The Power of Meditation by Adoley Odunton
It’s a challenge to sit still all day. It can also be painful. Deb complained that her b--- was sore for days! Sometimes I wonder why I try. But then I experience what our minister calls the “aftergrow” - unexpected insights that cause us to make meaningful changes in our lives.
For example, I drive fast. Since my return, I’ve moved into the slower lanes and actually enjoy it! Despite my speed, I wasn’t getting to my destination much faster. I was just creating more stress in my life. Paradoxically, when I go slower, I seem to have more time. Meditation gives me greater clarity and focus.
For thousands of years Buddhist monks have practiced “metta or loving kindness” meditation. They believe compassion can be taught. Science is now proving that what we think and feel resculpts our neural tissue. It changes our brains. In a recent conference at MIT, science and spirituality converged when the Dalai Lama met with neuroscientists who shared remarkable discoveries about the power of meditation through their studies of the brain. They discovered that compared to non-meditators, the monks’ brain activity was substantially increased in the areas tied to joy and enthusiasm. When they were shown film clips of images used in psychology labs that commonly roused disgust and correlate with the part of the brain that governs negative emotion (the right prefrontal cortex), the area in the monks’ brain that responded was the ones associated with positive emotion (the left prefrontal cortex). Instead of disgust, the monks experienced a compassion and empathy. A concern for other’s suffering had become an automatic response in them. In a world where 911 occurred meditation offers a powerful alternative in defusing intolerance.
The good news is you don’t have to go on retreat to meditate. You can begin by connecting with your breath. That’s why we created our Vitality CD series that shows you how to incorporate meditation into your life no matter how busy you are. There is a 1minute, five minute and a 20 minute meditation. Try it, even if it’s just for one minute. You’ll be glad you did! To take advantage of our current special visit http://www.synergyunlimited.net/vitality.htm or call 310-945-5651.
