Meditate on Life!

Mindfulness Meditation is about paying attention to ourselves and the world we live in. We pay attention to our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations as they arise in awareness without preference, comments, judgment, and in doing we can develop in time, a clear non reactive mind which leads us to suffer less. The Dalai Lama is reported to have said that all our suffering arises from inaccurate perception. In other words, not seeing the reality of each moment clearly, in which we exist.

Mindfulness meditation is a very transformative experience because it encourages us to be “in” our experiences rather than detached from them. Meditation is about continual self-discovery, heightened attentiveness and appreciation for the impermanence of all conditioned experiences. It is a journey into and tolerance for the unknown and if we let go a little we have a little peace, if we let go a lot we have a lot of peace.

When the thirteen century Zen teacher Dzogchen was asked what the enlightened mind was he stated it was one in which one was intimate with all things. This means developing a spirit of friendship and acceptance rather than one of resistance to our experiences.  It is almost as though we need to put out the welcome mat for experiences. The “good “,“bad” and “ugly” are valued equally. Through meditation we discover who we are which can be a truly awakening experience. We become aware of our emotional habits of mind that continually drive us.  We can develop a capacity to regulate our affects (emotions) – affect regulation as it is now known in the West. This does not mean, however, we will be free of emotional distress forever but rather we can develop the capacity to tolerate distress. Through this process we develop emotional intelligence.

Mindfulness meditation is integrated rather than segregated from one's ordinary life. Who we are, displays itself each moment and in every relationship. While one does not have to be removed from the world, in order to cultivate self-awareness, a formal, structured practice of meditation may offer periodic respites from, and new perspectives on, one's ordinary, busy existence. But meditation is not something that one does mechanically for a certain amount of time on a scheduled basis. Rather, one could make one’s whole life a meditative experience during which we endeavour to pay attention to each moment we are in.

Research shows Mindfulness Meditation and Buddhism can assist with the management of chronic pain conditions, lowering of heart rate and blood pressure, stress relief, increase self-esteem, decrease anxiety, the capacity to tolerate intense emotions, cultivation of mental clarity and physical well being.

Naturally meditation is a practice, we are all works in progress, we are always learning, growing and healing across the lifespan, no one is completely enlightened. For meditation courses and timetables in 2010