Checkout this recent Yoga Journal post from John Cianciosi on the benefits and advantages of a walking meditation as compared to a traditional sitting practice. According to Cianciosi, one purpose of a walking meditation is to train one’s mind to be in a wakeful state. In doing so, it becomes easier to incorporate the practice into all of one’s comings and goings.

Finally, practicing walking meditation greatly facilitates the development of mindfulness in ordinary daily life. If you can learn to establish awareness during walking meditation—when you are physically moving with your eyes open—then it won’t be difficult to arouse that same wakeful quality during other activities, such as practicing yoga, eating, washing dishes, or driving. It will be easier for you to arouse mindfulness while walking to a bus stop, through the park, or during any other time. Your meditation will begin to permeate your entire life.

The importance of this cannot be overstated. It is the presence of mindfulness that keeps your consciousness alive and alert to reality, thereby transforming ordinary life into a continuous practice of meditation, and transforming the mundane into the spiritual.

Read more from Cianciosi on how to practice a walking meditation here. Also checkout Intuitive Life Enhancement for more information on wellness coaching (including meditation).

Alex Knapp, in a follow-up Forbes post, considers why meditation might work so well when it comes to relieving pain. According to Knapp, who quotes from a recent Brain Research Bulletin post, the mind and body centering practice works by manipulating the brain’s alpha waves which in turn inhibits pain signals.

These findings suggest that the practice of meditation can lead to changes in alpha wave behavior, which in turn may lead to the pain relief. There is some research that suggests that alpha waves can be involved in inhibiting communication in the brain, and in the case of meditation, it may be that meditators are able to accordingly inhibit their pain signals.

Read more from Knapp on how meditation is effective in relieving pain here.

Jennifer Angel pens this recent NY Daily News post on how to use a chakra meditation when you still find yourself energetically tied to someone after a relationship’s completion. According to Angel, the cutting-the-ties exercise keeps your chakra points clear and can be used not only after a romantic connection ends, but also with friendships and work relationships. The meditation is best done during a full moon.

Here’s the chakra meditation exercise:

The cutting of the ties exercise helps to release you from your Chakra connection and allows you to move forward without longing and regret.

1. Imagine that you standing in a blue illuminated circle, and you are standing opposite your ex partner and he or she are standing in their own illuminated circle of blue light.

2. Imagine that you have a blue light in the form of a cord between each of your chakra points. One-by-one visually connect the blue cords between your chakra points starting with the base chakra and move up through the sacral-sexual chakra, the solar plexis, heart, throat, third eye and the crown in this order.

3. Once these are in place, one-by-one, again starting with the base chakra, imagine you have a large pair of scissors and you cut through each of the cords to release the love-ties. At the same time as you cut through the blue cords, you can say a prayer of gratitude and wish the other person well on their journey.

Here is a suggestion of what you can say;

1. Base (located at tip of your tail bone) I thank you for your support and I now release you to find your greatest good.

2. Sacral / sexual (located at the pubic bone) I thank you for our physical connection and I now release you to find your greatest good.

3. Solar Plexis (located just above the belly button) I thank you for sharing my life and I now release you to find your greatest good.

4. Heart Chakra (located at the heart center) I thank you for your love and I now release you to find your greatest good.

5. Throat chakra (located at the throat) I thank you for the understanding I have gained, and I now release you to find your greatest good.

6. The Third Eye (located in the middle of the forehead) I thank you for the clarity I have gained about myself and the person I am. I now release you to find your greatest good.

7. The Crown Chakra (located at the crown of the head) I thank you for the wisdom and self-growth I have gained. I now release you to find your greatest good

4. Once you get to the last cord, the Crown Chakra, visualize that your partner is floating away to find his or her greatest good. It is very important to put out the intention of good for them on their journey. It is also important to acknowledge, even if you cannot see it right now, that they had a purpose for being in your life. Be grateful for the learning and growth you have gain on a mind, body and spirit level, and send them off with love and peace in your heart.

You can do this exercise once, or for it to have more power, you can do it seven times, seven day in a row.

Read more from Angel on how to practice a chakra meditation to clear your chakras after a relationship ends here.

