BY Andrea Seydel Live Life Happy Podcast
INTRODUCTION
How are you? No Like HOW ARE YOU DOING, REALLY? Stressed?
Medical experts agree that the epidemic of stress is damaging our physical and emotional health. Well there is no one cure, transcendental meditation technique is a simple practice that drastically changes how we respond to stress and life challenges.
Bob Roth, teaches as a simple, practical, and straightforward guide to transcendental meditation.
Transcendental meditation has scientifically proven benefits. Such as reduce stress and anxiety improved focus sleep and resilience increased creativity and memory just to name a few. This 5000-year-old technique has a clear and direct impact on very modern day problems.
A working definition:
TM- simple, natural, and effortless
SIMPLE because there is an elegant simplicity to the practice. NATURAL because there is no suggestion or manipulation involved. EFFORTLESS because there is no concentration or control required. It is not a religion or philosophy. It is a technique you learn and practice on your own.
TM is practiced for 20 minutes, twice daily, sitting up comfortably in a chair or on your bed or wherever you can set up comfortably with your eyes closed. Unlike other meditation practices, thoughts are part of the process in TM. EG. Good music in the other room. Kids yelling in this room. You want to turn down kids and turn up the music in the other room. Transcendance is about going deeper, different experience, starting from the inside.
You are just settling down while you are wide awake inside.
Success without stress
Stress has a huge impact on our lives. Transcendental meditation helps to neutralize its build up. Stress has not always been of the enemy.Stress has not always been of the enemy. The stress response is one of the most important survival tools our bodies have.
The fight or flight response before was if we were to see a lion or hear the right that information we go to Amygdala, the network of nerves cells or neurons deep in the brain. The amygdala is the fire alarm that tells your body is under attack. When any human is under stress, two hormones the chemical messengers cortisol and epinephrin flood the bloodstream. The amygdala is the fire alarm that tells your body is under attack.
Today, if we are already in a high state of stress and anxiety. When we experience stress often and repeatedly we become chronically activated. Life is filled with inevitable external stressors. The most important part is how we respond to life stressors. This is what the scientist call our stress response. According to research, scratch hits us in at least three distinct often debilitating ways. 1. On a muscular skeletal Level, we become tense. Tensions affect people differently, tension headache stiff neck and shoulders tense jaw stomach not back pain which means less oxygen reaches the brain or heart.
2. Second on the level of cognitive functioning, reduced circulation to the brain skews it's electrical activity taking the brain off line. Stress can shut down the prefrontal cortex, which functions as the brains CEO. The prefrontal cortex governs executive functioning: judgement, problem solving, reasoning, and your sense of self. With the CEO offline, the amygdala takes over the command of the brain. That's good if a lion is about to attack you, because of the fight or flight or emergency centre of the brain. But it's not good if your amygdala goes ballistic when we're not really under threat. (Think of you and makes you laugh as a hyper active paid by the hour security guard, itching for a fight it deals only with crisis, impending attack and urgent matters. Bottom line is with chronic stress, your chronically acting from that fear center. Where we don't make a decision we displayed judgement are unable to plan well and we are reactive.
3. The third component is that our stress response stimulates the adrenal glands atop each kidney to secrete too much cortisol, now known as the stress hormone. This feeds anxiety, and then the adrenals pump out more cortisol, which makes it even more anxious. Stress has turned our bodies into walking cortisol factories. Elevated cortisol destroys healthy muscle and bone, slow is healing and normal cell regeneration, it destroys bio chemicals needed to make vital hormones, impairs digestion, metabolism and mental function, and weakens the immune system. It also affects basic functions such as memory. Cortisol also stimulates your appetite, which of course increases our weight. Finally it has a adverse effect on our sleep. Cortisol suppresses your body's production of the hormone melatonin, which is integral to your sleep cycle.
Meditation stands out as one of the most powerful and effective technique for reducing stress.
How TM works:
1. The mind has different levels- surface level-thinking mind (active, excited, heated) and deeper level (calmer more expansive) 2. It's the nature of the mind to be drawn effortlessly to greater satisfaction. 3. TM gives inward direction where are the mind naturally and effortlessly settles down to it's quiet and peaceful transcendent state of awareness. 4. This experience produces a unique state of restful alertness which create Nuro physiological changes to the mind body and behaviour. ( I CALL IT THE QUIET TIME MOMENT)
TM technique has many purposes; reduce stress, clearer than mine, raise performance. But for most among them is to experience transcendence. Going to a deeper place "the zone"extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience. It helps you wake slowly from sleep, increase energy and resilience. Makes you more present and receptive to people around you, plus is helps you sleep better at night and wake feeling fresher. Time with your true self- listen to your needs, wants, desires. Take time to charge your battery 100%. Some people say TM is like a continual parallel stream of consciousness, ever present, usually ignored, that we can step into at any time. Take yourself back to it's most natural state. Open to door for stillness and strength.
TM technique is taught over for consecutive days. In order to prepare it's good to tap in to the reasons why do you want to learn the technique. Usually you are given a mantra it's soul purpose is to serve as a vehicle for transcending- one that allows you're busy, active mind to settle too it's deeper level. IT'S LIKE TAKING YOUR MIND TO THE SPA! Quiet time and that's all..
Points of correct practice
1. It should be easy to do, and you should feel deep relaxation during practice, and you feel a sense of well-being afterwards. LEARN FROM A CERTIFIED TM teacher.
Encouraged to meditate twice a day. The first meditation in the morning, before breakfast. Morning mediations gives you greater energy and resilience so you don['t take on as much stress during the day. The second meditation is best done in the late arfternoon or early evening, before dinner if possible. You rid your body of much of the stresses that accumulate during the day.
Decide first what do you want too get from learning to meditate? Clarity in my vision, maintain a clear connection to my inner wisdom and inner voice, calmness and heightened awareness in my day, stress reduction tension.... WHAT IS IT FOR YOU? Developing the intangible for greatness.... .
TIP: Don't set alarm, you will know when the time is up. if you fall asleep that is ok, you needed it Make it part of your routine. IT is time with your true self. Bottom line: TM is simple natural and effortless- with no concentration or control of the mind. When you learn TM you begin to understand the unique state of restful alertness that allows the body to dissolve deeply rooted stress.
Growing the benefits
The secret is in the accumulative affect of the practice. benefits may not show up instantly. Settle down into the field of stillness fo a few minutes during your morning meditation then go back about your day. You will feel wquiminity and clarity of thinking immediately and last for some time. Start noticing the growing benefits of the practice. may not be obvious at first.
It's what happens when you are not tied up in a big ball of stress. Meditation leads to open mindedness and creativity. Mediation is a process of opening up. It's like taking a hot shower but betters... even though meditation is not about thinking of anything in particular, a great idea can come through and you just grab it. It also doesn't lessen your emotions your emotions are the same but you can step back and say I am not going to be controlled by that emotion. Bottom line everyone experiences different benefits of meditating..
LIFE HAPPEN- there will be events in our lives that might need a little support to get through.