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Let us set about understanding ‘pranayama’ and meditation after we drew down our expectations from them. Some people expect the impossible from these. The uninformed anticipations like diabetes cure or ‘kevela kumbhaka’* (do not worry what it is, at this stage) helping to defy death, bring disrespect to this simple, pristine health practice. It is not a path to salvation or god.
1. Pranayama and meditation help in bettering your breathing, hypertension and respiration ailments.
2. Pranayama invigorates internal organs to function as they are designed to. Example: lungs and heart.
3. Pranayama along with meditation helps gain control over mind and thus able to concentrate more.
4. Important of all, it calms down arousing thoughts and frustrations.
The tendency to call pranayama a technique should be refrained at. The word technique dilutes the practice to something, like a ready made formula that when applied, results in a quick fix solution. Yet it is known to have resulted in helping patients suffering ailments like asthma and palpitations. But it is not an out of the box, all-in-one remedy.
What is Pranayama?
It is a conjoin of two words prana and ayama. Prana stands for breath and ayama for dimension. This is not the same dimension as in measurement. So, pranayama is a conscious and definite way of breathing for expected results. The breathing cycle in pranayama can be divided into three steps.
1. Puraka
2. Kumbhaka
a. Antar-kumbhaka
b. Bahya-kumbhaka
3. Rechaka
Inhalation or puraka of breath is slow enough to feel the air filling your lungs and alveoli to their entirety. In the normal course we do not feel this as our breaths are shallow. Here in practicing pranayama, we make an attempt to fill in completely & deeply and see lungs expand to maximum. We watch the inhalation to be peaceful from beginning till we are full.
Exhalation or rechaka is again equally slow as the inhalation is and we should watch that it is complete. With this we feel the empty lungs contracting to minimum.
Retention or kumbhaka has two varieties such as internal retention or the ‘antar-kumbhaka’ and the external retention or ‘bahya-kumbhaka’. The former is important as it gives our alveoli time sufficient enough to exchange the oxygen the puraka has brought in and the excretes like carbon dioxide and moisture back to breath. Notice, without the breath being retained at least for a while inside our lungs, we will not be making justice to our own selves.
The normal volume of air handled per cycle of breathing is measured and is around 200 – 300 ml. But with the watchful and conscious pranayama, it is found to increase upto 500 ml in healthy adults.
Method of pranayama practice
The excerpts of methodology explained in good books and perfected over the centuries by proponents are here for you. Here is a tip to you before you are begun with the practice. Pranayama is something to start with a firm faith in it. Do not take it just for the heck of a dekko (trial). Here we go!
Practice to chant ‘OM’. The sound of OM can be divided tripartite.
1. ‘ä’ (should sound like the first syllable in the word audit)
2. ‘oo’ (this is the sound as in the word shoot)
3. ‘m’ (the simple, mouth closed sound)
When and how long one should chant this? The chant OM may last for 10 to 12 seconds depending on time you take to inhale or exhale fully. You can prolong this further, looking at your comfort level. Mind you, do not unnecessarily stretch time till you suffocated. Comfort level is important here. You are not doing hatha yoga with this.
Divide the stretch of time equally amongst the three components of OM.
Get the feel by placing your palm on your diaphragm when you start chanting ä and move up to mid chest during oo, finally touch the top of your lung when chanting m.
Repeat the same thing, but in reverse order when exhaling (rechaka).
You can hold your breath approximately for the same duration as the inhalation and exhalation (i.e; incase of antar-kumbhaka). This is the most important time physiologically as well as mentally. This is when the actual exchange of the oxygen and waste gases occurs. Observe this meticulously in a silent environment.
You can practice this in sets of twelve and increasing the number of sets to comfortably more than three, with increase in experience. If you are doing more than one set, I would suggest you to use your nostrils alternately for inhalation and exhalation. Further for increasing concentration, you can try closing your eyes during the course of pranayama.