Karen Fabian, in this recent Beacon Hill Patch post, takes a look at two practices, meditation and yoga, and the benefits each offer when it comes to helping children deal with the back-to-school transition. The purpose of the post it to provide support to parents needing suggestions on how to better empower their children. According to Fabian, a combination of yoga and meditation teaches them discipline and good habits as well as respect for oneself and others. And for all those parents out there who say children can’t meditate? Fabian addresses that excuse as well….

Think your kids are too young to meditate? Think again. Call it “meditation,” call it “visualization,” call it “sitting still.” It’s just a way of describing being still, breathing and acknowledging how you feel. Of course, this is harder for children the younger they are, but there’s a way you can encourage even children as young as 3 and 4 to be still. At the end of class, I ask even young children to lie flat and think of their favorite color and without speaking it, see if they can “see” it in their minds’ eye. When we’re done, I ask them to come up to seated and tell me what they saw. As children get older you can do some breathing exercises with them and get their feedback when they’re done as to how it felt in their body. In my work with student athletes, I ask them to visualize performing well as a way to “see” their success on the water, track or field. Meditation is a great way to build a habit of stillness and sensation for children and in a world where they are over-stimulated much of their day, this can be a tremendous relief. These times of stillness can help kids begin to process any feelings of anxiety they may feel around school, peer pressure or school performance.

Read more from Fabian on using meditation and yoga to help support your child’s back-to-school transition here.

Jacquelyn Ferguson takes a look at one of the more popular meditation techniques, Transcendental Meditation, in this recent News Press post. According to Ferguson, who highlights the practice of Transcendental Meditation as a viable solution for those who suffer from PTSD, Transcendental Meditation involves the use of mantra and focus on the breath as a way to detach from stress.

Here is her 6 part Transcendental Meditation process:

To learn TM:

1. Choose a mantra, which is a sound, syllable, word or phrase on which to focus; e.g., “God is love,” “I’m relaxed.”

2. Get comfortable in a quiet place eliminating distractions like kids and telephones. To successfully meditate you must focus. You can lie or sit down.

3. Close your eyes and relax each separate part of your body starting with your feet, working to the top of your head. This becomes easier with practice.

4. Deepen your relaxation by breathing deeper and slower. Consciously inhale slowly and deeply; exhale slowly. Exhale more deeply than you inhale. Count your breaths: inhale to the count of six; hold your breath for four counts; exhale to nine, and hold again for four counts; do over and over. Notice your mind and body relaxing more and more.

5. Focus on your mantra. Repeat it softly for one minute. Each time say it more and more softly. Once you’ve said it as softly as you can, repeat your mantra only in your mind. Don’t force yourself to concentrate on it but feel it relax you. You may become easily distracted at first. If so, deep breathe and refocus on your mantra. Your focus will improve dramatically with practice.

6. Focus on feeling your connection to life itself, while continuing to mentally repeat your mantra for about 20 minutes. When distracting thoughts come to your mind, or if you forget your mantra, calmly allow it to come back and return to focus back on your mantra.

Return your attention to your surroundings naturally after 20 minutes. Always stretch before you get up.

Read more from Ferguson on the practice of Transcendental Meditation here.

Erica Sofrina recently published this Care 2 post on happiness, highlighting just how “in control” we are when it comes to increasing our own. Most powerful about Sofrina’s article is that her happiness-building suggestions are focused on harnessing that internal relationship with self, rather than acquiring the latest trend in sunglass fashion. Her 5 tips on cultivating happiness are below:

Five things you can do that will increase your Happiness:

1- Keep a gratitude journal – Each night, write down three things you’re grateful for from that day. They can be simple gifts and appreciations of the day or big meaningful events that occurred. As you go to sleep, go over the three gratitudes in your mind, taking in the good feelings associated with those you expressed.

2 - Do something that stirs your creative juices, without letting the inner critic stop you from enjoying the process. Read or write a poem. Sing, draw or paint. Dance to your favorite music or new music. Try something you haven’t done before. Be wild and spontaneous!

