Instant Meditation

Instant Meditation
By Paddy Landau

There is so much to do. There is so little time. We must go
slowly.— Taoist saying

Last month, when my wife broke her back, I spent a while using
hypnosis to help her relieve the pain. As I was doing so, I
noticed various thoughts floating across my mind. I thought
about how lucky she is that the break will heal. I thought
about how lucky most of us are, living with no ills or with
only minor ills. And, I wondered at how so many people squander
their luck to bad food, bad stress and bad decisions.

In certain ways, these three things feed on each other. We feel
stressed, so we eat bad food. We eat bad food, which makes it
harder to cope with stress. We then have more stress, so we
make bad decisions. And so on. But, if you can improve one of
these, it helps to make the others better.

Many people have found that a great way to defeat stress and
improve decisions is to meditate. However, meditation can take
a long time to master — years, or even decades, according to
some. But new discoveries can help. Researchers have measured
people's brainwaves and found out what happens when meditating
successfully. They've also compared these brainwaves to
"normal" people, and to people that have achieved high levels
of happiness.

Over the years, we've found ways to alter our brainwaves
deliberately. Some methods use simple machines that create
patterns of light or sound. Some methods use certain ways of
talking. There's meditation, of course, older than we have
records. And some methods take moments and are quick and easy
to master.

So, today, I decided to describe a simple way to alter your
brainwaves to a relaxed state known as "alpha". This is the
same as going into a light state of meditation. In this state,
you can relax, feel calm, and think new thoughts. And, of
course, you can diminish pain — physical or emotional. As a
young child, I hated dentists' injections, and insisted that
the dentist drill without using any pain relief. Although I
didn't know it at the time, I was entering an alpha state while
the dentist drilled and filled.

How to "instantly" meditate

Unlike standard meditation, it's not necessary to focus on a
single thought. In fact, it's OK to allow your mind to wander
and to think of whatever thoughts happen across your mind as
you do this easy exercise.

Sit in a comfortable chair, where you can safely close your
eyes. It's OK if there is moderate noise and movement around
you — it doesn't have to be quiet and still!

Take a deep breath in; hold for a moment; and relax, breathing
out. Do this three or four times.

Stare at a fixed point, perhaps on the wall. Without taking
your eyes off that point, start to notice just how far to the
left you can notice things around you. Then, do the same with
the right. Still looking at the one point, allow your vision to
expand up and down. You may be surprised at just how much you
can notice going on around you. Keeping your expanded vision,
you can stop staring at the one point.

Start to notice just how much you can hear. The little noises
that you hadn't noticed… the far-away noises that had passed
you by. Don't concentrate on any single noise. Instead, just
let every noise, near or far, loud or soft, enter into your
awareness.

While continuing to notice your vision and hearing, start to
notice how much you can feel. The chair you sit on; the
temperature and movement of the air; the feelings in your back
and feet…

Keep your awareness on your vision, sound and feelings. At some
point, you may find you want to close your eyes. You may also
find that your thoughts start to wander, without you asking
them to. Stay there for as long as you want.

With enough practice, you'll find you can start to enter this
state in seconds. It's a great way to unwind when you feel
overwhelmed by life!

About the Author: Paddy Landau, Hypnotherapist and Life Coach
based in Oxford UK Change Fast — with Hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT
and Life Coaching http://www.landau.ws

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