In the silence of your surrounding, under guided breathing you realize your heart beat has eased up even from the normal rate, giving it the much desired rest. The heart pumps blood slowly but rich with oxygen. This is studied to be beneficial even psychosomatically. The relaxation of the muscles leads to lesser energy consumption calming the brain.
Now, what do you make of meditation? I tend more to think it is just the other face of the same coin as pranayama is, wherein you guide your mind and breathing and control certain metabolic activities. If there is any difference, then it can be just in what you chant. Thank you.
* kevala kumbhaka – only kumbhaka. There is no puraka or rechaka.
Katha Upanishad (I. iii. 3 to 6)
The objects of experience form the way to be traversed. The soul, senses, and mind together form the enjoyments of pleasure and pain, i.e., the individual. If the mind is not properly controlled, then the senses go out of hand like untrained horses. But if the mind is properly controlled then the senses obey the orders of the master, i.e., the individual, like well trained horses. Indeed, such an individual reaches the highest goal of life.
The author Rajgopal had been writing on technical matters and in this avtar he gave up tags that confine to particular genre of writing. Rajgopal is a mechanical engineer and served the pharmaceutical industry. Oflate he has been putting his efforts in to creative art and healthcare writing. Here he looks up at options available to put life back on track. He can be contacted at http://alevoorrajgopal.blogspot.com He is also writing at: http://vitamineh.blogspot.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alevoor_Rajagopal
For those people who are really dedicated to getting over their anxiety, meditation can be the key.
The are literally thousands of types of meditation, and many books, CDs and Videos out there which will tell you how to meditate. I’m going to ask you to forget nearly all of those.
All meditation will relax you, but that in itself is not a solution to anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias. Most meditations seem to take you away from the present moment and take your concentration away from your body. Such escapism may bring temporary relief from anxiety but will not free you from it, and meditating through anxious moments is hard. Enter Mindfulness meditation.
So, why is Mindfulness Meditation so good for getting over anxiety? There are a few reasons: firstly, through practicingg mindfulness meditation you learn to be in the present moment. That might sound odd, after all we are all in the present moment all the time – how else could it be? In fact, anxiety, panic, and phobias do not really happen in the present moment.
Think about it a second. They happen when you concentrate on bad memories from the past and catastrophic predictions about the future. Mindfulness meditation recognises this and allows you to stay in the present, where everything is just as it should be.
Secondly, with mindfulness meditation you stay in your body and become aware of your body. You become aware of all the tension and stress you are holding in the moment throughout your body. This allows your mind to accept, and not misinterpret tension as a signal to start panicking or feeling anxious.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly of all, mindfulness meditation teaches you to be aware of your thoughts as passing entities which are present in a given moment and then fade as all thoughts do. When you learn to see anxious and catastrophic thoughts in this light you are much better placed to chose how to react to them, or indeed whether to react to them at all.
After diligent practice, the mindfulness meditator can decide to let his/her catastrophic thoughts be, to not react to tension, and to focus on what is happening in the moment. The completely different outlook on life which the meditator nurtures revolves around acceptance and understanding, not reaction and fear. In terms of anxiety and panic, the results can be spectacular.
I am an ex-anxiety sufferer campaigning against expensive gimmicks targeted at vulnerable anxiety sufferers by cynical businessmen. I set up http://www.anxiety2calm.com to examine various therapies, techniques and gimmicks sold as a cure for anxiety, panic attacks and phobias. I also have sections on meditation, EFT, TFT, Journey Therapy, and much much more.
I've just finished my meditation practice for the day in a nearby park. The weather and temperature were near perfect for an October evening.
My body now feels relaxed from head to toe. I was practicing the Falun Dafa exercises that so many have gained similar and greater benefits from.
As I sit here with this totally relaxed and awesome feeling, I notice how busy people are. It seems that everyone is in a hurry, tied up with duties, chores or the pursuit of their choice.
At this particular moment I'm feeling rather free from all of those concerns. I'm just here,in the moment, happy and content.
There is no worry for me at this time.
Of course, I don't always get to feel this way. My life gets busy too. However, whenever I do feel this way it is usually just after I have finished practicing the Falun Dafa exercises.
