Dean Ornish

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Here are ten meditations that provide a range of different practices for you to sample — from elaborate visualizations to basic mindfulness techniques. With regular practice, they offer a taste of the meditative experience. Exercise for practicing relaxation To reduce your stress and reap the other benefits of relaxation, try practicing this simple exercise for 15 or 20 minutes each day. Find a spot where you can sit quietly and undisturbed. Sit in a position that you can comfortably maintain for the duration of your meditation. Choose an object to concentrate on. This "object" can be a visual symbol (such as a geometric shape) or a special syllable, word, or phrase, known as a mantra, that you repeat again and again. As much as possible, keep your attention focused on this object; when you get distracted, come back to your focus. (If your object is internal, close your eyes.) Maintain a receptive attitude. Let thoughts, images, and feelings pass through without trying to hold or interpret them. Resist the temptation to evaluate your progress; just gently bring your attention back when it wanders. Meditative practice of following your breath This basic meditation practice develops concentration and uses the breath to teach you how to stay present from moment to moment, no matter where you are or what you may be doing. Begin by finding a comfortable sitting position that you can hold for 10 or 15 minutes. Take a few deep breaths and exhale slowly. Without trying to control your breath in any way, allow it to find its own natural depth and rhythm. Always breathe through your nose (unless you can't for some reason). Allow your attention to focus either on the sensation of your breath coming and going through your nostrils or on the rising and falling of your belly as you breathe. Although you're welcome to alternate your focus from one session to the next, sticking with a single focus for the entire meditation is best. Eventually, you're better off using the same focus each time you meditate. Give your full attention to the coming and going of your breath. Pay attention to your breath the way a mother tracks the movements of her young child: lovingly yet persistently, softly yet precisely, and with relaxed yet focused awareness. When you realize that your mind has wandered off and you're engrossed in planning, thinking, or daydreaming, gently but firmly bring your mind back to your breath. Continue this simple (but not easy!) exercise for the duration of your meditation. With repeated practice, you may find that your mind settles down more quickly and that you're more present and focused in other areas of your life as well. Meditation through walking A time-honored technique that's practiced in monasteries and meditation centers throughout the world, walking meditation is a great way to discover how to translate the focus you learn on your cushion or chair to the ordinary world of movement and activity. Begin by walking at your usual pace, following your breath as you walk. Coordinate your breathing with your walking. For example, you can take three steps for each inhalation and three steps for each exhalation. If you want to change the speed of your walking, just change the number of steps per breath. Maintain the same pace each time you walk. In addition to your breathing, be aware of your feet and legs as you lift and move them. Notice the contact of your feet with the ground or floor. Gaze ahead of you, with your eyes lowered at a 45-degree angle. If you find it too complicated to follow your breathing and be aware of your feet at the same time, just choose one focus or the other and stick with it. Be relaxed, easy, and comfortable as you walk. Enjoy your steady, mindful walking for as long as you want. If your attention wanders or you start to hurry, gently bring your attention back to your walking. Mindful eating as meditation Here's a meditation for paying attention to what you're putting into your mouth. You enjoy your food as never before, and mindful eating will facilitate your digestion by reducing the tension or stress you bring to the table. Before you begin eating, take a few moments to appreciate your food. You may want to reflect on the earth and the sunshine that gave life to this food and the people and effort that brought it to your table. Or you can simply sit silently and feel grateful for what you have. Bring your awareness to your hand as you lift the first bite of food to your lips. You can experiment with the custom in certain monastic traditions of eating more slowly than usual. Or just eat at your usual speed, but be as mindful as you can. Be fully aware as the first morsel of food enters your mouth and floods your taste buds with sensations. Notice the tendency of your mind to judge the flavor: "It's too spicy or salty" or "It's not what I expected." Notice any emotions that get stirred up: disappointment, relief, irritation, or joy. Be aware of any ripples of pleasure or warmth or other physical sensations. If you talk while you eat, notice how the talking affects you. Do certain topics