Private Practice Psychiatry
San Francisco, CA
November 26, 2004
Meditation: Benefits,
styles, and techniques for practice
Meditation is an ancient technique practiced for spiritual,
mental, and physical growth. On a
psychological level, different styles of meditation have been shown to improve
mood[1],
decrease anxiety[2], lengthen
attention span[3], and enhance
feelings of connectedness, gratitude, and compassion[4]. On a physical level, meditation leads to
improved immune system functioning[5],
a reduction in blood pressure and mortality from heart disease[6]-[7],
a reduction in fibromyalgia[8]
and chronic pain[9], a decreased
hormonal response to stress[10],
a reduction in psoriatic plaques[11],
a decrease in irritable bowel syndrome[12],
and a reduction in inpatient (-54%) and outpatient (-44%) visits to hospitals and
clinics[13]. Additionally scientists have recently found
that meditation practice changes the structure and function of the brain over
time and can lead to increased awareness and compassion (among other benefits)[14]. There are many styles of meditation and many
opinions about how to meditate, and I will outline a few below.
We often live without ever truly stopping to examine our
feelings and thoughts, much less the expectations and hopes and fears that
underlie them. By observing our mental
life, we can gain insights into why we do what we do, and we can begin
to feel more authentic and present in our daily lives. The unity of your sense of self with your moment-to-moment
experience, achieved by constantly pulling your attention and awareness back to
the present moment, is at the core of many meditation practices.
Mediation makes us more aware of our neuroses, defenses, and
other “stuck” areas in our lives. Missing
from meditation is the experience of working through mental conflicts with
another person. When we can openly discuss
our experiences with an empathic and genuine teacher or therapist, then our
capacity to face the mental challenges that arise during our daily lives is
enormously strengthened.
Many meditation techniques combine awareness of the breath
with an erect seated posture. There are
many styles of meditation. Osho and
transcendental meditation techniques are not discussed here. The following is a list of some common
meditation styles with simple instructions:
I know my body. (inhaling)
I am not my body. (exhaling)
I know my mind.
I am not my mind.
I know my witness.
I am not my witness.
Pay attention to the
breathing – the inward and outward motion of the breath. Observe and label your thoughts, feelings,
and judgments as they arise, and then let them go. For example, when a thought arises, label it “thought” and then
return your full attention to your breathing.
Focus on an object, vision,
phrase, or word (a “mantra”) and maintain your full awareness there. Sometimes a verbal phrase, such as “Om Mane
Padme Hum” (in Tibetan Buddhism) is repeated.
Others will visualize the Buddha or a perfect being. Roger Walsh, M.D. suggests visualizing a
white circle with a white dot in the middle on a black background –
continuously hold your full attention and awareness on the vision. Some practitioners watch a candle flame or
single point, others listen with full attention to the sound of Tibetan
“singing bowls.” You can cultivate awareness with any one of these repetition
or focus-based “mantras.” Notice what
thoughts, feelings, and experiences come up during the meditation, let them go,
and return your full attention to the mantra.
Loving Kindness
(Metta)
For all the wrongs others
have committed against me, knowingly or unknowingly, I forgive them.
For all the wrongs I have
committed against others, knowingly or unknowingly, I forgive myself.
For all the wrongs I have committed
against myself, knowingly or unknowingly, I forgive myself.
(Repeat the following
phrases first for yourself, then for a trusted companion, then for a neutral
person, and finally for a disliked person.
Try to really feel the blessings)
May I be filled with
loving-kindness
May I be filled with
loving-kindness
May I be well.
May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at
ease.
May I be peaceful and at
ease.
May I be happy.
May I be happy.
May my road be easy and my
burden be light.
May my road be easy and my
burden be light.
May I be liberated.
May I be liberated.
(In sync with your
breathing, repeat silently)
I am a mountain, (inhaling)
I feel solid. (exhaling)
I am a flower,
I feel fresh.
I am a still pool,
My mind feels clear.
I am empty space,
I feel free.
I am a mountain lake,
I reflect everything.
Cultivating Compassion
(Tonglen)
In
tonglen practice, when we see or feel suffering, we breathe in with the notion of
completely feeling it, accepting it, and owning it. Then we breathe out,
radiating compassion, loving-kindness, freshness; anything that encourages
relaxation and openness.
1) First,rest
your mind briefly in a state of openness or stillness.
