#Meditation for Dummies 11 Ways to Survive 21st Century #Yoga ...

Can you learn to meditate from a book? I used to be pretty sure it took lots of practice and some serious lack of children and distractions to even come close to meditating.? Having read many books on the subject from Vipassana Meditation to Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep/guided relaxation) I can tell you I have never been clear on what meditation is exactly from the standpoint of ?how do I know when I am meditating? and never thought I would find a book that could help me meditate. I received a review copy and was not compensated in any way, all opinion expressed are my own.

Enter, Meditation for Dummies. As reader may know already I am a big fan of the for Dummies line.? There are well written, concise and a wealth of knowledge.? This book is no exception. Meditation is easier than you think is the premise of the book written by Stephan Bodian, an author with an impressive background and credentials.? He was the editor-in-chief of Yoga Journal from 1984-1994 back when magazine was more closely related to yoga and less concerned with selling ad space to companies touting half-naked stick thin yoga models.? He has 40 years of experience teaching meditation and a graduate degree in psychology. I absolutely enjoyed this book and its tips ? it would be a welcome addition to any yoga instructor or meditation teacher as it has a whole chapter on All Purpose Meditations with instructions, and the book is full of great information that can be used in class.? A superb reference book on meditation!

Curing the Postmodern Problem: Meditation For Dummies? Shares Eleven Ways in Which This Ancient Practice Can Help You
Survive the 21st Century

Hoboken, NJ (September 2012)?These days, it feels like everything is a race: A race to get all the boxes on your to-do list checked off. A race to make it to the next rung of the professional ladder. A race to keep up with and perhaps even beat out ?the Joneses.? A race to make sure your kids have the perfect academic, extracurricular, and personal qualifications so that they can get into a good college. A race to make sure all the bills get paid, even though you?re on a reduced budget.

????????? However, instead of building the perfect lives we want, what we?re really doing is racing each other into the ground?and over the edge. If this last description of manic modern life sounds all too familiar, it?s high time you stepped off the merry-go-round (for at least five to ten minutes), sat down in a quiet place, and participated in a simple practice that has been around for millennia: meditation.

????????? ?When people operate on low margins with time and money (which is everybody I know right now), their stress levels can go through the roof,? points out Stephan Bodian, author of Meditation For Dummies?, 3rd Edition, (Wiley, August 2012, ISBN: 978-1-1182-9144-3, $24.99). ?In many ways, meditation is the perfect antidote to the postmodern predicament because it effectively reduces stress, increases energy, and enables you to enjoy better overall health?and much more.?

????????? Bodian, who is a licensed psychotherapist, served as the editor of Yoga Journal for many years and has also practiced and taught meditation for over 40 years. He has packed a fascinating array of facts and best practices into this easy-to-read volume, which also includes a foreword by Dean Ornish, MD.

????????? ?Since our culture programs us to expect a perfect life that is impossible to achieve, our best efforts only cause us to become overstressed, overscheduled, overstimulated, and overtired,? explains Bodian. ?This is all compounded by the fact that your body and mind have been ?programmed? to respond to life?s inevitable ups and downs with stress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction. But you have the power to change all of that through meditation. You can program yourself to experience inner peace, harmony, equanimity, and joy.?

????????? Before any false assumptions you?re harboring cause you to give up on meditation before you even begin, Bodian assures that you can keep it simple (you?ll see positive results after just five to ten minutes of meditation a day) or explore the practice?s subtleties in great depth. It?s entirely up to you.

????????? If you?re intrigued but still not entirely sure that meditation is for you, then read on for 11 more reasons why this ancient practice can help you live your best, most healthy and fulfilling life:

Improving your mental and physical health. If you?re a skeptic at heart, then you?ll be reassured to know that studies have proven that meditation offers numerous benefits, including:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Quicker recovery from stress
  • Fewer heart attacks and strokes
  • Reduced cholesterol levels
  • Muscle relaxation
  • Reduction in the intensity of pain
  • More happiness and peace of mind
  • More loving, harmonious relationships
  • Enhanced creativity and self-actualization
  • Reductions in both acute and chronic anxiety
  • Heightened perceptual clarity and sensitivity
  • ?and much more!

?While scientific studies of meditation weren?t conducted until the 1930s (and have really taken off in the past 10 to 15 years), practitioners have been experiencing these significant benefits for centuries upon centuries,? points out Bodian.

Awakening to the present moment. When you rush breathlessly from one moment to the next, anticipating another problem or anticipating a coming pleasure, you miss the beauty and immediacy of the present, which is constantly enfolding before your eyes.

