I become. I do this when I walk to the bathroom or up the stairs. I incorporate mindfulness into many small parts of my day. If I just breathe 3 breaths 15 times a day I’m living a substantially more peaceful life.” One of her favorite meditations is a loving kindness meditation. “Your first intention is for yourself – may I be well, healthy dwell in peace, whatever. Then I think about someone I love and wish them the same thing. Next it is someone I feel neutral about. Then someone I don’t like. Finally I intend for all people in the universe to be well, healthy, etc. When my mind is too scattered, I do that.”

She says once you slow down, you realize how crazy your mind is. Some thoughts are practical, others absurd. “In meditation you see thoughts coming and going. It’s all about sitting long enough to watch your thoughts arise and let them go. When I get mad I know it’s inside of me and not the other person. When I begin to lose my temper with my kids I park the car and walk around it a couple of times. I give myself enough time to breathe and let go of the anger.”

Buddhist Meditation
Patrick McClintock and Marilyn Goldberg have transformed their dining room into a Tibetan Buddhist Dharma Center where they hold weekly meditation sessions (see box). As part of a commitment in a course they are taking they meditate nine hours a week. “If you meditate enough you begin to observe yourself (your mind), and you can begin to see time in different ways,” explains Marilyn, chair of the ancient studies department, at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. “When someone does something I’m not happy with, I begin to see I’m not really connected to what they did and I don’t have to become angry.” She began meditation as part of a spiritual quest, but experienced practical benefits as well. “My relationship with my mother has gotten deeper as a result of my practice.”

Anyone can meditate. Marilyn says it’s better to try it consistently for five minutes than to try it for 20 minutes and get sick of it and quit. “That moment of awareness when you realize you are not your thought is really something.”

Patrick, who is a massage therapist, says he meditated on and off for 30 years before he really started meditating. “For me it was the teacher (that motivated me), then it was a leap of faith, then it became really great.”

Patrick shares a meditation method that is part of Buddhist teachings that may be a good way for a new person to start:

Sit or lie in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Observe your thoughts. They may seem overwhelming – like a raging waterfall - but it’s only because you’ve begun to be aware of them. Don’t try to stop your thoughts, but don’t follow them. Just let them go. The second step is to observe the nature of a calm mind. As you observe, thoughts become a lot less frequent – like a gentle flowing stream. They come and go. It is here you begin to realize that you are not your thoughts or your emotions. This is where the exiting stuff begins. The third step is awareness. Your thoughts become like a calm lake or calm ocean. You begin to see yourself as an appropriate part of the universe.

Places on the Hill to Get Started in Your Practice:
Capitol Hill Yoga Mondays and Fridays 7-7:30am. 202-544-0011 www.capitolhillyoga.com

Healing Arts of Capitol Hill Wednesday 7:30-8:30pm www.healingartscapitolhill.com

Kagyu DC, 1519 D St., SE.; 202-546-0226. Intro to Meditation, first Tuesday of the month, 7-9pm; Sunday meditation 3-4pm; chanting and meditation, Tuesdays, 7-8pm.

St Mark’s Episcopal Church, Mondays 7:30-9:30pm; 202-546-0269.

Unity of Washington, DC, first Wednesday of the month, 7pm, 700 A St., NE., 202-543-1414; www.unitywdc.org.

Contemplative Prayer Class: margoteyring@yahoo.com.

Resources:

Books
The Best Guide to Meditation, Victor N. Davich.
Happiness, Matthieu Ricard (the book I’m now reading)
Learn to Meditate, David Fontana
Meditation as Medicine: Activate the Path of Your Natural Healing Force, Dharma Singh Khalsa
Mindfulness Meditation: Cultivating the Widsom of Your Body and Mind, Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh
The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret & Science of Happiness, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

CDs
Meditations to Live By, Rod Stryker or any CD by him. Log onto his website at: www.parayoga.com