Meditation
Stress for many people can create a desire to eat as a method of reducing or releasing the stress. Make a list
of the things that cause you stress, then mark "choice" or "C" beside the ones on the list that
you have some control over. For example, if you are stressed because your house is not clean, then you have a choice whether
you take action to clean your home unless of course physically you're not able to.Now if your house is very messy then
you may have to deal with it bit by bit. Remember don't punish yourself if you don't do al the cleaning at once. Instead
congratulate yourself for what you have done. Reward your own good behaviour! Now of course there is stress in our lives that
we may not have complete control over such as at work. So instead we need to find ways to manage the stress that we have little
or no control over. Having tools to deal with stress will help not only in controlling "stress eating" but will
help in other areas of ones life. One great tool is meditation. Try joining a medition class or you can get some meditation
tapes/music or books.
Breathing Meditation is an easy place to start.
Breathing Meditations
Generally,
the purpose of breathing meditation is to calm the mind and develop inner peace. We can use breathing meditations alone or
as a preliminary practice to reduce our distractions before engaging in a Lamrin Meditation.
A Simple Breathing Meditation
The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions
and make our mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practising a simple breathing meditation. We choose
a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any
other position that is comfortable. If we wish, we can sit in a chair. The most important thing is to keep our back straight
to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.
The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and
make our mind clearer and more lucid.
We sit with
our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils,
without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves
the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything
else.
At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even
feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually
is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain
focused single-pointedly on the sensation of the breath. If we discover that our mind has wandered and is following our thoughts,
we should immediately return it to the breath. We should repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on
the breath.
Benefits of Meditation
If
we practise patiently in this way, gradually our distracting thoughts will subside and we will experience a sense of inner
peace and relaxation. Our mind will feel lucid and spacious and we will feel refreshed. When the sea is rough, sediment is
churned up and the water becomes murky, but when the wind dies down the mud gradually settles and the water becomes clear.
In a similar way, when the otherwise incessant flow of our distracting thoughts is calmed through concentrating on the breath,
our mind becomes unusually lucid and clear. We should stay with this state of mental calm for a while.
Even though breathing
meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful. We can see from this practice that it is possible
to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions.
So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind
When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subsides and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment
naturally arises from within. This feeling of contentment and well-being helps us to cope with the busyness and difficulties
of daily life. So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind, and many of the problems we experience,
including ill health, are caused or aggravated by this stress. Just by doing breathing meditation for ten or fifteen minutes
each day, we will be able to reduce this stress. We will experience a calm, spacious feeling in the mind, and many of our
usual problems will fall away. Difficult situations will become easier to deal with, we will naturally feel warm and well
disposed towards other people, and our relationships with others will gradually improve.
