You Never Know
Sandy Powers
June 15, 2008
I was a busy young mother with small children in Seattle during the 1970´s when I began to experience stress and sleepless nights. "You have to relax," my doctor advised. I didn´t need him to tell me to relax, I thought. If I knew how to relax, I wouldn´t be stressed!
It was during one of those sleepless nights when two words suddenly popped into my head: transcendental meditation. T.M. Where had I heard that? Oh, The Beatles. I remembered. They went to some mountaintop to meet with some guru. I´ll check into it tomorrow, I sighed, as I struggled back to sleep.
The next morning after breakfast, I dragged out the Lincoln logs to keep the kids busy for ten minutes while I checked the yellow pages for meditation. There it was: Transcendental Meditation. I hurried to make the telephone call before my ten minutes were up. A very pleasant voice answered. I was already beginning to relax.
She explained, "The course takes one week and costs $125. You meet everyday with a teacher who leads you through the steps to meditation."
"What if I don´t learn how to meditate in a week?" She didn´t know how stressed I was.
"We will work with you as long as necessary," she assured me.
And that was that. I learned T.M. I didn´t go to a mountaintop. I went to an office building in Seattle where transcendental meditation was being taught. I didn´t have the Beatles´s guru but I had a very good one of my own. I meditated on and off, mostly on, for the next 30 years.
The years passed quickly, as years seem to do, and it was 2004. My brother-in-law discovered he had lung cancer.
"I can´t sleep," he told me. "I can´t get any rest. The medicine the doctor gave me to relax doesn´t really work. I read about cancer and meditation. Can you teach me how to meditate?"
"I´m no meditation teacher," I answered, " but I will teach you how I meditate."
And I did. He often told me before he died that meditation helped him to rest when nothing else seemed to work. It was just a few months after his death that I discovered I had breast cancer and liver problems. I was in a state of shock. This time it was me who turned to meditation to rest "when nothing else seemed to work."
Anyone can benefit from meditation. Meditation is a marvelous coping device to help you through the very tough times a serious illness puts you through or for the everyday stress of raising a family or meeting your monthly bills.
Pick a spot where you can be alone without any interruptions. I use my bedroom. I lock the door, turned off the telephone (voice mail will pick up any messages,) and pull the blinds. I sit in a comfortable chair, prop up my feet and think of my mantra. A mantra is merely a word or sound that is comforting. Choose a word or sound that you find comforting. This becomes your mantra. You will keep this same mantra every time you meditate. I repeat my mantra over in my mind to begin to relax. My thoughts wander. Don´t try to control your thinking. Let your thoughts wander. If your mind becomes fixated on a particular thought, think of your mantra.
My meditation lasts about 15 minutes. I keep a clock within reach to check my time. When my 15 minutes are up, I slowly come out of meditation by wiggling my toes and fingers to stimulate my body. Then I open my eyes. I remain sitting for a few minutes. I take my time because the state of meditation is so relaxing that your heart rate decreases like it does when you are sleeping. You don´t jump out of bed first thing in the morning; you wake up slowly. The same with meditation.
Don´t become discouraged if you don´t immediately feel on top of the world when you first begin meditating. It will come. Stick with meditation and you will soon feel a sense of well being. Meditation is a heeler of the mind. And, believe me, you never know when you might need it.
A breast cancer survivor of 3 years, Sandy Powers shares her research, her amazing results, and her recipes rich in antioxidants and immune boosters in her book, "Organic for Health."
http://www.organicforhealthsite.com
sdepour@comcast.net
941-460-8900
It was during one of those sleepless nights when two words suddenly popped into my head: transcendental meditation. T.M. Where had I heard that? Oh, The Beatles. I remembered. They went to some mountaintop to meet with some guru. I´ll check into it tomorrow, I sighed, as I struggled back to sleep.
The next morning after breakfast, I dragged out the Lincoln logs to keep the kids busy for ten minutes while I checked the yellow pages for meditation. There it was: Transcendental Meditation. I hurried to make the telephone call before my ten minutes were up. A very pleasant voice answered. I was already beginning to relax.
She explained, "The course takes one week and costs $125. You meet everyday with a teacher who leads you through the steps to meditation."
"What if I don´t learn how to meditate in a week?" She didn´t know how stressed I was.
"We will work with you as long as necessary," she assured me.
And that was that. I learned T.M. I didn´t go to a mountaintop. I went to an office building in Seattle where transcendental meditation was being taught. I didn´t have the Beatles´s guru but I had a very good one of my own. I meditated on and off, mostly on, for the next 30 years.
The years passed quickly, as years seem to do, and it was 2004. My brother-in-law discovered he had lung cancer.
"I can´t sleep," he told me. "I can´t get any rest. The medicine the doctor gave me to relax doesn´t really work. I read about cancer and meditation. Can you teach me how to meditate?"
"I´m no meditation teacher," I answered, " but I will teach you how I meditate."
And I did. He often told me before he died that meditation helped him to rest when nothing else seemed to work. It was just a few months after his death that I discovered I had breast cancer and liver problems. I was in a state of shock. This time it was me who turned to meditation to rest "when nothing else seemed to work."
Anyone can benefit from meditation. Meditation is a marvelous coping device to help you through the very tough times a serious illness puts you through or for the everyday stress of raising a family or meeting your monthly bills.
Pick a spot where you can be alone without any interruptions. I use my bedroom. I lock the door, turned off the telephone (voice mail will pick up any messages,) and pull the blinds. I sit in a comfortable chair, prop up my feet and think of my mantra. A mantra is merely a word or sound that is comforting. Choose a word or sound that you find comforting. This becomes your mantra. You will keep this same mantra every time you meditate. I repeat my mantra over in my mind to begin to relax. My thoughts wander. Don´t try to control your thinking. Let your thoughts wander. If your mind becomes fixated on a particular thought, think of your mantra.
My meditation lasts about 15 minutes. I keep a clock within reach to check my time. When my 15 minutes are up, I slowly come out of meditation by wiggling my toes and fingers to stimulate my body. Then I open my eyes. I remain sitting for a few minutes. I take my time because the state of meditation is so relaxing that your heart rate decreases like it does when you are sleeping. You don´t jump out of bed first thing in the morning; you wake up slowly. The same with meditation.
Don´t become discouraged if you don´t immediately feel on top of the world when you first begin meditating. It will come. Stick with meditation and you will soon feel a sense of well being. Meditation is a heeler of the mind. And, believe me, you never know when you might need it.
A breast cancer survivor of 3 years, Sandy Powers shares her research, her amazing results, and her recipes rich in antioxidants and immune boosters in her book, "Organic for Health."
http://www.organicforhealthsite.com
sdepour@comcast.net
941-460-8900
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