Monthly Archives: February 2009

Relaxation and Meditation Exercises

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After a day’s hectic schedule of meeting deadlines, attending meetings, preparing different documents, and so on, you will always be looking forward to going home and relaxing. There are many ways to relax, and one method that is quite effective is meditation.

How will you do it? Perhaps you’ve already heard other people talking about meditation. It’s not as hard as you think. The idea revolves around focusing your thoughts to a certain relaxing thing over a sustained time. This way, your mind is able to rest, and your thoughts about stressful things are diverted elsewhere. Your body can recuperate and relax through meditation; toxin build ups are also cleared away.

You will notice that while you’re meditating your breathing slows, your blood pressure is reduced, the muscles relax, anxiety and irritability are reduced, stressful thoughts and lactic acid are eliminated, clears your way of thinking, headaches and stress are also lessened, and you can now concentrate and focus fully.

Focusing on just a single thing is the true essence of such activity. This is an active process unlike that of hypnosis. All your mental faculties should be concentrated on the meditation’s subject. Meditation is usually done for about 30 minutes, so be sure that you’re in a comfortable position. You can lie on your bed, sit on your favorite couch, or choose any position that you’re really comfortable with.

You can focus on different things when you’re meditating like breathing, an object, a sound, or even imagery. Whichever you choose, it is very important to remain focused. If you experience any distractions and external thoughts, strive hard to drift them out. This is natural when you’re just a beginner; you will always find your thoughts wandering but as you continue practicing meditation, you will soon improve.

You can try these relaxation exercises and incorporate it in your meditation so that you can achieve total relaxation.

1. Tense Relax – start by clenching your fists, and then pull forearms firmly against the upper arms. Keep your muscles tensed, as well as that of your leg muscles. Now, your jaws must also be clenched and your eyes shut tightly. While holding those tense, breathe deeply and then hold for about 5 seconds. Then let go of everything at once. Feel the sensations while your tensions are being released.
2. Heaviness/ Warmth – this is done by feeling your legs and feet getting heavier and warmer by the second. Imagine that it’s like wearing lead boots. After that, try to imagine that your central body portion is also getting warm… warmer and relaxed. Tell yourself that you’re forehead is getting cooler and relaxed. Breath easy and regularly. Just feel all the heaviness and warmth spread over your entire body.
3. Ideal Relaxation – close your eyes and try to create an ideal relaxation spot inside your mind. Choose any place whether it’s imagined or real and furnish the place according to your own preference and style. Wear comfortable clothes and imagine that you’re going to that place. Feel mellow and at ease in your imagined and ideal relaxation place. Enjoy that special moment for about a minute.

These are just simple relaxation and meditation exercises that you can do. If you’re feeling stressed and tensed, do these exercises.

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: A Great Book of Philosophy

Many people know that the Romans are great people who conquered most of the ancient world. They also introduced modern civilization and a lot of useful inventions that modern society is still using today. Of course, Hollywood movies have depicted the Romans as great warriors and they also depicted their emperors as great conquerors who are responsible for leading their great armies to victory against the barbarians.

However, not many people know that Romans are also great philosophers and one of their emperors named Marcus Aurelius has been depicted as a great emperor who brought many victories to the Roman Empire as well as great philosophical writing. Not many people know that Marcus Aurelius was not only a great emperor who led the Great Roman Legions against barbaric Germanic tribes and Gaul tribes and won, he is also a devout stoic philosopher who wrote The Meditations.

This particular Philosophical Book has been recognized as one of the greatest works of art. It is still being revered as a literary monument on government service. This philosophical book has been praised as having exquisite accent and infinite tenderness.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius contains series of personal writings by the author. It mainly contains Marcus Aurelius’ ideas on Stoic philosophy.

This particular book was written during his campaigns between the years 170 and 180 in Greece. He wrote this for his on personal improvement and served as guidance to his leadership. Up to this day, his memos survived and are still being revered to as an inspirational book that everyone should read.

Translated by George Long into English in 1862, this particular book has been reprinted many times and it is included in Harvard Classics.

Marcus Aurelius Stoic principle inside this book is said to contain denial of emotion. He stated that this is a skill where a man will remain free from the pleasures and pains of the material world. He also stated in this book that the only way a man can be harmed is to allow his reaction to overcome him.

You have to remember that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius contains no religious faith. Instead it contains benevolent and logical force that explains that bad occurrences happen in the universe for the good of many.

The plainness of the book is overwhelming to most people who read and understood it. The writings of Marcus Aurelius are very different in style. It is said that the contents was not obscured by consciousness of the presence of listeners. Although people fail to understand the Stoic philosophy inside the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, people who do are moved and inspired.

You have to expect that this is an inspiring book and is considered to be one of the greatest works of philosophy. If you want to read this book, you are in luck. Up to this day, this book is still available for reading and for purchase. In fact, this book is so popular that there are many translated versions of it. You can also download the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius in the internet for free.

Buddhism Meditation

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Buddhism Meditation and the Search for Life’s Meaning

Today’s world, with all its excitements, its adventures, and its discoveries, is moving in a very fast pace. This can be very thrilling and fun-filled for the modern man, but this can also be exhausting to the soul. That is exactly the reason why many people try to find comfort and solitude amidst the changes taking place in their environment. And, it is also because of this that meditation is becoming popular among many.

Meditation can be defined in different ways, but this is really a broad concept that no measure of words can totally unveil its real sense. Meditation is best understood when experienced and felt rather than when explained. And although this cannot be measured by words, maybe you will be able to grasp it more easily in the light of its purpose.

Why do people meditate? The prevailing reason is the search for inner peace, the peace of the soul. Peace, in this world of changes and in this race of life, is becoming more and more elusive. In the search for things and possessions, many live a life of materialism, always looking forward into the future and seldom looking within them to monitor the state of their inner self. And once they have finally decided to venture within, they find the various pieces of themselves in disarray. This is when meditation is often resorted to. Others meditate to contemplate the things around them, to look into the realities of their life, and to find the meaning of the world to which they belong.

The popularity of meditation varies among races, cultures, and religions. It may also be seen differently according to various people. Buddhism, a popular religion and philosophy that originated in Asia, places a great emphasis on Buddhism meditation as a way of discovering life’s meaning. To the Buddhists, meditation is associated with enlightenment.

Buddhists recognize the presence of sufferings in the world. But then, recognition is nothing without any intention to alleviate and free mankind from this plague. This is therefore the ultimate purpose of Buddhism meditation – to free man from pain and agony.

To be able to do this, one must know what causes pain and suffering. This is basically brought about by man’s endless desires and expectations from the world, from the people around him, and from life itself. Expectation usually breeds despair, and this is what man must conquer. He must stop expecting from the world.

To meditate is to be enlightened, to see things in the light of reality. Life is not a bed of roses; it is an ever-changing sphere. To live life fully and to enjoy the freedom of living, one must control his cravings and desires. Only when this is achieved will man be able to know that life is not actually as complicated as he has come to believe.

Meditation, at its best, is a great tool to help you find inner peace, and to preserve it, no matter how frustrating the outside world can be. Given the right motivation and the right purpose, this activity is one that will keep you focused on the truth that you need to know about life to keep you living healthy and satisfied.