Sometimes, my body feels light, almost as if I could float right up into the air. Apparently my experience in this is not so unique as others have described similar experiences.
I can only hope that everyone will get to feel this way at least one time in their life. There is really nothing like it. This feeling can really change your outlook on life.
If only the world wasn't so busy, so involved, so absorbed. I just know it could be much more than it is, much better than it is now. Perhaps in the future, conditions will be better, more refined and more enjoyable for everyone.
For now, I'll need to settle for this great feeling and the near perfect temperatures of this mid -Ocober evening. And in this moment I wish everyone the brightest possible future.
David Snape writes for All Things Pondered: http://allthingspondered.com - where you can have your say and (almost) anything is pondered. He also writes for To Be Informed: http://tobeinformed.com - a site supportive of health, fitness and wellness.
A recent article published in The Chronicle of Higher Education about teaching meditation in college has created a great deal of buzz. Several media folks contacted me for my opinion, and they were surprised by my response.
I am sure there are plenty of meditation teachers who are grinning on their cushions at the notion of meditation being offered at universities for academic college credit.
Not me. I think it is a misguided idea--and I'd like to suggest a much better one.
It's not that I don't wholeheartedly believe that meditation is a powerful way to reduce stress, increase concentration, and develop greater awareness and compassion. It's not that I don't agree that college students could benefit from meditation--especially during those stressful finals weeks.
But making meditation an academic college course perpetuates a dangerous notion: that meditation is for highly intelligent, educated people only. ANYONE can benefit from meditation, and the more elite we make it appear, the more people will assume that they are somehow not the "right kind of person" to meditate.
Is a college professor the "right kind of person" to teach meditation? While there are certainly those who have studied meditation personally and professionally, they are not necessarily the ones who can teach it as a valuable wellness tool instead of a Religion or Philosophy course.
As much as I believe in the power of meditation, I'm not sure that paying $4000 (the going rate for one class at a private university in the U.S.) for a one-semester academic course in sitting-and-breathing is an appropriate addition to the curriculum.
Credit for sitting and breathing. Cha-ching! The universities find a new income stream.
Sure, I'm biased. After all, I have four teenage daughters, two of whom are taking college classes, so I tend to be rather mindful of the bang-for-buck quotient.
I'm also wary of turning the practice of nonjudgmental awareness into yet another adult task to be evaluated, another achievement to enable us to get ahead in a competitive world. Judging one's ability to be nonjudgmental seems counterproductive.
The alternative--offering pass/fail grades only--is equally problematic. A pass/fail class that consists of mostly sitting and breathing would be a shoo-in for the no-brainer credit award. We don't need to create more elitism around meditation, but neither do we want it to become the leading bonehead course on campus.
I believe meditation should be offered on every college campus--but make it an activity credit, like yoga or tai chi, instead of an academic credit. Or better yet, offer it at no charge in every student union building as a helpful skill for stress reduction.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, widely regarded as the maestro of meditation-as-medicine, has developed an outstanding program--Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction--which is being taught in communities all over North America. We need much more of that--in workplaces, clinics, hospitals, fitness clubs, retirement communities, HeadStart programs and drug rehabilitation centers.
Yes, we need to bring meditation to the masses. But the most critical element is this: we must open the world of mindfulness to include activities OTHER than meditation.
Those who are most dedicated to the practice and promotion of meditation tend to be Buddhists, whether they are teaching in a temple or a prestigious university. The irony is that if those who are most committed to creating a peaceful world could release their attachment to meditation, they would be far more likely to spread the message of mindfulness to the masses.
It's time to bring meditation down---WAY down.
In fact, we'd do well to shift gears entirely. Instead of focusing on teaching meditation in college, we should jump into playing with mindfulness in kindergarten.
We know that there are certain skills that are learned more quickly and easily by young children than adults--music, foreign languages, sharing--and I propose that mindfulness is one of them.
After all, five-year-olds are much more likely to stay fully present--that's what kids DO! And we want them to view it as an awe-inspiring way to see the world around them with greater awareness and wonder.