cause you to tense up or give you indigestion? Does the talk take you away from the enjoyment of your meal, or can you have both? Stay mindful of each mouthful as you gradually eat your meal. Cultivating meditative lovingkindness This meditation helps you open your heart and initiate a flow of unconditional love (also known as lovingkindness) to yourself and others. Begin by closing your eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and relaxing your body. Remember a time when you felt deeply loved. Spend a few minutes dwelling on this memory and allowing your heart to respond. Notice the gratitude and love that arise for the person who loved you. Allow these loving feelings to overflow and gradually suffuse your whole being. When you feel complete with yourself for now, imagine extending this lovingkindness to a loved one or dear friend, using similar words to express your intentions. Don't hurry. As you extend the love, allow yourself to feel it as much as you can, rather than merely imagine it. Extend this lovingkindness from your heart to all your loved ones and friends. Extend this lovingkindness to all people and all beings everywhere. Softening your belly By consciously softening your belly again and again, you can let go and open to the tender feelings in your heart. Begin by sitting comfortably and taking a few deep breaths. Allow your awareness to settle into your body. Allow your awareness to descend to your belly as you gently soften this area of your body. Consciously let go of any tension or holding. Allow your breath to enter your belly. When you inhale, your belly rises. When you exhale, your belly falls. With each breath, continue to soften your belly. Let go of any anger, fear, pain, or unresolved grief you may be holding in your belly. As you continue to soften your belly, notice how your heart responds. After five minutes or longer of this soft-belly meditation, open your eyes and go about your day. Every now and then, check in with your belly. If you notice that you're tensing it again, gently breathe and soften. Healing with light meditation Here's an exercise for directing the life-giving power of light to the places inside your body and mind that cry out for healing: Begin by sitting down and meditating in your usual way for several minutes. If you don't have a usual way, simply sit quietly, close your eyes, and take a few slow, deep breaths, relaxing a little on each exhalation. Imagine a luminous sphere of white light suspended about a foot above your head and slightly in front of you. Like a sun, this sphere embodies and radiates all the positive, healing, harmonious qualities you most want to manifest in your life right now. (You may want to be specific at first, such as imagining strength, clarity, peace, and love; eventually, though, you can just flash on the light.) Imagine yourself soaking up all these qualities with the healing light as though you were sunbathing. Imagine this sphere drawing to itself the energy of all the benevolent forces in the universe that support your growth and evolution. Visualize this positive, healing energy shining from the sphere like the light of a thousand suns streaming down through your body and mind. Imagine the energy eliminating all negativity and tension, darkness and depression, worry and anxiety; and replacing them with radiance, vitality, peace, and all the other positive qualities you seek. Continue to imagine this powerful, healing light flooding every cell and molecule of your being, dissolving any contractions and stuck places you may be aware of, and leaving you clean, clear, and calm. Visualize this luminous sphere gradually descending into your heart, where it continues to radiate this powerful light. Imagine yourself as a luminous being with a sphere of light in your heart that constantly radiates clarity, harmony, and purity — first to every cell and particle of your own being and then, through you, to every other being in every direction. You can carry the feelings and images this exercise evokes throughout the rest of your day. Grounding into the Earth When you're feeling scattered or spaced out and you've lost touch with your connection to the earthly plane of existence, you may find it helpful to use the following meditation to ground you. Begin by sitting quietly, closing your eyes, and taking a few slow, deep breaths. If possible, sit on the ground, with your back relatively straight. Focus your awareness on your lower abdomen, at a point about 2 inches below your navel and 1-1/2 inches inside your body. Martial artists call this area the t'an t'ien (or hara) and believe it's a focal point for life energy, or chi. Explore this area with mindful attention, noticing how it feels. Direct your breath into this area, expanding it when you inhale and contracting it when you exhale. Consciously and deliberately breathe into your t'an t'ien for five minutes or more, allowing your awareness and your energy to concentrate there. Notice how your center of gravity shifts from the upper part of your body to your t'an t'ien. Continuing to breathe with your t'an t'ien, imagine that you're a tree with