Meditation: Transcending Darkness

My husband, Bud, and I learned the TM technique in 1984.  We first heard of TM in the 60’s.  A great deal of scientific research was done on the TM technique in the 60’s and 70’s.  Frequently we would notice a news article about the remarkable scientific findings related to the practice of this technique.  We would comment to each other that the research was interesting and didn’t this TM stuff sound great.  We hoped it was helping a lot of people!  We had no interest in learning ourselves until 1984.

In the winter of 1984 a respected friend told us of his experiences with TM.  Our friend encouraged us to learn.  We listened to him, thought his comments were interesting, and promptly forgot the conversation.  Several weeks after this conversation, our friend who lived in LA at the time, called.  He said a conference on TM was going to be held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. He urged us to attend.  Since our friend was planning to be in town attending the conference we decided to go as well. 

I think our experience of hearing about TM, not doing anything about it, hearing of TM again, and forgetting what we heard is typical. Most of us need to hear of something new a few times or even several times before we embrace it.  It is also human nature to embrace a new idea when we hear it from someone we know and admire rather than from a stranger. I think, too, that the media bombards us with information about a myriad of things we should or can do to improve our well being.  After a time we begin to discount information. 

My husband and I did attend that conference with our friend, and I remember the experience well.  I remember the room where the conference was held, and I remember specific conversations I had with people there.  I believe I remember my thoughts and feelings, experienced that long-ago evening, because I sensed we were learning about something that would dramatically alter the success of our lives.  It was an extremely important event for us. 

At the conference we were impressed by the presentation of a voluminous amount of research on the TM technique.  It seemed that there was no reason to turn our backs on the opportunity to learn.  Our only concerns regarded the time commitment of 20 minutes twice a day, but we gleaned from the speakers the information that we would not be giving up time.  We would be gaining time.  The researchers told us that the practice of the TM technique would help us to be more energetic, to think more clearly, perhaps to sleep less, and to be able to accomplish more not less.  Over the years we have learned that this is true.

Immediately after we learned TM, we realized that this technique was extraordinarily powerful.  We realized immediate effects and we clearly sensed that the benefits would be cumulative.  We realized this but neither of us thought much about it.  We simply meditated. Meditation became a regular part of our lives.  A few months after we began meditating, Bud and I noticed changes in each other.  When we commented on these changes we both realized that we did feel quite different from how we had felt in the past.

The experience of ourselves is what we know. How we feel, how we experience ourselves is our reality.  When the experience of self changes, and changes significantly and permanently, it changes by degrees.  Because we are changing from within, we do not have full realization of the change until it is so profound that it is noticeable to others.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss several ways that the TM technique is helps us to change. Transcendental Meditation has the following proven benefits.

1.      Dissolving Deep-Seated Stress

2.     Providing Deep Rest

3.     Alleviating Anxiety

4.     Expanding Awareness

5.     Increasing the Internal Locus of Control

6.     Enhancing Physiological Adaptability

7.     Enhancing Psychological Adaptability

8.     Purification of the Mind

9.     Integration and Personal Growth

Each of these benefits translates into a holistic change in the mind-body.  For instance, when we expand our awareness we acquire a wide-angle lens with which to view life.  Expanding awareness opens the “shutter” in the mind’s eye.  When we have a panoramic view of an event, our understanding is enhanced.  This deeper viewpoint gives us more flexibility in the face of change, allowing the stress of life’s transitions to roll off our backs more easily.  When stresses roll off of us more easily then we are not inclined to be reactive to others.  Our relationships improve and we don’t integrate stress into our physiology.  Our health also improves.  These are profound changes. 

The TM technique has been shown to increase physical, emotional, and psychological resiliency.  What can be better than increased resiliency?  To be able to roll with life’s punches and spring back to action without integrating stress into the physiology is a great gift.

I hope you are not going to be like Bud and me and have to hear about TM over and over before you decide to take the plunge.  Positive research on this technique is still being reported in scientific journals and the technique is available for all interested parties.  GoogleTM.Org to learn more and locate a teacher in your neck of the woods.

