WORKPLACE WELLNESS
Are you doing it?
My two sisters in law do it. My nephew and his wife do it. My ex-partner started doing it. Brad Pitt. Yup. Uma Thurman. Uh-huh. Shania Twain. You bet. Most of my friends as well as a growing number regular folks.
Yes, they do
that. But they all also meditate. Sitting and doing nothing, watching the breath come and go.
As an alternative way of coping with the demands of today’s fast living, meditation is gaining acceptance. Doctors are prescribing it
for high blood pressure and an estimated one millions Canadians practice some kind of meditation on a regular basis.
The Taylor Nelson Intersearch Millennium Study polled more than 50,000 participants in 60 countries including
1,000 Canadians. While only 20 percent of Canadians say they attend religious services once a week, 68 percent say they engage in prayer and meditation.
Many who don’t belong to organized religion recognize nevertheless the
importance of a spiritual dimension in their lives. They turn to meditation as a way to nourish the spirit and calm the mind. Meditation is no longer perceived as a hippy trip from the ’60s; people of all paths of life are embracing it.
Meditation is now mainstream.
Sylvie had been looking at meditation from a distance for years. When her work situation became very stressful last fall, she decided to give it a try again. This time she found herself settling in
and realized that what she thought of as mysterious and unattainable was actually very simple and near. “This is it!” she thought. Since then she has been to a few evening sittings (the term applied to a session of meditation) and one
weekend workshop. She finds her meditation practice brings repose to the turmoil of external circumstances.
For my ex-boyfriend, his meditation practice gives him a broader perspective of life. It allows him to lower his stress
level and helps him sleep better.
Workplace pressure is the most common form of stress experienced by Canadians. When under stress, the body produces copious amount of neurotransmitters like epinephrine and cortisol. Too much of
either, increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels and suppresses the immune system.
A study from the University of Wisconsin by neuroscientist Richard Davidson found that Buddhist-style meditation lowers stress, anxiety and
depression, while boosting the immune system and increasing concentration and happiness. As an alternative to medication, meditation can contribute to an individual’s psychological and physiological wellbeing.
Other benefits
experienced by meditators include: better acceptance of things as they are, a sense of trust in the unfolding of life, connectedness to the fullness of life, increased self-actualization and emotional stability.
There are many
forms of meditation and many places to practice and learn about meditation in BC: the Shambhala Centre, Science of the Soul with Sant Bhajit Singh, the Vipassana Retreat Centre in Merrit, Zen Centres, Buddhist Temples. In the search for a
meditation practice, follow your intuition. Once you find a practice you resonate with, stay with it. It is recommended not to mix practices together. It is like a search for water: better to dig one deep hole, than many shallow ones.
Daily practice is the best. Most traditions encourage sitting once in the morning when the mind is fresh, and once at night to let go of the day’s tension and as a preparation for a good night sleep.
Find a quiet place and time
for your daily sitting on a cushion or on a chair. “Find your seat,” my teacher says. Become aware of your posture. Chest open, long spine – take some time to relax and bring your attention to your body’s sensations, shifting the activity
of your mind from outside to inside. Observe the breath go in an out until you feel more present. When you find yourself thinking come back to simply being present breathing in and out.
Once I went to a talk by a Ngawang Gelek
Rinpoche in New-York City. He had been to Hong-Kong where a banker consulted him regarding anxiety he had with money. He recommended him to meditate on a regular basis and to repeat this mantra: “Om, money, money, come.” |