roots that go deep into the earth. Feel and visualize these roots originating in the t'an t'ien and growing down through the base of your spine into the ground, spreading through the soil as far down as you can imagine. Feel and visualize these roots drawing energy up from the earth into your t'an t'ien on the inhalation and feel the energy spreading down through the roots on the exhalation. Continue to feel and visualize this circulation of energy — up on the inhale, down on the exhale — for five or ten minutes. When your t'an t'ien feels charged and strong, you can get up and go about your day. Every now and then, remind yourself to breathe with your belly again for a minute or two. Practicing a half smile Contemporary scientific research agrees that smiling relaxes hundreds of facial muscles and has the same effect on the nervous system as real joy. Besides, smiling encourages others to smile and be happy as well. Take a few moments to form your lips into a half smile. Notice how other parts of your body respond. Does your belly relax? Does your back naturally straighten a little? Does your mood change in subtle ways? Notice also if you have any resistance to smiling when "you don't really feel like it." Hold this half smile for at least ten minutes as you engage in ordinary activities. The next time you feel your spirits sagging, practice this half smile for at least half an hour and notice how you feel. Peaceful place meditation This simple meditation relaxes the body quickly and easily and can be used to help facilitate healing. It's also a kind of inner monastery or refuge that you can escape to when you're feeling threatened, unsafe, or stressed out. Begin by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes, and taking a few deep breaths. Imagine yourself in a safe, protected, peaceful place. It may be a place you know well (a place in nature, for example, like a meadow, a forest, or a beach), a place you've visited once or twice before, or simply a place in your imagination. Take as much time as you need to imagine this peaceful place as vividly as you can, in all your senses. Notice the colors, the shapes, the sounds, the light, the feeling of the air against your skin, and the contact of your feet against the ground. Explore this special place to your heart's content. Allow yourself to rest in the feelings of comfort, safety, and tranquility this special place evokes. Spend as much time here as you want. When you're done, gradually return to the present moment and open your eyes, while continuing to enjoy the pleasant, positive feelings this exercise evoked.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You can follow a few simple guidelines for carving out a special place for the practice of meditation. You’ll find that the space you set aside will enrich your life in ways you can’t imagine. Perhaps you’ve seen those Chinese paintings where a bearded sage in a flowing robe sits in deep contemplation at the base of some majestic peak with a waterfall thundering beside him. Maybe you’ve even had moments when you wished you could become that sage, disappear into the mountains, and meditate in silence and simplicity for the rest of your days. Alas, life doesn’t usually support actualizing such fantasies nowadays! Why it’s best to stay put during meditation Just as it helps to have a regular time to meditate, there are some definite advantages to sitting in the same location day after day, instead of moving from place to place. These include Fewer distractions: As a beginner, you already have plenty of distractions to contend with, both inner and outer. Why add all the nuances of a constantly shifting external environment? Good vibes: The more often you sit there, the more you infuse your spot and its environs with the energy of your efforts — your good vibes, if you will. Whenever you return, your meditation is buoyed and supported by the energy you’ve invested, just as you feel especially comfortable and relaxed in your favorite chair. Peaceful memories: When you’ve picked your spot, you start associating it with meditation, especially if you keep your altar or your sitting gear there. And if your meditation involves spiritual aspirations, your spot becomes a sacred site where your deepest insights and reflections take place. How to pick the right spot for meditation If you share a small apartment with a partner or friend, or if your family has usurped every square foot of usable space at your house, by all means choose the only vacant corner and make it your own. If you have more leeway, here are a few guidelines for picking your spot: Off the beaten track: You know the heavily trafficked highways in your house, so be sure to avoid them. And if you don’t want someone inadvertently barging in on you just when you’re starting to settle, tell your housemates when you’re going off to meditate. Away from work: If you work at home or have a desk devoted to personal business, keep it out of sight — and mind — when you’re meditating. And if possible, remember to turn off your phone; there’s nothing quite as distracting to your mind as wondering who’s trying to reach