Meditation Glossary
If you're unfamiliar with some of the terms
used to discuss meditation, please review
my glossary.
What is Meditation?
While there are myriad definitions of meditation,
one commonality is the shifting of focus from outer objects or
activities to an inner dimension where one may encounter timelessness,
a connection to wisdom, or a sense of peace.
Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon
a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention
itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce
stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth. Read
more.
What is guided meditation?
Guided meditation is a visualization, or a
form of self-hypnosis in a tool that anyone can use to help foster
spiritual, physical and emotional healing. By providing positive
mental pictures to create inner imagery and self-suggestion, the
visualizations can change emotions and that can have a physical
effect on the body.
While meditation—from guided imagery to mindfulness
exercises—is widely used in health care, researchers
now are looking beyond meditation's stress-relieving virtues to see
how it may help rewire the brain's circuitry and treat or prevent
a host of specific ailments.
The emotional benefits of meditation and corresponding
changes in brain and biology may be associated with of positive emotions
(and natural hormones like Serotonin) that meditation is said to
increase. Read
more.
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Art as a tool
Art can help us see what we're missing. Sometimes,
we will see another person's point of view; sometimes we will see
how limited our own point of view is, and sometimes we will see
that we aren't alone. Seeing more or seeing better always improves
the quality of our decisions and how effectively we work with other
people.
What is a metaphor?
A figure of speech in which a word
or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate
another, making a comparison "sea of troubles" and "The
high-rise garbage repository" is a metaphor for both accomplishment
and failure" When we talk in metaphors we can map out whole
sets of ideas. Some examples of metaphors:
- unkempt or well-tended gardens
- cityscapes with slums
- ships
- islands
- golf courses
- castles
What is a symbol?
A symbol is a concrete object that makes present
an invisible Reality. Do we wish to disregard invisible Realities?
Let's explore the question before reaching a decision. Symbols
are the "stuff" that dreams are made of. Erich Fromm,
the psychologist, points out that "all myths and all dreams
have one thing in common; they are all 'written' in the same language,
symbolic language. What then is symbolic language? Read
more.
Meditation and Alternative Healing for Adults
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(M.I.T.) and the Dali Lama are involved in ongoing studies as it
becomes apparent that meditation is moving into the mainstream
of Western Medicine.
“Prescriptions” for meditation are now
common in the treatment of stress, pain, and a range of chronic diseases
in both medicine and psychiatry. Some meditative approaches are currently
the subject of National Institutes of Health-supported clinical trials
and research studies.
Concurrently, the power of our non-invasive technologies
has made it possible to investigate the nature of cognition and emotion
in the brain as never before. Read
more.
Can Meditation Help Children?
A Georgia study funded by the National Institutes
of Health found 20 minutes of daily meditation lowered blood pressure
and heart rates in middle schoolers. Meditation techniques consisted
of a simple, concentration-based breathing technique. Read
more.
Meditation and Children with Behavioral Problems
The children were "negative, angry and
anxious" Schoolchildren are being given meditation sessions
to help curb bad behavior. Education officials in Portsmouth are
spending about £500,000 on the scheme which also offers pupils
sessions in anger management. The idea came as the result of a
desperate appeal for help from six head teachers in the city. Read
more.
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