Our family is delighted to welcome a new meditator into our fold this week.  Blessings to Ivy, age 13.  She recently decided to learn TM. The TM technique will provide a natural basis for Ivy’s formation of her adult identity.  It will give her increased energy, self-confidence and a general feeling of well-being.  She’ll be able to recognize how people can be identical at their core and yet uniquely different in their personalities. This recognition will help her to have positive relationships throughout her high school experience and beyond.  We believe that practice of the TM technique will help Ivy sail through adolescence unencumbered by the stresses many teen agers experience. She’ll be able to access her internal wisdom, rid herself of stress, and reach her full potential! Bud and I are filled with joy for her!  We hope all of you decide to learn TM too!

As always, Sandra and I send our best wishes for health and happiness,

Nancy

Setting Your Sails!

You can’t turn the wind, so turn the sail.

 

Does this African proverb imply that we should “go with the flow”? Going with the flow, a frequently spoken about concept, is not always easy to put into action.

 

Doesn’t each and every one of us wish that one or another thing could be different from how it is?  Perhaps life is grand, but still you wish for a different house, more money, a different job, different co-workers, or that your child or spouse would change in one way or another.

 

Wouldn’t you like to turn your sail to take advantage of the prevailing winds? Don’t you intuitively know that going with the flow is helpful but not always easy to do?  Sandra and I believe that making this shift in thinking requires more than a switch in mind-set.  It requires internal change.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way we recommend meditation to change the internal world. We all need assistance if we are to go with the flow and maintain our equilibrium in spite of having heavy winds toss us about.  Meditation is the perfect assistance.

 

We all (at least sometimes) make the mistake of thinking that the external world (the wind) needs to change in order for us to be happier or to enjoy life more.  This simply isn’t so.  It is the internal world that is calling for change, and meditation is the most effective technique by which to accomplish internal change. If we meditate we will be better able to set our sails to take advantage of the wind.  The internal strength we secure through meditation will help us to not rail against the prevailing winds but to go with the flow!

 

In spite of all the meditation techniques that are available, we strongly recommend the Transcendental Meditation technique.  We realize that different forms of meditation work for different people, but our primary reason for recommending the TM technique is that it has been rigorously evaluated for efficacy.  In addition, unlike some forms of meditation, the TM technique does not require adherence to any belief system—there is no dogma or philosophy attached to it, and it does not demand any lifestyle changes other than the practice of it.

 

If practiced regularly, the TM technique will inevitably yield positive results.  Research has shown that this technique works no matter what the expectations of the practitioner are.  It’s a bit like holding a tennis ball in your hand and then letting it go—the ball will fall to the ground whether you believe it will or not.  It the same way, the TM technique will affect your physiology whether you expect it to or not.

 

Because the regular practice of the TM technique affects the central nervous system it positively affects every aspect of human performance. Certainly it affects our ability to develop positive traits that disallow the seeding of a depressive mood.  In other words, it helps us to set our sails to take advantage of the wind; to sail on with the flow and not get blown over.

 

A study analyzed the effect of the TM technique on the development of self-actualization.  As defined by this study, self-actualization includes the following qualities:  an open, receptive, and caring attitude; cheerfulness and good humor; a predominance of positive thinking; spontaneity and freshness of appreciation; self-sufficiency; loss of fear of death; and an acceptance of self, nature, and others.

 

Pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way and read the chapter on meditation to learn more about how the Transcendental Meditation technique can assist you in setting your sails to take advantage of the wind!  There is a fee to learn this technique.  The training to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation is a six month long residence course.  However, no one is ever sent away and arrangements will be made if you wish to learn.

 

Contact the organization to find a teacher near you.  TM.org

 

We send you our best!

