Overstressed? Give meditation a try
If meditation sounds intriguing, you can try it out — in as few as 10 minutes a day — without leaving your office.
“I’d say there’s quite a range (of styles), says Mark Coleman, a longtime teacher.
“Sitting. Stillness. Movement. Yoga, tai chi, chi gong. Ones that cultivate the heart, mind and awareness and clarity. Concentration meditations — mantras. Various New Age meditations that focus on energy. Once you choose, you have to give it some period of time to evaluate.”
There are many free or low-cost downloads available and classes at meditation centres, universities and fitness centres.
James Gimian, publisher of the new Mindful magazine, likens the state of meditation to that of yoga a couple of decades ago, moving from the margins of life to gaining an estimated 20 million U.S. practitioners.
Andy Puddicome, a former Buddhist monk and founder of the meditation nonprofit Headspace, says he wants people to integrate mindfulness into ordinary activities.
“That’s ultimately where we need to bring it, in the midst of everyday life. It’s a great opportunity to learn to be mindful when you are chopping the vegetables, or gardening. Eating, clearing up, making a cup of tea.”
In her memoir, Blood, Bones and Butter, (Random House, $19) New York chef Gabrielle Hamilton says when she describes a life busy beyond imagining. But when she prepares food, she says, her mind becomes “free to sort everything out. I have never once finished an eighthour prep shift without something from my life — mundane or profound — sorted out.”
UCLA’s Diana Winston tries walking meditation on the way from the parking lot to her office in Westwood.
“When I am harried or rushed, it’s trying to maintain an awareness and have compassion for myself when I screw up.”