Free Essay

Meditation

In:

Submitted By antligato
Words 324
Pages 2
Anthony Ligato
Speech # 1

A LOST OUTLET:MEDITATION

I. What do Rick Rubin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oprah, and Russell Brand all have in common? a. Meditation has seemingly become a lost, yet re-emerging, outlet in western culture(Names taken from www.tmhome.com) b. I am speaking from a place of experience. There is a language barrier between knowledge and experience. c. Quote: "There is a principal which is a bar against all information, what is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation." (Herbert Spencer: A great mind of the Victorian England era) II. Discussion of medical statistics regarding usage of anti-psychotic medication within the U.S a. Harvard Health Publication states that 23% of women in there forty's and fifty's take anti-depressants (that being the highest among any age range) b. That number has increased by almost 400% between 1988-1994 and 2005-2008 c. 1 in 10 Americans take anti-depressants d. Metco reports that 1 in 5 Americans take some kind of behavioral/psychological medication III. Some research highlights (Emphasize benefits) a. Clinical studies have proven time and time again that meditation reduces blood pressure (Sala Horowitz Studies) b. 50 college students were asked to practice mediation over time and results were extremely positive in allowing brain waves to fire at a more rapid pace, able to maintain excess information, reduced stress levels, and tiredness throughout the day disappeared. c. (Colin Allen article in the magazine "Psych Today") 25 people people were asked to learn and practice mediation and experienced much of the same results as the college student experiment. IV. What does all of this mean? a. State personal experience with the benefits of mediation in my life. b. Re-emphasize how "contempt prior to investigation" can be a dangerous hazard in "spiritual" practices c. Urge those who seek to try !

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Meditation

...moment and relaxation all at the same time. Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years for religious and personal purposes. Meditation has also become a popular topic of research for universities and hospitals like Benson-Henry institute. When meditating one is engaging in the practice of relaxation and living for the moment. Meditation is a built in instinct we all have. One just has to learn how to tap into their natural ability to start rejuvenating their mind and body. There are hundreds of different ways to meditate and there is no one technique suitable for everyone. Most people associate meditation to just one practice. The practice of sitting crossed legged with a clear state of mind. This is a very popular form of meditation but one does not need to sit cross legged or even clear their mind to meditate. One just needs to find what is suitable for them. There are four main categories for meditation mindful, spiritual, movement and, focused meditation. Mindful meditation is when one sits crossed legged and enters a flow like state of mind. This means you allow your mind to flow from one thought to the next without really focusing on one particular thing. It is also the most popular practice of meditation in the Midwest. Spiritual meditation is the practice of using vibrations or sounds so one can connect to the flow of energy from god that is throughout all existence. The most common way of spiritual meditation is through chanting Hu which is an ancient name...

Words: 709 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Meditation

...Associate Level Material Appendix A Meditation Worksheet Directions: Locate two resources on the Internet that explain meditation techniques. • Enter the name of each website into the matrix, then copy and paste the web address. • After reviewing the website, provide a brief summary for each source. • Below your summary, list two interesting facts you learned from each site. • Try the techniques you located in your Internet search. Provide a brief description of what happened in your experience. When you are finished filling out the matrix, answer the two questions below. Information Website 1 Website 2 Website name and address (URL): Meditation 101: Techniques, Benefits and Beginner’s How To. http://life.gaiam.com/article/meditation-101-techniques-benefits-beginner-s-how How to Meditate Deeply: A Beginners Step-by-Step Guide http://www.quietmindsystem.com/how-to-meditate-deeply-a-beginners-step-by-step-guide/ Summary of the resource: The website states that meditation is an approach to training the mind. Since meditation is the process of clearing the mind. The article talks about different types of meditation techniques. There are instructions for beginners to try meditation for 2 to 3 minutes. The article tells you how long you should meditate for and gives step by step instructions on how to meditate. Two interesting facts: In Buddhist philosophy, the ultimate benefit of meditation is liberation of the mind from attachment of things...