Kindergarteners learn by playing, so there's no need to force any particular sitting position or limit oneself to traditional props. In fact, if five-year-olds were encouraged to play with the idea of paying attention, I guarantee that they would be far more creative about it than any 18-year-old.
What we do need are creative teachers who recognize the value of having students who are able to focus calmly in order to play well with others, listen, and learn.
Step away from the idea of meditation as an academic area of study, and jump into the notion that playing with preschoolers is a far more effective and enjoyable way to make mindfulness a lifelong practice.
Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Her playful, powerful eyes-wide-open approach to mindfulness has been featured in over 100 publications around the world. She has been meditating for 30 years. To read her free special report, "The Dirty Little Secret About Meditation" visit her website at http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com
Many believe that the mind is divided into three parts: the conscious, the sub-conscious, and the super conscious. Our conscious mind is usually cluttered with distractions and noise, our sub-conscious holds suppressed past experiences, fears, and (imagined) limitations, but the super conscious is where our perfection and mastery reside.
Think back to a time in your life where everything “clicked”, and you could do no wrong. It may have been for only a few minutes, but for that brief time you were invincible. Maybe you were shooting hoops, and you just couldn’t miss. You felt so “on”, you knew that every shot would be a “swish”… and it was. Possibly you were playing tennis, and you felt as though you could return every shot… and you did. Perhaps you were painting, and you felt like no stroke from your brush could be wrong…
and the canvas turned out to be beautiful. Whether you were dancing, playing a musical instrument, programming a computer, or public speaking, I imagine that at some time in your life, you have experienced such a transcendence of your regular limitations. This state is known as “superconsciousness”. If you have been to this space before, you would do anything to get there again. Unfortunately, therein lays the problem. When we try to analyze and pressure ourselves to reclaim “superconsciousness”, we almost certainly fail.
One way of attaining super consciousness is through meditation. Meditation is the path to true self-awareness. Through meditation we can escape from the limitations that our conscious and sub-conscious mind subject us to.
Come back to the SoundSleeping discussion page in the next few days when I will describe how you can use meditation to rise above your limitations.
In the meantime, consider the following advice: “Do not fear mistakes, there are none” – Miles Davis.
Mark Altman's website, http://www.soundsleeping.com - free relaxing music, contains relaxing music, sleep-aids, stress reducing tools, relaxation advice, and an active discussion.
Growth Vitamin Supplements - In this day and age, your health is not something you want to gamble with.
Yoga Booty Ballet - This is not unlike the person who attempts to plumb the depths of oriental scriptures. Right away it becomes evident that they consist of incalculable layers, nearly all symbolic in nature.
Master Yoga Teacher - The negativity is a result of past experiences, being in a negative environment, or being under the influence of unconstructive ideas.
Multiple Black Belts - There is an instinctive fear to take start this task. Hence, the reason why there are professionals for psychological analysis.
Chronic Pain Sufferers - Mindless eating is a favorite recreational past time. It fills time and space and those emotional holes that sometimes cry out for attention.
Meditation Supply Items - If you are not comfortable in the traditional crossed legged or Lotus positions, you might benefit from one of the following meditation supply items.
Deep Meditation - The key to meditating in a noisy environment is to change the way you think about noise.
Preksha Meditation - Kayotsarga has two implications--complete relaxation of the body and self-awareness.
Earth Dimensional Meditation - The first step in unleashing your inner peace is to find somewhere that will allow you to feel safe whilst meditating and undisturbed.
Alternative Health Healing - Nowadays it seems that even the mainstream magazines are discussing the numerous benefits of meditation. What was once an activity reserved for the eclectic in our culture has now taken a strong foothold in the fabric of Western society.
Reciprocal Maintenance Meditation - From time immemorial it has been known that some people, Yogis, Gurus, Shamen, Priests, Saints, Paramahamsas, Buddhas, Christs, including Ramana Maharshi have evolved to a state of high energy.
Breathing Exercises - There are many different hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has it's strengths, and it's weaknesses.
> > > More coming soon!
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