you now! Relatively quiet: Especially if you live in the city, you probably won’t be able to eliminate the usual background noises — the drone of traffic, the shouts and laughter of kids on the street. But you should avoid audible conversations and other familiar distractions. These are the kinds of recognizable noises that can pull your mind away from its appointed task, especially when you’re just starting out. Not too dark or too light: Sitting in a bright, sunny spot may be too energizing and distracting, just as sitting in the dark can put you to sleep. Be sure to modulate the lighting with your attention level in mind. If you’re sleepy, open the blinds or turn on an extra light; if you’re wired, tone down the illumination accordingly. Fresh air: Because we’re talking breath here, it’s great to have a supply of fresh air where you meditate. Avoid musty basements and windowless closets; besides being bad for your health, they tend to lower your energy (along with your oxygen level) and lull you to sleep. Close to nature: If you don’t have a tree or a garden outside the window near where you meditate, you may want to have a plant, a vase full of flowers, or a few stones nearby. Not that you’ll be gazing at them while you sit, but natural objects radiate a certain special energy of their own that lends support to your practice. Set up a meditation altar Here, the term altar refers to a collection of objects with special meaning that you assemble in one place to inspire your meditations. If you’re a Christian, for example, your altar may include a crucifix or a picture of Jesus; if you’re a Jew, you may have a holy book or a Star of David; or, if you’re a Buddhist, you may choose to contemplate a statue of Buddha. If you have no particular religious inclinations, you may be quite content with a few stones, a candle, and a potted plant. Gazing at your altar before you sit can evoke your connection to a spiritual dimension of being — or it can merely remind you of why you’re here: to develop concentration, relax, open your heart, and heal your body. Here are some of the main ingredients that appear on many altars; feel free to improvise and add or subtract as you see fit: Bells Candles Flowers Incense Natural objects Pictures (of nature or inspirational figures) Sacred texts Statues (of inspirational figures) As with your meditation, it’s best to keep your altar simple at first. If you want, you can enrich and expand it over time, or you may prefer to keep a stash of objects and rotate them as the spirit moves you. One cautionary note about pictures: You may want to devote your altar to mentors, teachers, and other figures whose presence fills you with unadulterated inspiration — and consign to your desk or bureau those loved ones for whom your feelings may be more complex, like children, parents, spouses, and friends.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

While there are no hard, fast rules about what you should eat before meditating, there are some broad guidelines you should follow. Big meals can make you drowsy, especially when they’re high in carbohydrates, so eat lightly if at all before you sit. Or wait at least one hour after a major repast. You may even consider following the traditional Zen guideline to eat until you’re two-thirds full instead of bursting at the seams — in addition to aiding your meditation practice, it may not be bad for your waistline. As for drinking (and smoking), here are a few suggestions: There are a few seasoned meditators who like to down a cup of cappuccino before they sit, and at least one Zen master who made it a habit of meditating first thing in the morning after drinking too much sake the night before. But as a general rule, abstaining from mind-altering substances (for example, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other recreational drugs) before meditating is best. As your practice grows and you observe the benefits of being present and focused, rather than zoned out or drugged up, you may naturally diminish your intake. In fact, you may discover that meditation makes you more sensitive to your state of mind and provides a natural high that renders these substances unnecessary or obsolete. If your primary motivation for meditating is to reduce stress or enhance your health, you may consider abstaining entirely from your substance of choice. Believe it or not, indulging only adds to the burden of stress you’re already experiencing.