?Meditation teaches you to slow down and take each moment as it comes?the sounds of traffic, the smell of new clothes, the laughter of children, the coming and going of your breath,? explains Bodian. ?In fact, as the meditative tradition reminds us, only the present moment exists anyway?the past is just a memory and the future is a fantasy.?

Making friends with yourself. When you?re constantly trying to live up to expectations (your own or someone else?s) and adapt to an ever-changing, competitive environment, you rarely have the opportunity or the motivation to get to know yourself just the way you are. But when you meditate, you learn to welcome every experience and facet of your being without judgment or denial. You begin to treat yourself as you would a close friend, accepting (and even loving) the whole package.

Connecting more deeply with others. As you awaken to the present moment and open your heart and mind to your own experience, you naturally extend this quality of awareness and presence to your family and friends. And when you start to accept others the way they are?a skill you can cultivate through the practice of meditation?you open up the channels for a deeper love and intimacy to flow between you.

Relaxing the body and calming the mind. As contemporary health researchers have discovered?and traditional texts agree?mind and body are inseparable, and an agitated mind inevitably produces a stressed-out body.

?As the mind settles, relaxes, and opens during meditation, so does the body?and the longer you meditate (I mean both minutes logged each day as well as days and weeks of regular practice), the more this peace and relaxation ripples out to every area of your life, including your health,? says Bodian.

Lightening up! Have you ever thought and worried yourself into an uncontrollable frenzy?or even a meltdown? It?s easy to do: fears feed on one another, problems get magnified exponentially, and the next thing you know, you?re feeling overwhelmed, panicked, and desperate to take a leave of absence from your own life.

?The good news is, meditation encourages an inner mental spaciousness in which difficulties and concerns no longer seem so threatening, and constructive solutions can naturally arise,? promises Bodian. ?Meditation also fosters a certain detachment that allows for greater objectivity, perspective, and even humor.?

Enjoying more happiness. Research reveals that the daily practice of meditation for just a few months actually makes people happier, as measured not only by their subjective reports but also by brain-mapping technology. In fact, meditation is apparently one of the only things that can permanently change your emotional set point?your basic level of relative happiness that scientists say stays the same throughout your life, no matter what you experience.

Experiencing focus and flow. Have you ever been so fully involved in an activity that all sense of self-consciousness, time, and distraction dissolved? If so, you?ve experienced what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls a state of flow.

?You might experience a state of flow when you?re creating a work of art, playing a sport, working in the garden, or even making love,? explains Bodian. ?Athletes call it being ?in the zone.? Through meditation, you can discover how to give the same focused attention to?and derive the same enjoyment from?every activity.?

Feeling more centered, grounded, and balanced. For many people, living in an increasingly flat and rapidly-changing world can foster feelings of insecurity and of not having a ?place? to call one?s own. To counter these negative mindsets, meditation offers an inner groundedness and balance that external circumstances can?t destroy.

Enhancing your performance at work and at play. Studies have shown that basic meditation practice alone can enhance your perceptual clarity, creativity, self-actualization, and many of the other factors that contribute to superior performance. Plus, specific meditations have been devised to enhance performance in a variety of activities, ranging from sports to schoolwork.

Aligning with a deeper sense of purpose. When you practice making the shift from doing and thinking to being (one way to describe this is fully experiencing the present moment with love and without ego), you?ll discover how to align yourself with a deeper current of meaning and belonging.

?For instance, you might get in touch with personal feelings and aspirations that have long remained hidden from your conscious awareness,? suggests Bodian.

????????? ?If there?s any such thing as a ?magic bullet? that can help you survive and even thrive throughout the 21st Century, then meditation is it,? assures Bodian. ?If you allow it to become a regular part of your life, it will relieve your stress, disappointment, fear, anger, outrage, and hurt while focusing your energy, making you more effective, and even improving your mental and physical health.?

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About the Author:
Stephan Bodian
is the author of Meditation For Dummies?, 3rd Edition. He is a licensed psychotherapist and former editor-in-chief of Yoga Journal, has practiced and taught meditation for over 40 years, and has written extensively on meditation, stress management, and spirituality. His articles have appeared in Fitness, Cooking Light, Natural Solutions, and other national magazines.

About the Book:
Meditation For Dummies?, 3rd Edition, (Wiley, August 2012, ISBN: 978-1-1182-9144-3, $24.99) is available at bookstores nationwide, major online booksellers, or directly from the publisher by calling (877) 762-2974.

Source: http://skyyogastudio.com/2012/10/02/meditation-for-dummies-11-ways-to-survive-21st-century-yoga-spirituality-skyyogastudio-com/

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