 

 

Addiction and Transcendental Meditation

This semester I am teaching a course at the Michigan School of Professional Psychology.  Tomorrow my students and I will discuss addictions.  In preparation I’ve reviewed my knowledge of this topic and compared the viewpoints of traditional psychology with the Ayurvedic perspective.

Experts in Ayurveda would not disagree with mental health professionals regarding the causes of addiction.  At the same time, the Ayurvedic perspective on causes and healing for the addicted person are profoundly deeper than what modern psychology offers.  They are deeper because they address the energetic level, the elemental imbalances and the unique constitution of the addicted person.  There is no-one-size fits all in Ayurveda and the focus is always on the person (and their energetic imbalances) instead of the symptom.

Psychology informs that in the beginning of the addictive process the addict feels power over feelings, others and circumstances but gradually the addiction overpowers the addict.  Over time feelings of fear and shame replace feelings of power.  When fear and shame become overwhelming the addicts’ only defense is to increase the consumption of alcohol or drugs in an effort to retrieve the feeling of power.  The greater the effort the addict makes to have power over the addiction, the more the substance overpowers them.  Ultimately and paradoxically, the addiction renders the addict totally powerless.  Reduced to powerlessness addicts lie to themselves about their need for the addiction and they sustain their lie with more addictive behavior.  It is a classic vicious circle and is often interrupted only after the addict has reached a bottomless pit of despair.

Ayurveda informs that if our lifestyle does not conform to the laws of nature we will accumulate elemental imbalances in our mind-body.  It is human nature to lean toward the imbalance.  Some people will lean toward an addiction in an effort to stabilize.  Of course this is an incorrect attempt but our thoughts, emotions and behaviors reflect our degree of balance or imbalance.  Without intervention the addicted person will continue to use substances, therefore increasing physiological imbalances.  These imbalances will continually affect the addict at the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of their being.

Are you scratching your head wondering what I mean when I refer to the laws of nature?

We human beings are an aspect of the natural world but we are capable of straying from what nature dictates is the appropriate life style for us.  The sunflower has no choice but to turn its head toward the sun.  In this way it survives and flourishes.  We, on the other hand, possess an intellect that gives us choices.  Unlike the sunflower, we often forget that we are an inherent part of the natural world and are subject to its laws.  We make mistakes in many of our daily choices about food, sleep, exercise and how we use our time.  The mistakes are often made unwittingly; nevertheless, the body is adversely affected. In this way we block our ability to experience happiness and all too often reach for a substance which we erroneously believe will fill the missing gaps.

In other words, cows don’t eat pizza at midnight!  Or no other sentient being messes up their prana or energy flow as humans do!

In addition, everyday life is stressful.  According to Ayurveda we ingest experience as well as food.  If we are subject to upsetting or horrific experiences, and don’t have a tool to help us to regain balance we are vulnerable to reaching for a substance to fill our emotional and mental needs.

Ayurveda agrees with western thought that the causes of addictive behavior are genetic tendencies, a lack of personal power and unhappiness.  At the same time these causes are tied to elemental imbalances in energy flow.  The Ayurvedic belief system leads to treatment options which are profoundly helpful.

Research has shown that in general residential treatment for substance abuse has no greater effect size than out-patient treatment.  Research also shows that AA has been enormously helpful to many substance abusers.  It is helpful because it offers a twelve step program which the addict can effectively utilize and it offers a relationship that nourishes and strengthens the mind and spirit.

AA can be supplemented with the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation or the TM technique can be exceedingly helpful on its own if AA isn’t, for one reason or another, for you.  A meta-analysis of studies on reducing alcohol, nicotine and drug consumption found that the Transcendental Meditation program produced a significantly larger effect on reducing substance use compared to conventional treatments and prevention programs specifically designed for substance abuse.  Moreover, in contrast to the time course of conventional programs, whose early effects tend to decrease precipitously in the first three months following completion of treatment, the time course for the Transcendental Meditation program showed that lower levels or use of abstinence patterns were maintained or increased up to 2 years later (the longest period studies).  Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. 1994; 11: 11-84.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I help you to identify your elemental nature and any possible imbalances.  If you are balanced and healthy then substance abuse will not tempt you.  If you are in the throes of recovery we suggest you pick up a copy of our book and read Chapter 9 Meditation:  Transcending Darkness and learn more about the TM technique.  This technique will be helpful to you no matter where you are on the continuum of health and wellness.