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Meditation is like most things in life. Everyone experiences it differently. Developing and directing your awareness may be the foundation of effective meditation, but like any good foundation, it’s only the beginning. The next step is to build your house brick by brick, meditation session by meditation session, discovering what works for you and what doesn’t, until your practice is grounded and stable. When you begin to develop and direct your awareness in meditation, you’re faced with the challenge of putting all the pieces together into an integrated practice that’s uniquely suited to your needs. You may cherish the peace and relaxation you experience when you simply sit quietly without any effort or focus, not even the effort to be aware. Or you may have a specific purpose for meditating, such as healing an illness or resolving a disturbing psychological issue, and only feel drawn to approaches that help you meet your goals. The key is to experiment with different forms of meditation and trust your intuition to tell you which ones are best suited for you. Inevitably, yin and yang tend to balance each other out; that is, you may start out with intense concentration and end up with more relaxed, receptive awareness; or you may begin in a more receptive mode and gradually discover the virtues of focus. Of course, if you intend to maintain your practice from week to week and month to month, which is the only way to reap the benefits of meditation, you’ll probably need to draw on some of those time-honored qualities that every sustained enterprise requires: motivation, discipline, and commitment.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

If, as the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, then the journey of meditation begins with the cultivation of awareness, or attention. In fact, awareness is the mental muscle that carries you along and sustains you on your journey, not only at the start but every step of the way. No matter which path or technique you choose, the secret of meditation lies in developing, focusing, and directing your awareness. In meditation, you can use awareness in different ways. To begin with, you can increase your powers of awareness by developing concentration on a particular object. Then, when you’ve stabilized your concentration, you can, through the practice of receptive awareness, expand your awareness to illuminate the full range of your experience. Next, you can concentrate even further in order to cultivate positive emotions and mind-states. Or you can use awareness to investigate your inner experience and contemplate the nature of existence itself. Build your concentration to meditate To do just about anything well, you need to focus your awareness. The most creative and productive people in every profession — for example, great athletes, performers, businessmen, scientists, artists, and writers — have the ability to block out distractions and completely immerse themselves in their work. When you meditate, you calm your mind by making it one-pointed rather than scattered and distracted. Many spiritual traditions teach their students concentration as the primary meditation practice. Just keep focusing your mind on the mantra, symbol, or visualization, they advise, and eventually you’ll attain what’s called absorption, or samadhi. In absorption, the sense of being a separate “me” disappears, and only the object of your attention remains. Followed to its natural conclusion, the practice of concentration can lead to an experience of union with the object of your meditation. Be open to receptive awareness to meditate The great sages of China say that all things comprise the constant interplay of yin and yang — the feminine and masculine forces of the universe. Well, if concentration is the yang of meditation (focused, powerful, penetrating), then receptive awareness is the yin (open, expansive, welcoming). Where concentration disciplines, stabilizes, and grounds the mind, receptive awareness loosens and extends the mind’s boundaries and creates more interior space, enabling you to familiarize yourself with the mind’s contents. Where concentration blocks extra stimuli as distractions to the focus at hand, receptive awareness embraces and assimilates every experience that presents itself. Most meditations involve the interplay of concentration and receptive awareness, although some more-advanced techniques teach the practice of receptive awareness alone. Just be open and aware and welcome whatever arises, they teach, and ultimately you’ll be “taken by truth.” Followed to its conclusion, receptive awareness guides you in shifting your identity from your thoughts, emotions, and the stories your mind tells you to your true identity, which is being itself. Of course, if you don’t know how to work with attention, these instructions are impossible to follow. That’s why most traditions prescribe practicing concentration first. By quieting and grounding the mind (enough so that it can open without being swept away by a deluge of irrelevant feelings and thoughts), concentration provides a solid foundation on which the practice of meditation can flourish. Use contemplation to meditate for greater insight Although concentration and receptive awareness provide enormous benefits, ultimately it’s insight and understanding — of how the mind works, how you perpetuate your own suffering, how attached you are to the outcome of events, and how uncontrollable and fleeting these events are — that offer freedom from suffering. And in your everyday life, it’s creative thinking — free from the usual limited, repetitive patterns of thought — that offers solutions to problems. That’s why contemplation is the third key component that transforms meditation from a calming, relaxing