DOES MEDITATION REALLY WORK?

A few months ago, I had breakfast with my brother Larson and in the course of our conversation, he told me he started practicing meditation.   It was a little shocking for me because of all my siblings, I wouldn't have guessed that meditation was a path he would have chosen on his own.   As it turns out, he didn't.

Larson is a Recreational Specialist at Hawaii's only women's prison.  His boss, warden Mark Patterson, decided try meditation with the inmates as a method of healing and an aid to their rehabilitation.  Patterson's decision was based on the increased use of meditation in correctional facilities all across the country.    In prison populations where meditation programs are available, violence has decreased as much as 20% and inmates are generally more calm and focused. One study showed prisoners that had a regular program of meditation were 50% less likely to re-offend when they were released from prison.

As part of a program funded by the David Lynch Foundation, Larson and nine other prison employees were put on a six month Transcendental Mediation training program before meditation will be introduced to the prison population. Since Larson has been meditating, he has stopped drinking almost completely, feels more energy in the afternoons, has better mental clarity and engages more regularly with his family.   For me, I draw my creativity from meditating and although I carry more weight than I should, I've never had high blood pressure and experience very little stress in my life.  I attribute this to daily meditation.

Meditation is getting a much better vibe these days because more people are starting to get positive results out of sitting quietly for a few minutes each day without having to go to India and sit with the Maharishi.  But fundamentalist Christians have long demonized meditation because of their belief that "an idle mind is the devil's workshop."   Popular evangelist Billy Graham went so far to say, "Transcendental meditation is evil because when you are meditating, it opens space within you for the devil to enter." Fortunately, more Christians are starting to point to scripture like, "Be still and know that I am God" as a reason to meditate on their love and belief in God.

Anyone who's read Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" (also a movie starring Julia Roberts) remembers a hilarious section where she is trying to "quiet her mind" during mediation but can't stop thinking about all the issues in her life.   That seems to be the big problem with meditation, trying to get your mind to be quiet.  It's the reason most people give up on mediation, they can't seem to get their thoughts under control.

But meditation is not about controlling your thoughts, your thoughts are always there.  Meditation simply puts your thoughts to rest so you can focus on other things: peace, love, gratitude, your breathing, God, whatever brings you joy.  Here's a good illustration that will help you understand this concept: take a glass jar (bigger the better), fill it with water, then take a scoop full of sand or dirt and put it in the water.  Cover the jar and shake it for a few seconds and put it down.  See how cloudy or muddy the water is?  But eventually, all the sand or dirt will settle to the bottom of the jar and the water will be clear again.  That's what meditation does, it allows the sand (your thoughts) to settle so the water (your mind) is clear.

When your mind is clear it has the ability to access your creativity, bring clarity to complicated issues,  reach into your untapped potential and bring your body to a state of rest where it can actually heal itself (like lowering your blood pressure).  Harvard researcher, Dr. Herbert Benson, went to Tibet in 1985 to study the meditative powers of Tibetan monks.  With the room temperature just above freezing, several monks were covered with sheets soaked in ice water.  Within a few minutes, the monks were able to raise their body temperatures high enough to produce steam off these sheets!  Our thoughts are more powerful than we can ever imagine.

Meditation is like exercise.   To get the benefits of it, you have to do it regularly.  There are many different versions, some simple and some very difficult.  Start by just sitting quietly for five minutes.  Let your thoughts race around.  Breathe deeply.  Your blood pressure goes up when you breathe in, and then goes down when you exhale.  See how your body feels when you exhale.  Feel yourself sinking into relaxation.    After a few days, maybe a week, you'll start to feel the effects of if.  That 5 minutes will turn into 10, then 15, maybe even longer.  Jack Kornfield has a great book for beginners that can be downloaded to your Kindle.

With all the documented research on the ill effects of stress, meditation is a free and easy way to reduce (and even eliminate) unwanted stress from your life.  I know that for Larson and I, we see and feel the benefits of it everyday.