3 – Write down 10 things that bring you joy. Commit to experiencing more of them every week. Make a “joy” date with yourself or someone else, doing one or more of the things on your list. Do this without judging yourself.

4 - Spend time in nature every week. Be present with the beauty of what you see, hear, smell and sense. Breathe it in. Later bring in the memory and experience of this place. Savor it. Use it as a resource for renewal anytime you need it. ( Read more: Your Personal Nature Meditation, , The Healing Benefits of Walking Barefoot, The Healing Benefits of Hugging a Tree)

5 – Practice Self-Compassion by doing this loving-kindness meditation:  Find a quiet place to sit or lay down in a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Notice what’s going on in your body, mind and emotions, being with the way things are without judgment and without trying to change anything. Notice any sounds or sensations. Breathe slowly and deeply into your heart. Say these words to yourself: May I be peaceful.  May I be well. May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be kind to myself. Take a couple more breaths. Then open your eyes slowly, noting your experience.

Read more from Sofrina on using meditation and other inspiring activities to increase your happiness here.

An oldie but goodie, Deepak Chopra shares a heart sutra meditation in this Care 2 post. According to Chopra, the purpose of a heart sutra meditation is to focus one’s attention and intention on gratitude rather than grievance. Practiced regularly, one can see that the difference between these two stances toward life is a choice.

Certain resentments and grievances–and the people associated with those resentment and grievances–may surface in your awareness. If they do, just say, “I let go of the grievances. I choose the miracles.”

Then become aware of your heart again, and consciously start to breathe into your heart. As you do, say to yourself, “Love … knowingness … bliss … love,” and then breathe out for the same count of four. Between each inhalation and exhalation pause for several seconds. Do this for three or four times.

The fire of your soul–which is love, knowingness, and bliss–will start to broadcast itself through the heart. The fire of your soul now begins to create your intention.

Read more from Chopra on keeping your heart open through a heart sutra meditation here.

Rebecca Meany pens this recent Idaho Mountain Express post on meditation teacher Swami Pragyapad, also known as “Smiling Swami.” According to Meany, Swami Pragyapad focuses on the practice of meditation as a way to quiet the mind in an effort to correct a person’s responses to external events that seem out of control.

Swami Pragyapad, a Bangalore, India-based senior international teacher with the Art of Living Foundation, said meditation is a tool that can be used to strengthen our minds and sustain happiness even in light of life’s demands.

He has taken the foundation’s philosophy into violence-wracked schools, tsunami-ravaged areas and prisons to alleviate stress, anger and violence.

The swami told the gathering that too often, we try to resolve the conflicts happening outside of us, thinking the conflicts inside will resolve themselves afterward.

“It’s like telling the doctor, ‘I’ll take the medicine after I become all right,’” he said.

If happiness and peace exist within us from the start, he said, then fear, anxiety, depression and insecurity can fade away.

He said meditation helps strengthen the mind, which in turn helps us to not be affected by negative external situations.

Read more from Meany and Swami Pragyapad on using meditation to cultivate happiness from the inside out here.

Vince Dixon pens this recent Chicago Tribune post to not only help highlight how prevalent stress and anxiety are in today’s classrooms, but also as a way to remind parents to be mindful of the numerous ways in which they can help their children lessen the pressure of growing up. According to Dixon, one important way to help minimize the effects of anxiety is to teach children relaxation techniques that de-stress the body.

Learn relaxation strategies. Anxiety is manifested through the body, Alvord said: “It’s how you feel and what you do. At the very least, your muscles tense up.”

But anxiety and relaxation cannot co-exist, Palmiter says. Teaching your child relaxation techniques can help. Show him how to loosen his limbs, perhaps imagining they’re like cooked spaghetti, when he starts feeling anxious. Also help him learn to take long, deep breaths.

Read more from Dixon on using relaxation techniques to help your child cope with schoolroom stress here.

Checkout this recent Elephant Journal post from Chris Lemig for a great reminder on the choice that each one of us has when it comes to interpersonal relationships. That, and how meditation can help prepare you for that inevitable confrontation.

My body was a knot of tension and my mind was totally miserable.But, then something happened. It was a little like a reflex. Everything just stopped and I took a breath.