Words: 395 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Meditation

...Associate Level Material Appendix A Meditation Worksheet Directions: Locate two resources on the Internet that explain meditation techniques. Copy and paste the web address into the top of the matrix. After reviewing the website, provide a brief summary for each source. Below your summary, list two interesting facts you learned from each site. Try the techniques you located in your Internet search. Provide a brief description of what happened in your experience. Be sure to answer the two questions below the matrix also. Do you think meditation leads to heightened sensation and perception? Explain why or why not. On the surface, it seems to. We already know that a blind man has a better sense of hearing or smelling. So, senses can be “heightened.” Meditation seems to be a practice of sensitivity. It is done in silence so that you may hear the slightest sound, with your eyes closed so that you may see the dimmest light, and the most comfortable posture so that you may feel the slightest pain. If you truly believe we are evolutionary creatures and you know that our bodies function in cycles of work and rest, you should believe that there should be a cycle of concentration and meditation. Concentration is the stage of perception where we are filling up our senses with maximum chatter and we are responding frame by frame and in fact, some chatter can be so massive that it masks the other chatter out, this principle applies to sound as well. A big boom will mask and...

Words: 1162 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Meditation

...Meditation Meditation is a holistic discipline .It is generally an internal, personal practice and most often done without any external involvement. Meditation is a safe and simple way to balance a person’s physical, mental and emotional forces. But can benefit everybody. Meditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'a cessation of the thought process' . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one. Herbert Benson, M.D., a professor at Harvard Medical School, describes the meditation experience as the "relaxation response." He discovered by studying various yogis and longtime meditators that the meditation process counteracted the effects of the sympathetic nervous system-the one that wants to fight or flee. Whereas the sympathetic system dilates the pupils and gets the heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure up, the parasympathetic system, activated when we meditate, does just the opposite. Muscle tension decreases, blood pressure drops, and for some extraordinary practitioners, even temperature and basal metabolism rates drop during a prolonged meditation. Oxygen needs of the body are reduced when one is in a highly relaxed state, and brain waves change from the busy beta-waves to the blissful alpha waves. In addition to...

Words: 1287 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Meditation

...because of everything around you is so loud. Like your pain, lack of money, relationship problems, children, health family, friends, job. When Samuel was called by the Lord he didn’t hear him, it wasn’t until he stopped what he was doing to hear what the Lord was trying to tell him. The youtube video “Let Go Let God” teaches you/instructs you to meditate in the Lord and draw yourself closer to him. Rhonda had five basic steps. 1. Sit in a comfortable position 2. Back Straight 3. Hands to the side or in the lap 4. Close your eyes and “Check inside you” 5. Breathe She claims that we as humans tend to disconnect between our mind, body, and spirit. She also asks you to set intentions for how you wish to feel after you are done with the meditation. My intentions for day 1 was to come out peaceful and to get closer to God That morning I said my morning prayer and I meditated for 20 minutes and listened to what was going on in my mind. I had nothing but my daily to-do list running through my mind at first because I couldn’t let go and loose myself in the silence. Then when I finally did I got the answer that I need. The Lord told me that peace comes from my mind; I must have a clear mind in order to obtained peace in him and with him. He told me to lay all my problems on him that morning so that I don’t go through the day with it. Later on that night I meditated for another 20 minutes and I felt relieved that the thing that worried me yesterday made me smile that day because they...

Words: 663 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Meditation

...Meditation Last friday was the first time that I’ve ever really meditated. To be completely honest, I forgot about the assignment. I was laying in bed reading my bible app, and I came across a verse that I knew had deep meaning but I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. John 8:12(ESV) says “ Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” I read this verse and My eyes drew right to Jesus’ declaration of deity. Reading this verse really softened my heart, after speaking in class about Jesus’ I AM statements. The verse was still very confusing to me thouh so i focused on it, I just kept wondering, “what is the light of life, and what does Jesus mean by “I am the light of the world.” So I thought about it for quite a while saying the verse over and over, trying to recreate the situation in my head. I started to think about what light represents; Life, joy, love, and basically anything that is good. Jesus is the beacon of all things good. At this point I recognized that I was actually meditating over scripture, and I felt tickled pink because I was supposed to do this for an assignment, and was doing it unintentionally. I started to focus on what Jesus meant when he said, “ Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness…” I’ve seen plenty of followers of Christ do evil. I do plenty of evil myself. I realized that God gave us free will. If we walk in darkness that is attributed...

Words: 356 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Meditation

...Meditation Worksheet Directions: Locate two resources on the Internet that explain meditation techniques. • Enter the name of each website into the matrix, then copy and paste the web address. • After reviewing the website, provide a brief summary for each source. • Below your summary, list two interesting facts you learned from each site. • Try the techniques you located in your Internet search. Provide a brief description of what happened in your experience. When you are finished filling out the matrix, answer the two questions below. |Information |Website 1 |Website 2 | |Website name and |The Transcendental Meditation Program |Project-Meditation.Org | |address (URL): | | | | |URL: http://www.tm.org/meditation-techniques | | | | |URL: | | | |http://www.project-meditation.org/meditation_techniques.h| | | |tml...

