The Peace Center
Have you been wondering what the big deal is about meditation anyway?
Why do we keep hearing about meditation? Why is it hard to keep a consistent practice? Why should we meditate? What are the benefits of meditation?
I have come across meditation discussions so many times and realize it can be difficult to have a meditation practice that is consistent. I continue to learn about it and notice the topic in new perspectives and locations as it sinks into my fibers so that I won't have to try to have a consistent practice but I'll feel something missing when I don't. Similar to buying a new brand-type of car, suddenly you see it everywhere or notice many more of the type and color than you ever did before. This has been my experience about meditation messages making themselves apparent. I decided to note those occurrences here in hopes of helping others learn about mediation and who says what about it. We all have our own free will to choose how to respond to our environment. If you are moved to send me the messages you find, I'll be happy to also share those.
...Tracee
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July 27, 2011 - Meditation halves risk of fatal heart attack and stroke (blog post on WDDTY
http://www.wddty.com/meditation-halves-risk-of-fatal-heart-attack-and-stroke.html)
Meditation can halve your risk of a heart attack and stroke by reducing blood pressure, thickening of the arteries and cholesterol, a ‘seminal’ new study has discovered. Researchers from the US’s National Institute of Mental Health say that Transcendental Meditation (TM) – where the meditator keeps repeating a mantra – can even protect against diabetes. “If TM were a drug conferring so many benefits, it would be a billion-dollar blockbuster,” said research team leader Norman Rosenthal. TM was tested on a group of 201 men and women with an average age of 59 who had been suffering from atherosclerosis for nine years. Half were instructed in TM – which they performed for 20 minutes twice a day – and the rest were given advice on modifying their diet and exercising regularly. The TM group saw such a dramatic improvement in their condition that the researchers reckon they reduced their risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke by 47 per cent. (Source: Annual meeting of the American Heart Association, November 16, 2009).
June 21, 2011 - New Study Suggest Meditation Positively Affects genes by Paul B. Greene, Ph.D., Clinical and research psychologist in his OCD Panic and Anxiety Blog aired in Mental Health. Full blog article can be found here: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/new-study-suggests-meditation-positively-affects-genes
The article discusses how meditation reduces our stress levels by reducing the extent to which our stressors bother us. Some innovative new reasearch indicates that meditation actually increases the enzyme telomerase which affects the telomeres. The telomeres are a protective part of our chormosone associated with the age and repeated cell division. Increased telomerase could mean that meditation affects the aging process on a cellular level. The telomerase increase could be a byproduct of reduced stress and not directly associated with meditation. Whatever the specific reason for the increase in telomerase, I like the idea that meditation affects our cells and the aging process. Finally a reason for some people to pay attention; meditate to keep from looking your age!
May 7, 2011 — SOS Chicagoland
by John Wolf
Meditation Checklist
- Before you sit, do whatever it takes to be fully awake and alert.
- Assume a relaxed pose and review your body. If there is tension anywhere, readjust now. For the duration of the sitting, don’t move.
- Invoke God’s blessing in a spirit of devotion, humility, and self-surrender, knowing the results of your practice are in God’s hands.
- Close your eyes and direct a relaxed, loving inner gaze into the center of the darkness, about eight to ten inches in front of you.
- Repeat the names of God slowly, continuously, in an unbroken pattern.
- Always remain conscious of what you see. If the gaze breaks or thoughts intervene, bring the attention back, re-center the gaze, and resume the repetition.
- Whatever visions or vistas appear, keep a relaxed gaze focused in the middle.
- After the sitting, give thanks for what you received.
- Review this sitting with your checklist. Identify how to make your next sitting better.
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4/28/11 - The Family Meditation Book - How ten minutes a day together can make life saner (and more pleasant) for even the busiest families by Kerry Lee MacLean
According to recent studies by a high level neurology and brain psychology team working with the Dalai lama and his monks, the latest research proves that meditation deactivates the right pre-frontal lobe, which produces negative feelings like sadness, anxiety and worry. At the same time, it activates the left pre-frontal lobe, responsible for positive feelings such as happiness, enthusiasm, joy, high energy and alertness. Anyone familiar with the Dalai Lama's joyfully energetic presence has seen this truth demonstrated in abundance!
If you stop and think about it, we westerners have never had clearly defined tools for working with our mind and emotions. When we were kids, our parents might have said "cheer up" or "calm down", or at best, "you need to go for a walk and cool off", but that was really about it. No one ever said, "sit down and use this technique to relax your mind for a few minutes every day. It w2ill prevent you from getting overly depressed or riled up about things. : I certainly never had that. Now that we have access to such helpful tools, let's put them to good use!
excerpt from Chapter 1
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3/10/11 - Elizabeth A. Grant - www.YourQuantumSuccessCoach.com
In her program in "Phase 2: Day Four" Elizabeth addresses how important meditation is and how it completely changed her life. She says it is for our spiritual self what nutritious food and water is for our body. "Meditating on a regular basis - even for just a few minutes a day - aligns you with your higher self and detaches you from your ego and fear-based thoughts."
Ms. Grant gives a link to Kevin Schoeninger's website on Core Energy Meditation - http://budURL.com/CEMeditation. You have to enter your name and email address to hear his information. Kevin guides you through a 6 minute meditation. You can use this technique to release from any negative state and return to state of strong, clear and balanced vibration. For example, you can use it when you feel stress, anxiety, depression, anger, or any negative emotion. You can also use it when you feel stuck in a limiting mindset or belief like "I'm not worthy of success" or "It's impossible." Anytime and anywhere you feel off-center is a great time to do The Core Energy Technique. It’s also a great way to connect with your inner guidance system so you feel connected to you really are and what’s truly important to you in your life.