2) Second, work
with texture. Breathe in a feeling of hot, dark, and heavy, and breathe out a
feeling of cool, bright, and light. Breathe in and radiate completely, through
all the pores of your body, until it feels synchronized with your in-and
out-breathe.
3) Third, work
with any painful personal situation that is real to you. Traditionally, you
begin by doing tonglen for someone you care about. However, if your stuck, do
the practice for your pain and simultaneously for all those just like you who
feel that kind of suffering.
4) Finally, make
the taking in and the sending out larger. Whether you’re doing tonglen for
someone you love or for someone you see on television, do it for all the others
in the same boat. You could even do
tonglen for people you consider your enemies--those who have hurt you or
others. Do tonglen for them, thinking of them as having the same confusion and
stuckness as your find or yourself.[15]
References
[1] Speca, Michael, Carlson, Linda E.,
Goodey, Eileen, Angen, Maureen. A
Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Clinical Trial: The Effect of a Mindfulness
Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Mood and Symptoms of Stress in
Cancer Outpatients. Psychosom
Med 2000 62: 613-622
[2] Schwartz, GE, Davidson, RJ,
Goleman, DJ. Patterning of
cognitive and somatic processes in the self-regulation of anxiety: effects of
meditation versus exercise.
Psychosom Med 1978 40: 321-328
[3] Arnold LE.
Alternative
treatments for adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD). Ann NY Acad Sci. 2001 Jun;931:310-41.
[4] Jean L.
Kristeller, Ph.D. and Thomas Johnson, Ph.D.
Cultivating Loving-Kindness: A Two-Stage Model for the Effects of
Meditation on Compassion, Altruism and Spirituality. Portions presented at the conference: Works
of Love: Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Altruism, Villanova
University, Villanova, PA. June 3, 2003.
[5] RICHARD J. DAVIDSON, PHD, JON KABAT-ZINN, PHD, JESSICA SCHUMACHER, MS, MELISSA ROSENKRANZ, BA, DANIEL MULLER, MD, PHD, SAKI F. SANTORELLI, EDD, FERRIS URBANOWSKI, MA, ANNE HARRINGTON, PHD, KATHERINE BONUS, MA, AND JOHN F. SHERIDAN, PHD.
Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by
Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine
65:564–570 (2003).
[6] Schneider RH, Nidich SI, Salerno JW. The Transcendental Meditation program:
reducing the risk of heart disease and mortality and improving quality of life
in African Americans. Ethn Dis.
2001 Winter;11(1):159-60.
[7] Orme-Johnson, D. Medical care utilization and the
transcendental meditation program.
Psychosom Med 1987 49: 493-507.
[8] Kaplan
KH, Goldenberg DL, Galvin-Nadeau M. The impact of a
meditation-based stress reduction program on fibromyalgia. Gen
Hosp Psychiatry. 1993 Sep;15(5):284-9.
[9] Kabat-Zinn J, Lipworth L, Burney R. The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the
self-regulation of chronic pain. J Behav Med. 1985 Jun;8(2):163-90.
[10] MacLean CR, Walton KG, Wenneberg SR, Levitsky DK,
Mandarino JP, Waziri R, Hillis SL, Schneider RH. Effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on adaptive
mechanisms: changes in hormone levels and responses to stress after 4 months of
practice. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
1997 May;22(4):277-95.
[11] Kabat-Zinn, J, Wheeler, E, Light, T,
Skillings, A, Scharf, MJ, Cropley, TG, Hosmer, D, Bernhard, JD. Influence of a mindfulness
meditation-based stress reduction intervention on rates of skin clearing in
patients with moderate to severe psoriasis undergoing phototherapy (UVB) and
photochemotherapy (PUVA). Psychosom
Med 1998 60: 625-632.
[12] Keefer L,
Blanchard EB. A one year follow-up of
relaxation response meditation as a treatment for irritable bowel
syndrome. Behav Res Ther. 2002 May;40(5):541-6.
[13] Orme-Johnson, D. Medical care utilization and the
transcendental meditation program.
Psychosom Med 1987 49: 493-507.
[14] SHARON BEGLEY, “Scans of Monks' Brains Show Meditation Alters
Structure, Functioning” Wall Street Journal - SCIENCE JOURNAL. November 5, 2004.
[15]
http://www.acupuncturedoc.com/tonglen.htm.