I noticed what was going on in my mind.

There was my anger, there was my pride, there was my struggling against what was and grasping at how I wanted things to be, all of it just rising up and fading away like smoke on the wind.

Suddenly, I realized that I had a choice. I could keep on being upset and let the anger roil and boil and get out of control, or I could just let it go and watch it roll on by. It was all up to me.

Read more from Lemig on using meditation to cultivate one’s freedom of choice here.

Faye Martins address the chakra system and the benefits of a chakra meditation in this recent Aura Wellness Center post. According to Martins, most chakra meditations begin at the base or root chakra and move upward. Concentration is put on each energy vortex that helps a person to experience different emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits.

Chakra Meditation

Chakra meditation is much like any other meditation, but concentration is placed individually on each chakra, starting with the root and moving upward. Usually three to four minutes are spent on each, but the meditation practitioner may intuitively know that longer is needed on one or more chakras. The entire process may also be repeated for more powerful results. Although not necessary, guided and musical meditations are particularly effective when visualizing energy passing through the chakras.

Benefits of Chakra Meditation

Thoughts and feelings are stored in the chakras. In order to prevent blockages and health-related complications, it is necessary to release them. Chakra meditation not only discharges old emotions and thinking patterns, but it also makes room for new growth and creativity.

There are specific benefits related to balancing each chakra:

• Root – physical security

• Sacral – emotions, sexuality, creativity

• Solar Plexus – center of personal power

• Heart – feelings of nurturing and loving

• Throat – communication, self-expression

• 3rd Eye – intuition, creativity, spirituality

• Crown – oneness with the universe

Read more from Martins on the benefits of a chakra meditation here.

Checkout this recent Silicon India post for 9 helpful tips on how to manage your stress. Top on the list is learning to practice one thing at a time. A challenge for most of us in today’s fast-paced society, multitasking actually leads to increased stress. It also leads to mediocre performance.

Do one thing at a time

Focus on doing one thing at a time. Don’t try to mix up tasks and finish it fast, you will end up doing nothing. Multitasking creates stress and is the cause of average results. If you get stuck in the middle of nowhere and feel that you are getting stressed, take your mind off the subject and return when the stress is gone. Always remember that the journey of thousand miles begins with one step.
Know your limits

Understand your capability before taking up a commitment. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse added responsibilities when you are not able to reach them. If you find yourself constantly failing to meet someone’s unrealistic standards it is better to stop being a people pleaser. Start learning the art of saying no and cut down that list of to-do.

Exercise daily

Taking frequent effective exercise is probably one of the best physical stress-reduction techniques. Studies showed that individuals who exercise daily have significant benefits when compared with individuals who are inactive. Exercise not only improves your health but also relaxes tense muscles and helps you to sleep well. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.

Practice Yoga and Meditation

Practicing yoga and meditation has many long term benefits. It creates awareness of your mind, body and spirit, and brings happiness and health. It will provide you with many ways to keep your emotions in balance. Over all, practicing yoga and meditation techniques provide some of the easiest ways to become happier and lead a fuller life.

Read more tips on how to manage your stress here.

Deepak Chopra pens this recent Care 2 post on the practice of meditation as a way to connect to one’s inner silence, the space from which all comes forth. According to Chopra, silence is the womb of creation. By descending into the silent depths, the phrase “I Am” is revealed. It is from here that all thoughts, beliefs, and sensations originate.

Once you have authorship of yourself, you come out of silence into activity to write your own story. There is no difference between sitting in meditation and living in the world. Both are expressions of awareness, the one silent, and the other active. Now you maintain two types of attention, one devoted to change, the other to non-change. This is the shift in consciousness that allows you to live from the level of the soul.

Meditating 24 hours a day means you retain your alertness and wakefulness all the time.

Read more from Chopra on descending into silence through meditation here.

For most of us, an ability to keep pace while also allowing the time to appreciate one’s experience is a delicate balance that is learned from many years of trial and error. Without the former, a person never gets anywhere. Yet without the latter, one’s life can feel disconnected, purposeless, and mundane. And while meditation is a good tool to use to learn to cultivate this delicate balance, unless a person is purposeful in the search, it’s possible at times to get a bit off track.