Words: 457 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Meditation

...Meditation Have you ever seen a person sitting still, eyes closed, crossed legged with fabulous posture, and wonder what is that weird person doing? Well, that ‘weird’ person is gaining more benefits then you are standing there and staring. This person is meditating. What is meditating you ask yourself? No, it is not the ability to sleep while sitting up; it is practical, democratic, ageless, healing, it is the ability to take control of your own states of mind and develop consciousness. Meditation is one of the most beneficial and simple exercise anyone can practice. By practicing and exploring the numerous methods, benefits, and current practices of meditation, one can truly understand how important and pleasant it is to meditate. Once experienced, most people will likely join the pro athletes, astronauts, soldiers, corporate executives, celebrities and doctors in the daily practice of looking within. Meditating is extensively common in the 21st century. Meditating has gone mainstream, from young kids to celebrity actor Lindsay Lohan. Why are average 21st century people seeking refuge with meditation? Heng sure & Chin He state that there are two possible reasons. One, because people seek the “antidote to the disturbing effects of our fast-paced life styles” and two, because of “the ability to sustain concentration benefits activities from sports to studying.” (Sure & He, 2) For example, Lindsay Lohan has gone through addiction, massive amounts of stress, media attention...

Words: 1031 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Meditation

...There are many ways to live a healthy, safe and happy lifestyle. There are many things a person may experience in their life to make them feel better. Meditation is an activity that is used throughout the world to enhance happiness in an individual’s life. There are numerous amounts of reasons why meditation can help you live a healthy, safe and happy lifestyle which will be discussed further on. Meditation is known as a cure to anything and is in debate that people who meditate are much stronger, healthier, happier and active people. There are many studies which have been undertaken which will also be referred to further on. This essay conveys the benefits of meditation in health, happiness, how to meditate as well as showing studies that have been conducted around the world in proving how effective meditating really is. First of all meditation is a three step process that leads to a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity, and bliss to an individual’s life (meditation station, 2006) and is also referred to as mindfulness training. Meditation may increase anyone’s ability to stay in the present moment as opposed to worrying about the future and past. Medititation is also known as enabling an individual to connect more with their feelings and emotions. Meditation improves a person’s concentration which results in a clear mind which makes an individual more productive, especially in creative disciplines like writing (Pettinger, 2012). It helps people not get too...

Words: 2416 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Meditation

...Different types of meditation, their principles and their benefits: Meditation may be described as a path that an individual traverse to see things as they really are. It is believed that in meditation you are deeper than the deepest sleep anyone can have. It is nothing but keeping mind calm and serene, free from anger, stress and agitation. The sole purpose of meditation is to achieve higher level of awareness which basically is knowing one’s true potential, who he really is. Meditation is the very route for the same. Our thoughts faster than the speed of light. One moment we are here, and many light-years away the very next moment. Just as we set radio to a particular frequency to get the best signal, in a similar fashion we also have to fine tune our mind to get rid of too much wasteful thinking. A focused mind gives more returns than a distracted one. Out of many techniques of meditation two are most common: a) Mindfulness meditation: This involve not to get involve in the thoughts wandering in your mind but just to be aware of them. b) Concentration meditation: This involves focusing on a single point. Examples: watching a pendulum bob, a candles flame, chanting a single mantra, repetitive words them ‘Om’ etc. Other techniques are walking meditation, relaxing meditation etc. Hence we need to adhere to a few principles before actually doing meditation in order to attain optimum gain from. They are: 1. Choosing a different place. 2. Choosing a particular...

Words: 449 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Mindfulness Meditation

...The use of meditation techniques has been an interesting subject to study for many individuals and psychologist. Throughout history, meditation has been used as a tool to make life more comfortable for individuals who are looking to cope or escape from the harsh realities of the world. I believe that meditation is like a drug that brings us peace and happiness without any negative side effects. Meditation can heal our soul and mind by allowing us access to the spiritual world. In fact, there are a number of meditation techniques that individuals can master to help them along their journey of life. By learning about the benefits of mediation, we humans can acquire peace, relaxation, and most importantly the ability to combat mental illnesses....