As always, I wish you the best for perfect health and happiness!

Nancy

The Culprit is Stress

The Culprit is Stress

Hans Selye, the physician who first coined the term “stress,” defined stress as “essentially the rate of wear and tear in the body.”  In recent years scientists have learned that stress underlies most, if not all, physical, mental and emotional disorders.   If we look below the surface when investigating a disorder we will usually see stress as the culprit.  Accumulated stress is a permanent burden that the system carries.  But where does this wear and tear on the body come from?  

Stress has many origins.  One of these is our hidden assumptions.  We build internal knots of stress because our hidden assumptions keep us busy attempting to get external input to decide whether we are on the right track or not.  Instead of relying on ourselves for affirmation we look to others.  In this way we create a mental framework which causes us stress and physiological imbalances.  

Many years ago I saw a sad young woman in therapy.  She was sad because her boyfriend and she had recently spilt up.  For a long time I listened to her sob and tell me about her anguish over losing the love of her life.  I felt confused because within her story there were contradictions.  It seemed to me that she had unwittingly pushed the young man away.  I told her that I wondered if she could “get him back” since she seemed to miss him so much.  She thought about this idea for awhile but confessed that although she was very sad that he was gone, she also felt relieved.  

She believed she had to “be” a certain way when he was around.  Her hidden assumptions were the cause of such internal pressure that eventually she had unknowingly pushed the young man away.  Her grief was palatable.  Yet the pressure caused by her hidden assumptions was worse.  In addition to her hidden assumptions she continually looked for signs from him that she was doing OK.  She had created an impossible situation for herself.

To one degree or another we all possess hidden assumptions.  How does this problem begin?

Children are natural born philosophers.  They are continually seeking instruction on how to be in the world.  If they receive support, love and nurturing guidance, they will do fine.  If they live with unpredictability or receive constant corrections, their self-confidence will flounder and they will operate from a bank of hidden assumptions.  After all, we all have to figure out how to handle the external world.  It is quite easy for a child to become vigilant, always on the lookout to discern the expectations of others.  This pattern flows into adulthood and disrupts happiness and causes exhaustion.  Undoubtedly, a great deal of what causes the mental framework leading to depression and other physiological imbalances is a tendency to second guess yourself.  

Along these lines, depression can be thought of as a symptom of one-sided awareness.  It frequently occurs when the mind becomes exhausted because it is in a state of extreme external awareness.  The extent of focus on the external determines the degree of depression.  The advice to “get in touch with yourself” is not just a silly saying; it is good solid counsel.  Sandra and I recommend reading Chapter 9 in Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way and learning how meditation can help change your internal world and increase your ability to rely on yourself for affirmation instead of relying on externals.  

The Transcendental Meditation technique has been shown in replicated studies to relieve stress from the physiology and to help the individual view life with more depth and breath.  The TM technique is an agent of vitality that anchors us to a deeper sense of self.  In a subtle but profound way, we experience a more panoramic view of our life and past and present problems take on a different proportion.  Our mind is able to grasp more layers of reality and thus to perceive life with more depth.  The deep rest given by this type of meditation dissolves accumulated stresses and hidden assumptions.  We become connected back to the self and begin to look inward instead of outward for affirmation.  This is a very healthy thing.

Nancy and Sandra

 

Infusing Lightness

The physical ama that clogged Ed’s physiology weighed him down. He felt heavy, hopeless, and helpless. His depression overtook every aspect of his life. Ed could barely move from one place to another. He leaned in the direction of his imbalance by overeating and oversleeping, and in this way he created increased physiological imbalances.