exercise to a vehicle for freedom and creative expression. After you’ve developed your concentration and expanded your awareness, you eventually find that you have access to a more penetrating insight into the nature of your experience. You can use this faculty to explore your inner terrain and gradually understand and undermine your mind’s tendency to cause you suffering and stress. If you’re a spiritual seeker, you can use this faculty to inquire into the nature of the self or to reflect upon the mystery of God and creation. And if you’re a person with more practical concerns, you may ponder the next step in your career or relationship or contemplate some seemingly irresolvable problem in your life. Cultivate positive, healing states of mind with meditation Some meditations aim to open the heart and develop certain life-affirming qualities like compassion, loving kindness, equanimity, joy, or forgiveness. On a more practical level, you can use meditation to cultivate a proactive, healthy immune system or to develop poise and precision in a particular sport. For example, you can visualize killer T cells attacking your cancer or imagine yourself executing a dive without a single mistake. Where contemplation aims to investigate, inquire, and ultimately see deeply into the nature of things, cultivation can help you transform your inner life by directing the concentration you develop to strengthen positive, healthy mind-states and withdraw energy from those that are more reactive and self-defeating.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You may prefer your meditation short and quick or long and slow. If you can’t schedule a half-hour, then meditate for a few minutes. Sitting for five or ten minutes every day is much better than sitting for an hour once a week — though you may want to do both. Digital alarm watches are an accurate and inexpensive way to time your meditations precisely without watching the clock. Also, you may want to signal the beginning and end of your meditation with the sound of a small bell, as is done in many traditional cultures. Meditate for 5 minutes If you’re a beginner, a few minutes can seem like an eternity, so start off small and increase the length of your sittings as your interest and enjoyment dictate. You may find that by the time you settle your body and start to focus on your breath, your time is up. If the session seems too short, you can always sit a little longer next time. As your practice develops, you’ll find that even five minutes can be immeasurably refreshing. Meditate for 10 to 15 minutes If you’re like most people, you need several minutes at the start of meditation to get settled, a few more minutes to become engaged in the process, and several minutes at the end to reorient, which means that 10 or 15 minutes leaves you a little in the middle to deepen your concentration or expand your awareness. Still it’s a good start, and you can work up to longer sessions. When you’ve made it this far, try leveling off at 15 minutes a day for several weeks, and watch your powers of concentration build. Meditate for 20 minutes to an hour The longer you sit, the more time you’ll have between preliminaries and endings to settle into a focused and relaxed state of mind. If you have the motivation and can carve out the time, by all means devote 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or an hour to meditation each day. You’ll notice the difference — and you’ll understand why most meditation teachers recommend sitting this long at a stretch. Perhaps it’s the human attention span — look at the proverbial 50-minute hour of psychotherapy or the optimal length for most TV shows. Keeping your practice steady and regular is better than splurging one day and abstaining for the rest of the week.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

If you can sit in meditation for 10 or 15 minutes each day without discomfort, congratulations! You needn’t spend any additional time learning how to stretch and strengthen your body — unless, that is, you’re so inclined. But if you’re like most people, sooner or later your body will start clamoring for your attention. These poses will help to stretch and strengthen your lower back to prepare for sitting meditation. Cat pose with variations Watch how a cat stretches after a nap, and you’ll understand how this pose got its name. Not only does the pose stretch and strengthen your spine for sitting, but it’s also a great way to start your day. Here’s how you practice the Cat: Begin on your hands and knees with your spine parallel to the floor and your arms and thighs perpendicular to the floor (like a four-legged animal). As you exhale, arch your spine upward slowly like a cat, beginning the stretch at your tailbone. Feel your spine flexing vertebra by vertebra. At the culmination of the stretch, tuck your chin slightly. As you inhale, flex your spine downward, beginning with your tailbone and lifting your head slightly at the end of the stretch. Continue to breathe and stretch in this way for 10 to 15 breaths. You can also do two variations of the preceding Cat pose, as follows: Variation 1: From the four-legged position (Step 1), gently turn your head on an exhalation and look at your left hip, as you simultaneously move your hip toward your head. Inhale and come back to center and repeat to the other side. Continue for 10 to 15 breaths. Variation 2: From the four-legged position (Step 1), move your hands slightly forward of perpendicular and draw broad circles with your hips, moving forward as you inhale and backward as you exhale. Continue for 10 to 15 breaths. Cobra pose Named for its resemblance to the graceful serpent, this asana provides a great backward stretch for your spine — and an antidote to any tendency to slouch forward. To get the benefits of this stretch, do it this way: Lie face down with your forehead on the floor. Place your hands under your shoulders with your fingertips facing forward and the outside edge of your hands even with the edge of your shoulders. Draw your elbows in so that your arms touch the sides of your torso. Keep your feet together and press your legs and thighs into the floor. Raise your chest slowly away from the floor, lifting and extending from your upper back, with your head and neck in alignment with your spine. At first, you may find that your chest doesn’t rise very far, but don’t force yourself in any way. Your back will gradually become more flexible. Keeping your shoulders relaxed, gently press your chest upward and forward, and open your abdomen while pressing your pubic bone into the floor. Breathe deeply and smoothly, holding the pose for five to ten full breaths. As you exhale, slowly unfold the pose, vertebra by vertebra, until you’re once again lying face down with your forehead on the floor. Turn your head to one side and relax completely. Locust pose Also named for an animal, this asana recalls a grasshopper with its abdomen lifted into the air behind it. Because it stretches and strengthens the lower back, the Locust pose provides crucial support for the practice of sitting up straight, whether in meditation or any other sedentary activity. Here are the steps you follow to practice this pose: Lie face down with your chin on the floor and your arms at your sides, palms up. Making a partial fist with both hands, move your arms under your body and position your hands under your pubic bone, thumbs lightly touching. At this point, you can do either the half Locust or the full Locust, as follows: For half Locust: Contract your buttock muscles slightly and inhale. As you exhale, lift one leg completely into the air without bending your knee. Hold for five to ten breaths; then lower your leg and do the same with the other leg. Repeat three or four times on each side. When you’re done, turn your head to one side and relax. For full Locust: Contract your buttock muscles slightly and inhale. As you exhale, lift both legs completely into the air without bending your knees. Hold the pose for five to ten breaths, breathing deeply into your abdomen; then lower your legs, turn your head to one side, and relax.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When you’re settled into a comfortable meditative sitting position with your pelvis tilted slightly forward, you can turn your attention to straightening your back. Of course, straight is a misnomer when used to refer to the spine because a healthy spine actually has several distinct curves: one at the lumbar region or lower back, another at the thoracic area or midback, and a third at the neck or cervical spine. Unfortunately, these natural curves are often exaggerated by the demands of computer workstations and other sedentary environments, and you get into the habit of sitting hunched over, with your shoulders rounded, your upper back collapsed, and your neck and head craned forward like a turkey vulture. You may not be able to reverse sitting habits like these in a few sessions of meditation, but you can experiment with extending your spine — a more accurate term than straightening — and slowly but surely softening those curves back to their natural, graceful arches. You may find yourself carrying these new sitting habits into your other activities so that in time you’re gently correcting your posture. Try one or all three of the following visualizations to help you discover what a straight or extended spine feels like. The important thing is how your body feels from the inside. You want to feel centered, stable, grounded, and aligned with the force of gravity. Suspending your head from a string: Imagine that your entire body is suspended in the air from a string attached to the crown of your head. As you feel the string pulling your head up into the air, notice how your spine naturally lengthens, your pelvis tilts forward, your chin tucks, and the back of your neck flattens slightly. Stacking your vertebrae one on top of another: Imagine your vertebrae as bricks that you’re stacking one on top of the other, beginning with the first at the base of the spine. Feel your spine growing up toward the sky brick by brick, like a skyscraper. Sitting like a mountain or tree: Imagine your body as a mountain or tree with a broad base that extends deep into the earth and a trunk or peak that reaches toward the sky.