Lilian Cheung pens this recent Huffington Post on mindfulness in an attempt to remind us of the importance of meditation as a way to bring joy and appreciation to our lives. Framing her practice around becoming aware of the intricacies of our surroundings, Cheung promotes practicing a flower meditation as a means to not only connect to the unity found in nature, but also to the impermanence of life.

Looking deeply into the flower, we are reminded that change occurs in each moment, within us and around us. We grow, the weather turns, the flower withers, but we are still ourselves in essence, the sky is still the sky and the flower remains a flower, long after its blossom fades.

Understanding the impermanence of life, we transcend ideas of existence and non-existence, same and different. We realize our connection to the people and things around us; we do not feel alienated or separated from the world. In this awareness, we are empowered to live consciously and compassionately.

Every moment is an opportunity. Due to life’s impermanent nature, everything is possible! Even when circumstances seem too difficult, we can be the lotus flower, reaching through murky waters towards the sunshine.

In the Buddhist tradition, the lotus flower represents the true nature of beings. We rise into the peace and clarity of enlightenment, blooming with vibrant beauty. Understanding that current obstacles will cease to exist, we are energized to keep reaching. Within the mud, we savor the sunshine, which streams through darkness.

Read more from Cheung on using meditation to find peace here.

Checkout this recent Huffington Post from Matthew B. James on the importance of alpha waves to your overall health and wellness. According to James, practicing just a few minutes of meditation a day can not only help you slow down from your fast-paced-life, but it’s also a good technique to reboot your brain. He provides the following Hawaiian meditation exercises:

Light meditation: Hakalau is a light meditation suited for these 15-minute breaks. This is a form of meditation from the ancient Hawaiian Huna system called “the walking meditation of the Kahuna” because the Kahuna who practiced it were able to walk around and function while remaining in the state. There are five steps to this form of meditation:

1. Ho’ohaka: Just pick a spot on the wall to look at, preferably above eye level, so that your field of vision seems to bump up against your eyebrows, but not so high as to cut off the field of vision.
2. Ku’u: ”To let go.” As you stare at this spot, just let your mind go loose, and focus all of your attention on the spot.
3. Lau: ”To spread out.” Notice that within a matter of moments, your vision begins to spread out, and you see more in the peripheral than you do in the central part of your vision.
4. Hakalau: Now, pay attention to the peripheral. In fact, pay more attention to the peripheral than to the central part of your vision.
5. Ho’okohi: Stay in this state for as long as you can. Notice how it feels.

Deep meditation: If you have an office or a space you can make quiet and can close your eyes, you can do a 15-minute deep meditation. This is going into a deep alpha state without going to sleep. The form of this meditation we teach from Huna is called Hiolani, also called the sitting meditation of the Kahuna. “Hio” is “to lean, “lani” is “heavens.” People in the islands use the term Hiolani to express the phrase “to lean upon the heavens.” The Hiolani meditation requires you to be as comfortable as you can and to remain awake — this can be the hard part! You can also achieve this state through self-hypnosis. A 15-minute meditation that is deep enough can be the rest equivalent of 1.5 hours of sleep.

Read more from James on using meditation to reboot the brain here.

Claire Diab and Dennis Boyle pen this recent Fire Life post on the use of relaxation meditation to turn one’s focus within to combat the effects of stress. The post is directed to firefighters. According to Diab and Boyle, true relaxation occurs when attention is turned inward. In doing so, various chemicals are released that slow a person down and nourish one’s muscles and various systems of the body.

As firefighters, you often find it difficult to find time for yourself, let alone find time to relax.

Often, at the end of a long day of work, it’s tempting to come home and sit on the sofa in front of the television or settle into an easy chair with the newspaper. These might be passive actions, yet they’re not relaxing. True relaxation means turning your attention inward, listening to and calming your senses and your body.

