Meditation
The inner calm induced by this is an ideal counter to the stress of life.
The inner calm induced by this is an ideal counter to the stresses of life. Recent studies by neuroimaging on monks, trained in the art for many years, have shown areas of the brain responsible for creative thinking are more active during meditation.
Meditation is brain training for relaxation.
The ability to relax is an essential part of good mental health. It lowers the pulse rate, lowers blood pressure, lowers the level of stress hormones and leads to a more relaxed mental state and greater mental flexibility.
Just as with any other kind of exercise, there are many ways to do it and it needs to be done regularly. One trip to the gym will not get you fit. There are different types of meditation, some based in the mind, others in the body. For example, Transcendental Meditation is mind based. It involves repeating a completely meaningless mantra over and over again, whilst not falling asleep, and learning to let go of thoughts that inevitably bubble up during the meditation. It helps to show that a thought is nothing more than a thought. It shows that the mind produces thoughts just as a biscuit factory produces biscuits. Overall, one biscuit is very much like any other biscuit and only rarely does a biscuit or thought have any significant consequences.
Being able to let go of thoughts is a key step in developing a healthy mind. Meditation is a mental exercise that helps develop that particular mental muscle. Other ways to meditate can involve concentrating on a single object, contemplating a single word such as ‘peace’ or using body-based methods such as concentrating on breathing in a particular pattern, brain to reach deep states of relaxation, whilst at the same time becoming intensely aware of the present moment.
Unfortunately, the very people who most need to learn to meditate find it most difficult. For people with very high anxiety levels, meditating for even three or four minutes a day can be a struggle, an achievement and the first step in learning to manage the mind.