The personal experience of self is our touchstone with reality. Ed’s reality was his depression. He was so mired in the depths of his depression that he believed he would never feel better. Because he had no hope, he possessed no motivation to begin to exercise or to change his eating or sleep patterns. Even though the primary source of Ed’s depression was physical ama, the mental technique of the TM technique helped him to begin make necessary changes.

We know that we all relate to our reality, and the first step in overcoming depression is to change the internal experience of self–to expand awareness. Experiencing ourselves as calm and fulfilled is the opposite of feeling depressed. Practicing the TM technique showed Ed that there was a different way to feel. This gave him a glimmer of light, and this was all he needed to feel hopeful. Hope allowed him to become more objective about his circumstances, which gave him an ability to solve problems, and once he began problem solving, he gained a feeling of empowerment. Taking one step at a time, Ed was able to make the changes necessary to overcome his depression.

The TM technique fosters psychological purification. It does not concern itself with negativity of any kind, so the purification occurs effortlessly. Purification of the mind-body is necessary because over time we build up stresses in vulnerable areas of our physiology. These stresses create toxicity in the physiology. The type of toxicity that builds up depends on the particular vulnerabilities of the individual. How and where the toxicity accumulates–whether in the physical, mental, or emotional aspects of our being–can depend on genetic or situational factors. Regardless of the etiology, we all need to make time for physical, mental, and emotional purification on a regular basis. Meditation ensures that this process is attended to.

Ed possessed physical and mental ama. When he retired, he became stuck in a rut. He could not adapt to his new rold. He dealt with this through overeating and oversleeping. Eventually, the toxicity in his physiology hijacked his total being and he became unable to function. Ed’s strengths, which were his steady and stable way of being, were actually getting in his way. He needed to purify both his mind and his body in order to realize his inner strength and to gain flexibility in the face of change.

Practice of the TM technique allowed Ed to experience deeper levels of his mind. The deeper level of the mind is pure consciousness or the intelligence that underlies nature. Pure consciousness is the basis of all progress. Turning inward through meditation brought Ed back to himself. He began to recognize a plethora of emotions and was able to use these emotions as guides to help him navigate his way through life. Increased self-awareness and the release of deep-seated stresses helped Ed to realize his overall potential and to pull himself up from the mud of depression.

Have a great weekend everyone, and Happy Mother’s day to all you mom’s!

Gaining Tranquility

After she learned of her promotion, Arial flew into a habit of over activity. Her hectic lifestyle further added to her exhaustion until anxiety gained a foothold in her physiology; after all, we all learn in the direction of our imbalances. Anxiety is indicative of an exhausted nervous system and the hallmark of Airy Depression.
When Arian began to experience anxiety, she attached this feeling to a number of worries. She had trouble sleeping at night, and she spent her days racing around, trying to satisfy everyone–her childres, her husband, and her boss and coworkers. Drowning in her anxiety, she wondered how she could not be anxious when she had so many reasons to be so.
Anxiety indicated the presence of emotional ama in the mind-body. Arial felt as if she had lost her grounding and her sense of being cared for. She spoke of feeling out of control and lonely and as if all burdens rested on her shoulders.
Anxiety breeds increased anxiety, and the TM technique creates a physiological experience that is the opposite of anxiety. It disrupts the circularity of anxiety by giving the physiology deep rest and the experience of inner calmness. Through meditation Arial renewed her energy level and regained her internal locus of control. She began to feel on top of her life instead of being buried by everyday events. In addition, she reconnected with her inner self–that aspect of her being that remained free of anxiety. She transcended the metal static that constantly replayed her anxious worries and moved beyond this surface level of the mind to a deeper level.
The rest she gained from her practice imbued her body with strength and increased her psychological adaptivity. Arial was no longer thrown off course by everyday events. She was instead able to adapt to new situations. The experience of the meditation moved her past mental and emotional reruns and allowed her to experience herself as stable. When we are rested and calm, we handle the stresses inherent in daily living better and build a protection against anxiety.