Meditation and the Mastery of Concentration.

I have several daily practices that I attend to in order to keep myself physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally healthy. One of those daily practices is meditation. Dhyana or deep meditation is the seventh limb of yoga. What we call yoga here in America is actually ASANAS - the third limb of yoga.

While I practice all of the limbs of yoga, Meditation is the subject for today.  Meditation typically requires a focus for your attention. Your focus may be, amongst others, your breath, a sound such as a mantra, or a candle flame.

Mastery of attention, or Dharana, is the sixth limb of yoga. Dharana translates as immovable concentration of the mind and it involves training the mind to focus on one point or image. This one-pointedness is essential to meditation. Dharana should be effortless and not forced.

When I tell people that I teach meditation, many people say that they can't meditate because they can't stop thinking. It is the nature of the brain to think therefore, it is impossible to stop thinking. We actually average about 60,000 thought per day. Most of our thoughts are on the past or the future.

In meditation, we use our focus to "re-direct" the mind to be present with our focus. In my daily morning meditation, I use a mantra as a focus for my attention. When I find my mind wandering, I bring my attention back to the mantra.  

The mastery of attention takes practice and is rarely "perfected" as it is a practice. However, with the practice of Dharana, the mastery of attention, we will begin to experience Dhyana, deep meditation and the development of witnessing awareness wherein we forget the body and the world.

The results are reduced stress and improved physical and mental health. I am a certified S.E.E.D. (Simple Easy Every Day) meditation instructor and would love to teach you how to meditate. My teacher is Sarah McLean. Check out her website here: www.sedonameditation.com.

 Namaste.

I might be the worst blogger ever. Probably not but, I consider my lack of blogging to be an indication that I am living my life well. I have been living well and, still doing my best to avoid sugar. I have read much about sugar avoidance and addiction lately and over the past 20 years.

My sugar addiction runs deep. It has been with me for a long, long time - my best frenemy. I feel so much better without sugar but I don't always avoid it. I find that the the desire for sugar is about immediate gratification. The pleasurable, sweet taste lasts seconds, minutes if I'm lucky. The short and long term results are the inevitable sugar crash, dark circles under your eyes, weight gain, diabetes coronary artery disease and many other acute and chronic health issues. 

If I can avoid the desire for that immediate gratification; the desire usually passes after 15 minutes or so. This is a great time to meditate. Meditation has been shown to reduce cravings and addictive behaviors. 

Also, oftentimes, my craving for sugar is actually a desire for water or protein. Try a glass of water with some lemon and/or some chicken salad or turkey jerky - that craving may just go away.

If you are trying to avoid sugar and have a relapse, don't beat yourself up about it (we usually treat ourselves with much more cruelty than we treat others). Do, however, take the time to assess what caused the desire, the craving, and how you felt afterward. Self-awareness is your best tool in dealing with this addiction. Be well. Namaste.