7 ways meditation can save your life

8/7/2019 7 Ways Meditation Can Save Your Life

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7 Ways Meditation Can Save Your LifeEd and Deb Shapiro offer a few good reasons why meditation is "a must" for a happy, healthy life.Source: Mindful.org

Photo iStockPhoto.com/zeremski

Why are there more people who drink alcohol than there are people who meditate? Why do morepeople eat fast food than get exercise? Smoking is a leading cause of death in the U.S., as are

poor diet and alcohol use, so why do we love everything that is bad for us and keep away fromthings that do us good?

Presumably it's because we really don't like ourselves too much. Once the cycle of self-dislikegets started, then it takes a huge amount of determination and effort to make changes. And the

mind is a perfect servant, as it will do whatever it's told, but it's a terrible master as it fails to help

us help ourselves.

Which can be even harder when our mind is like a deranged monkey, leaping from one thought or

drama to the next, never allowing us time to be quiet, peaceful and still.

But meditation can save our life! This may sound farfetched, but meditation is a direct way to cut

through the chaotic monkey mind constantly making excuses and supporting our neurosis. It'sthat fundamental. Yet so many people pay it so little attention. Drinking alcohol can kill and

meditation can save, yet there are far more people who drink.

Seven Ways Meditation Can Save Your Life

1. Chill OutIt is known that stress is responsible for 70-90 percent of illnesses, and that quiet time isthe most effective remedy for a busy and overworked mind. In a stressed state, it is easy

to lose touch with inner peace, compassion and kindness; in a relaxed state, the mindclears and we connect with a deeper sense of purpose and altruism. Your breath is your

best friend. Anytime you feel stress rising, heart closing, mind going into overwhelm, just

focus on your breathing and quietly repeat: Breathing in, I calm the body and mind;breathing out, I smile.

2. Release Anger and FearAnger can lead to hatred and violence. If we do not accept our negative feelings we are

likely to repress or disown them, and when denied they can cause shame, depression andrage. Meditation enables us to see how selfishness, aversion and ignorance create endlessdramas and fears. It may not be a cure-all, it's not going to make all our difficulties go

away or suddenly transform our weaknesses into strengths, but it does enable us to


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release self-centered and angry attitudes and generate a deep inner happiness. This can be

very liberating.

3. Generate AppreciationA lack of appreciation easily leads to abuse and exploitation. So, start by taking a

moment just to appreciate the chair you are sitting on. Consider how the chair was made:

the wood, cotton, wool, or other fibers, the trees and plants that were used, the earth thatgrew the trees, the sun and rain, the animals that maybe gave their lives, the people who

prepared the materials, the factory where the chair was built, the designer and carpenter

and seamstress, the shop that sold it -- all this just so you could be sitting here, now. Thenextend that appreciation to every part of yourself, then to everyone and everything in

your life. For this I am grateful.

4. Develop Kindness and CompassionEvery time you see or feel suffering, whether in yourself or in another, every time you

make a mistake or say something stupid and are just about to put yourself down, everytime you think of someone you are having a hard time with, every time you see someonestruggling, upset or irritated, just stop and bring loving kindness and compassion.

Breathing gently, silently repeat: May you be well, may you be happy, may you be filledwith loving kindness.

There is a reservoir of basic goodness in all beings but we often lose touch with this

natural expression of caring and friendship. In meditation, we go from seeing our

essentially selfish and ego-bound nature to recognizing that we are an integral part of afar greater whole, and as the heart opens we can bring compassion to our fallibility andhumanness. Meditation is, therefore, the most compassionate gift we can give to

ourselves.

5. Practice HarmlessnessSimply through the intent to cause less pain we can bring greater dignity to our world, so

that harm is replaced with harmlessness and disrespect with respect. Ignoring someone'sfeelings, affirming our hopelessness, disliking our appearance, or seeing ourselves as

incompetent or unworthy are all causes of personal harm. How much resentment, guilt, or

shame are we holding on to, thus perpetuating such harmfulness? Meditation enables usto transform this through recognizing our essential goodness as well as the preciousness

of all life.

6. Share and CareWithout sharing and caring we live in an isolated, disconnected and lonely world. Wetake meditation "off the cushion" and put it into action as we become more deeply aware

of our connectedness with all beings. From being self-centered, we become other-

centered, concerned about the welfare of all. Then, reaching out beyond ourselves

becomes a spontaneous expression of genuine generosity seen in our capacity to let go ofconflicts or forgive mistakes, or in our desire to help those in need. We are not alone

here, we all walk the same earth and breathe the same air; the more we participate, the

more we are connected and fulfilled.

7. Be With What IsThe very nature of life includes change and unfulfilled desire and a longing for things to

be different from how they are, all of which brings discontent and dissatisfaction. Almosteverything we do is to achieve something: if we do this, then we will get that; if we do


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that, then this will happen. But in meditation we do it just to do it. There is no ulterior

purpose other than to be here, in the present moment, without trying to get anywhere or

achieve anything. No judgment, no right or wrong, simply being aware.

Meditation enables us to see clearly, to witness our thoughts and behavior and reduce our self-involvement. Without such a practice of self-reflection there is no way of putting a brake on the

ego's demands. Stepping out of the conceptual mind, however, does not mean stepping intonowhere or nothing; it does not mean that there is no connection to a worldly reality. Rather, it isstepping into sanity and, more importantly, into even greater connectedness. Then we have no

more need to do ourselves harm!

Ed and Deb Shapiro are featured bloggers at Oprah.com and HuffingtonPost.com.See theiraward-winning book:BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World,

with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors Jack Kornfield, Jon

Kabat-Zinn, Jane Fonda, Ram Dass, Byron Katie, and many others. They also have 3 meditationCD's: MettaLoving kindness and Forgiveness; SamadhiBreath Awareness and Insight; and

Yoga NidraInner Conscious Relaxation; which are available at:EdandDebShapiro.com

7 ways meditation can save your life

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