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Many people ask what they should do with the parts of their body that are generally restless during meditation. This is especially difficult for beginners. Some people become obsessed with the “right” positioning of their hands, mouth or eyes. Once you forget about them, they won’t bother you again. To save you similar confusion about your eyes and other salient body parts, consider the following guidelines: Eyes: Initially, you need to decide whether you want to sit with your eyes closed, wide open, or half open. Then you can just forget about your eyes and let them do what they do. Each option has its pros and cons. Closed: Keeping your eyes closed draws your attention away from external distractions and helps you focus on your inner experience. Unfortunately, it also encourages daydreaming and thinking. Wide open: Keeping your eyes wide open is the most difficult position because it expands your awareness to include the full range of experiences. The good news is that this position makes it easier for you to rise from a sitting position and extend your meditation. The bad news is that without enough concentration, you can easily be distracted by anything that crosses your field of vision. Half open: It is generally recommended that people sit with their eyes half open, Zen style, gazing with soft focus at a spot on the floor about 4 or 5 feet ahead. If you’re feeling distracted, you can close your eyes a little more; if you’re feeling sleepy or dull, you can open them wider. And if you find yourself staring, just relax your eyes and soften your focus. Hands: You can put your hands pretty much anywhere they feel comfortable, as long as you keep them there for the entire sitting period. Seasoned meditators generally put their hands one of two places: In the lap: Try simply clasping your hands in your lap. Or you can attempt the more formal Zen mudra (hand position) in which your left palm is placed on top of your right about 4 or 5 inches below your navel, with your thumbs lightly touching near your navel, thereby forming an oval with your fingers. On the thighs: Simply rest your hands on your thighs, palms down. Or turn them up and, if you want, touch your index finger to the thumb of each hand, forming an oval in a traditional yoga mudra. Mouth: Keep it gently closed (but not clenched) as you breathe through your nose, with your tongue lightly touching the roof of your mouth so it doesn’t wander all over the place as tongues are wont to do.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

As meditation and the emerging field of mind-body medicine remind people— and yogis and sages have been saying for millennia — your body, your mind, and your heart form one seamless and inseparable whole. When your thoughts keep leaping from worry to worry, your body responds by tightening and tensing, especially in certain key places like the throat, the heart, the solar plexus, and the belly. When the discomfort gets intense enough, you register it as an emotion — fear, perhaps, or anger or sadness. Because it connects you with your direct experience — and ultimately with a realm of pure being beyond the mind — meditation naturally relaxes your body while it focuses your mind. As a beginner, though, you may not experience this natural relaxation for days or even weeks. So it can be helpful to practice one of the techniques in the following list before you meditate, especially if you tend to be noticeably tense. (If you’re one of those rare people who are so relaxed that you drift off to sleep at the slightest provocation, you may want to skip this exercise.) Shower of relaxation: Imagine taking a warm shower. As the water cascades across your body and down your legs, it carries with it all discomfort and distress, leaving you refreshed and invigorated. Honey treatment: Imagine a mound of warm honey perched on the crown of your head. As it melts, it runs down your face and head and neck, covering your shoulders and chest and arms, and gradually enveloping your whole body down to your toes. Feel the sensuous wave of warm liquid draining away all tension and stress and leaving you thoroughly relaxed and renewed. Peaceful place: Imagine a safe, protected, peaceful place — perhaps a forest, a meadow, or a sandy beach. Experience the place fully with all your senses. Notice how calm and relaxed you feel here; now allow that feeling to permeate every cell of your body. Body scan: Beginning with the crown of your head, scan your body from top to bottom. When you come to an area of tension or discomfort, gently allow it to open and soften; then move on. Relaxation response: Choose a word or brief phrase that has deep spiritual or personal significance for you. Now close your eyes and repeat this sound softly, again and again. Because the meditation takes at least 15 minutes to complete, you probably won’t do it each time you meditate, but it does show you how to relax your body part by part. By the way, deep relaxation is a great antidote for insomnia — just practice it in bed and then drift off to sleep!