Remember: Where your attention goes, energy flows. When your attention is on a mindless sitcom, or a tragic newspaper story, energy and attention are streaming outward away from your body–and you’re not receiving anything in return. If you close your eyes and bring your attention inward, you will energize your entire being mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Having awareness of your thoughts using a mechanism called the Relaxation Response has proven to decrease stress and anxiety, increase energy, lower high blood pressure, and even help with sleep disorders.

The relaxation meditation for firefighters can be found here.

Kristina Pearson pens this recent Kansas City Star post on her use of meditation to find the stillness within. Juggling not only her own life, but also the lives of her children, Pearson reminds us that regardless of the happenings in a person’s life, it’s vital that each one of us take the time at some point in our busy day to reconnect to our core.

After years of meditating, the same thing still happens, but I’m on more friendly terms with my mind. Often when I sit down, my mind is like a frisky dog off its leash, running here and there and getting into everyone else’s business. I watch patiently while it does what it needs to do; the mind has its own nature, just like a dog does.

I think when my mind does all this running around, it is actually seeking wholeness, scavenging through the past and future to find some missing piece that will bring a sense of peace or security or satisfaction. Actually, it is this splintering off — leaving the present moment in search of something more — that makes me feel less than whole. I know this in my bones, after much sitting.

When my mind is ready, I come home to my body, to the room I’m sitting in, and I finally stop. I stop making lists in my head, stop judging myself for losing my temper, stop worrying about what I ate and how little I exercised. I stop trying to be anything for anybody. I just stop. And breathe. And notice.

I notice my poor body that’s trying to keep up with this routine. I notice the roof above my head and my full belly. I notice the enormous peace I feel with all three children asleep in their beds.

The craziness will start again in the morning, but touching this stillness lets me start again from my core, from my heart, from clarity, from gratitude. I know I am raising my children to leave me, but I choose to grow with them along the way.

Read more from Pearson on using meditation to find your inner stillness here.

Checkout this recent Huffington Post from David Vognar who writes about inner-city violence and the call for urban leaders to pay more attention to innovative new data from the fields of brain science and psychology. According to Vognar, our old social ways of dealing with inner-city issues no longer work. His solution? Begin to consider social programs that cultivate inward reflection – practices like meditation. Not only does meditation help decrease fear, but some studies report that a meditation practice can actually cause an increase in the brain’s frontal lobe gray matter (Vognar writes that less gray matter can contribute to anti-social personality traits).

As brain science and meditation studies advance further, there will be more quantifiable reasons for pioneering meditation practice among the populations that society shunts aside. Yet already, there are several ways to experiment with meditation in the field of social work. A realistic direct practice is to start an after-school group for at-risk youth within the education system that specifically focuses on meditation and the extended use of mindfulness techniques. Those with discipline problems can be offered the program as an alternative to more punitive options. Meditation sessions can be slotted directly to follow scheduled class time or can be incorporated within the school day, and afterward participants can share the challenges and breakthroughs in their practice. Additionally, leaders can solicit public participation, thereby helping those suffering less severe mental illness to prevent serious developments.

Another venue for this unique method of treatment would be juvenile detention programs. Most modern treatment facilities offer some form of behavioral therapy, which emphasizes meditation principles such as mindfulness and deep breathing, in addition to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Yet programs seldom offer guided meditation practice with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). These programs can be expanded to offer group meditation sessions, more directly taking patients through the at times taxing process of quieting the mind, as opposed to the piecemeal instructions patients currently receive when introduced to DBT.

A more adventurous direct practice would link meditation to prevention even more strongly by starting meditation groups as behavioral and mental health prevention bulwarks in the inner-city, where the real work needs to be done. Linking the meditation groups with classes on Eastern religion could be a big draw for young people and inspire more participation.

Any of these programs could be implemented with a minimal amount of funding; all that is required is a somewhat experienced meditation practitioner and accommodations for comfortable seating. But the benefits for those suffering the effects of antisocial behavior in our nation’s ailing communities near the precipice could be life-saving.

Read more from Vognar on using meditation to combat inner-city violence here.

Bob Tedeschi pens this recent NY Times post on several wellness apps. Giving us a good overview of the meditation and relaxation app market, Tedeschi outlines the positive and negatives of smartphone applications that focus on everything from binaural beats to breathing exercises.