Some meditation myths that Elizabeth decodes in her quantum success program:
1) "I can't meditate because I can't get my mind to shut off." - Clearing your mind of thought is learned - just like having your mind cluttered with thoughts is learned. A good way to get started is to use guided meditations which help you stay focused on the meditation and not your random thoughts.
2) "Meditation isn't effective unless you're doing it 20-30 minutes." It will be effective if you just take 2 minutes a few times a day.
3) "Meditation means I would be following an Eastern religion." False! Prayer is a form of meditation. It is simply having some quiet time that allows you to connect with your higher self.
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2/7/11 submitted by Mark, a friend to the Peace Center. In New York Times article from January 28, 2011 , "How Meditation May change the Brain", Sindya Bhanoo talks about her husband going to a silent meditation retreat and then wanting to try a serious practice for about three months to see how it changes his life. He is going to meditate for two hours a day. I look forward to hearing the results. Link to the article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/how-meditation-may-change-the-brain/
The article goes on to talk about specific studies. One describes a study in which subjects meditated for 30 minutes daily for eight weeks and they showed measurable changes in gray-matter density in areas of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. The findings are at this link: http://www.psyn-journal.com/article/S0925-4927(10)00288-X/abstract
A 2009 study found the benefit of reduced blood pressure, a 2007 study suggest that meditators have longer attention spans and another found increased empathy.
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1/6/11 FaceBook post by John Assaraf
Here's how you can begin to recondition your brain:
Create a new, powerful, physical and mental vision. Make your goals emotionally rich and crystal clear.
Create powerful declarations and affirmations in each category - health, wealth, relationships, business and spirituality - that support your new vision. Use a portfolio of imprinting material, which may include written, auditory, visual and subliminal pieces. Through repetition - affirmations on audio, visualization and medititation - you will begin to replace your old beliefs and habits with new ones.
Maintain a daily routine of reconditioning techniques: For five to seven minutes, three times a day, use photos, vision boards, mental movies, self-guided image, real-life movies, and recorded and laminated affirmations.
Practice meditation daily. Meditation can increase your focus and concentration, increase your power of concentration and attune the brain to receive the answers, tools and resources needed to fulfill that vision.
We need a vision for our lives, or else nothing we do means anything. No matter what your current circumstances, if you can imagine something better for yourself, you can create it.
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12/09/10 by Kiran Gojnur (meditation instructor at The Peace Center)
At the core of every human being resides love, compassion and divinity. This core serves to guide and sustain us as we journey through life by providing peace, happiness and satisfaction. Though this divine spark is our natural essence, access to it is frequently impeded by mental processes, emotions and beliefs that dominate our daily lives.
Our busy mind along with fears and anxieties restrict our freedom and our ability to cope. These negative patterns limit our potential for growth and achievement. Without ready access to our core, we continue to suffer unnecessarily from physical, mental and emotional pain which deprives us from enjoying life fully in the present moment and from having healthy interpersonal relationships.
Meditation is Yoga. Yoga means to yoke, taking the physical and yoking it with the divine. Mediation is a process of gently quieting our busy mind to enable us to 'see' more clearly. We learn to calmly approach stressful situations with fresh insight. Meditation also provides direct experience of our precious core. As we gain a sense of our deeper self, problems appear rather superficial. We then comfortably begin to release their grip. This positive cycle of experience and release creates an exciting new outlook on life and enables us to pursue our purposeful place in it. The process is healing and liberating. The only requirements are a desire to be freer and consistency.
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John Assaraf & Murray Smith, The Answer: Grow any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life, 2008
Chapter titled "The Neural Reconditioning Process", page 132 - "Shifting the Gears in Your Brain" - "...Meditation will help you stop spinning your wheels and start achieving those things that matter to you. Most of us are working way too hard. Being wildly successful in business takes hard work, and plenty of it. But hitting your head against the wall doesn't help. Nor does spending so much time and effort struggling to build your business that you never have the chance to enjoy your life along the way."
Then on pages 133 & 134 there is a section about "How To Meditate"... The authors talk about finding a quiet space to start off with just six or seven minutes. "Your mind is like mental muscle, and you want to start out working this mental muscle just as you would a bicep or quadriceip." "Sit quietly and comfortably, in a chair or on the floor, hold your hands any way you like." ... "Take a slow, deep breathy in through your nose, and let it out through your mouth..." "Continue doing this for six or seven minutes." "Practice everyday"
I'm sure you can find this book at the library, although I give this book as graduation gifts so I would advise just buy it, read and live it!
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11/9/10 - Seminar - Rudolph Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York. In his session he said "take time to think - every day it is important. Some people call this meditation or prayer."
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Happy meditating!
The Peace Center.com LLC
Space to engage with others and yourself around peace and spirituality
Space to engage with others and yourself around peace and spirituality
Location: 190 E. 5th Avenue, Naperville, IL 60563
Phone: 630-730-4500 - Tracee Keyes
Phone: 630-730-4500 - Tracee Keyes
The Peace Center began as an idea over coffee by a few ladies enjoying each others dreams and how they could be expressed. One dream was to have a place where souls could come together searching for peace through whatever means are presented to them, what they are interested in or a combination of the two. This was in 2007 and since then many have enjoyed coming together along their journey at The Peace Center.
Please come and enjoy the space along your journey. You can share in this space bringing either your offerings and/or you willingness to openly receive others.
Tracee Keyes