Words: 1141 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Effects of Meditation

...The Effects of Meditation Kayla Ritch West Georgia Technical College Abstract There are different ways to meditate, and since it’s such a personal practice there are probably more than any of us know about. Some meditations are focused-attention, or mindful meditation, while others are open-monitoring meditation. Mindful or focused-attention meditation is where you focus on one specific thing; whereas, open-monitoring meditation is where you pay attention to all of the things happening around you. With all mediation techniques there are great effects, some alike and some different. People who practice focus-attention meditation do not show any obvious signs of improvement in the creativity task following their meditation, but those who did open-monitoring meditation, however, they performed better on a task that asked them to come up with new ideas. No matter what type of meditation you practice you are expected to feel less stress. The more someone meditates, the less anxiety they have, and it turns out this is because we’re actually loosening the connections of particular neural pathways. What is meditation? “Meditation is a group of techniques designed to alter consciousness; it’s believed to enhance self-knowledge and well-being through reduced self-awareness” (Huffman & Dowdell, 2015). The book also states that most people in the beginning stages of meditation experience a simple, mellow type of relaxation, followed by a mild euphoria and a sense of timelessness...

Words: 560 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Meditation Worksheet

...Axia College Material Appendix A Meditation Worksheet Directions: Locate two resources on the Internet that explain meditation techniques. Copy and paste the Web address into the top of the matrix. After reviewing the Web site, provide a brief summary for each source. Below your summary, list two interesting facts you learned from each site. Try the techniques you located in your Internet search. Provide a brief description of what happened in your experience. Be sure to answer the two questions below the matrix also. |Web Address (URL): |http://www.meditation-tips.org/ |http://www.stress-relief-choices.com/meditation-techniques.html | | |Meditation has helped many people to live a calm, balanced, and peaceful |Meditation calms the mind and helps to put things into perspective. If you have lost | | |way of life. With meditation, the beauty of it is, anyone can practice |clarity, then this practice will help to gain clarity back. If you feel stress, then sitting| | |it. You do not have to learn deep Sutra’s, scriptures. Or ancient books |silently, watching the breathing helps to balance this out. If you are working in a | | |to learn to get started. The benefits of meditation are: mental clarity, |corporate environment, the days where you meditate will go so much more smoothly...

Words: 955 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Meditation Worksheet

...Associate Level Material Appendix A Meditation Worksheet Directions: Locate two resources on the Internet that explain meditation techniques. • Enter the name of each website into the matrix, then copy and paste the web address. • After reviewing the website, provide a brief summary for each source. • Below your summary, list two interesting facts you learned from each site. • Try the techniques you located in your Internet search. Provide a brief description of what happened in your experience. When you are finished filling out the matrix, answer the two questions below. |Information |Website 1 |Website 2 | |Website name and |Meditation Techniques for Beginners |Meditation Techniques - Project Meditation. | |address (URL): | | | | |http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-491/Meditation-Techniques-|http://www.project-meditation.org/meditation_techniques.h| | |for-Beginners-Demonstrated-by-Deepak-Chopra-Video.html |tml | |Summary of the |Teaching beginners how to meditate to help health, laws |Goes over the different types of meditation and what they| |resource: |of attraction and even...

Words: 479 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Meditation the Real Medicine

...                     Meditation the Real Medicine Writing an argument paper can be difficult, but my topic that I have chosen makes it somewhat  easier since it is one that is used every day of my life. With it I can meet the daily challenges that most everyone take for granted. Like, eating and drinking we think nothing of those skills, well for me it is the same as eating and drinking. It has to be or I won't be able to function throughout my day. In 1981 I broke my lower lumbar spine in 4 places, a fall that accrued during a Special OP’s training exercise. I fell four stories and landed in water, but it felt like cement. For the next year my life was in a hospital traction bed and told I would never walk again. I walk today but the pain remains, a constant reminder of a day that changed my life forever and started me in the world of pain management.  As one starts thinking about the argument topic they want to write about, this was a no brainier for me in choosing the topic to write about. A practice that is, as routine as eating or brushing one's teeth for most people. This routine is as important to me as to the daily challenges that most everyone take for granted.  My argument topic is on meditation vs. alpha-medicine drug treatments. Let’s get some clearly to the facts about meditation this might be helpful in an argument against some of the assumptions on meditation, which is something I practice in my life every single day to relieve my back pain. So, what is meditation? What...

Words: 1905 - Pages: 8