Unless you’re listening to “Dark Side of the Moon” on your smartphone, it’s hard to see them as devices for relaxation. More often, they’re for aggressive thumb-tapping, Angry-Birding exercises.

But for every yin there is a yang. And mobile phones are no exception.

A path to a quiet mind can travel through apps dedicated to guided meditation and sleep enhancement. And fortunately, for those who need more, or better, rest, or who are inclined to still their minds for a few minutes a day, some good ones exist on all the major mobile platforms.

Checkout Tedeschi’s list of meditation and relaxation apps here.

Vogue Australia recently published a post on the practice of Transcendental Meditation and how the technique, based on the ancient Vedic tradition of enlightenment in India, uses mantra to help people tap inward in an attempt to cultivate peace, serenity, and enlightenment. According to Sigourney Cantelo, Transcendental Meditation works to offset the incessant thoughts that plague a person on a daily basis. It helps to open a deeper sense of consciousness.

Although it is said to have originated more than 5,000 years ago in India, the style gained popularity in the 1960s when Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the technique to the Western world and gathered a devoted and decidedly hip following, including The Beatles, Mick Jagger and Mia Farrow. Fast-forward 50 years and TM is still one of the most popular forms of meditation in the world.

Why this style of meditation and not others? As Gorrow explains when I attend his free introductory talk in Paddington, Sydney (he also teaches in Avalon on Sydney’s northern beaches), Vedic meditation is not only completely effortless and very easy to learn, but the psychological and physical health benefits are also endless.

“Neuroscientists and psychologists estimate we have in the realm of 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. That’s a thought every 1.2 seconds. So our minds are very busy, and we’ve all lost that ability to find an off switch…[Vedic meditation] causes your mind to transcend or to go into a deeper level of consciousness,” says Gorrow, who explains that this not only eliminates stress but that people who meditate also find they are more creative and productive in daily life. Vedic is also claimed by its proponents to be one of the most scientifically studied forms of meditation.

“There have been more than 600 studies conducted during the past 30 years [that] demonstrate its ability to create powerful, measurable changes in the physiology, and it has been found to be more effective than other meditation and relaxation techniques in promoting mental and physical wellbeing,” Gorrow claims.

Read more on the practice of Transcendental Meditation here.

Checkout this recent Hindustan Times post from Rochelle Pinto on the rising popularity of Vipassana meditation with adults aged 22 to 30 in and around Mumbai. According to Pinto, most of the individuals come to the practice as a way to de-stress their lives. Another main reason is that the practice helps to develop concentration skills, a much needed asset as they progress in their studies and careers.

Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Seema Hingorrany admits she’s seen a substantial rise in the number of young patients opting for Vipassana, and cites stress as the main reason. “Patients between the ages of 22 to 30, who find that they cannot cope with the stress in their lives and the constant need to be in touch with people, take this step because Vipassana teaches you to detach yourself,” she says, adding, “Many of them are going through a break-up in their relationships, or have parents who are getting divorced. They listen to recommendations from friends or their spiritual guru, or have read up on the subject.”

Read more from Pinto on the popularity of Vipassana meditation with Mumbai’s youth here.

Madison Park pens this recent CNN post on HypnoBirthing. A self hypnosis of sorts, the practice which focuses heavily on relaxation and changing a woman’s association with pain, the purpose of this meditation technique is to remove the fear associated with giving birth. According to Park, the practice isn’t some new age tactic. Rather, HypnoBirthing encourages pregnant woman to calm down.

Unlike the stereotype, in HypnoBirthing, nobody swings a pocket watch back and forth to lull a mother to sleep during labor.

The mothers stay awake during the process, but train themselves to calm down so they may appear as if they’re sleeping. Some use instrumental music, rhythms and affirmations. They are encouraged to visualize a relaxed place or a goal like cuddling with their newborn.

“It’s like a self-hypnosis,” said Joyce Poplar, a perinatal educator who teaches at Cleveland Clinic’s Hillcrest Hospital. “They’re in a deep, relaxed, limp state. Every single woman is imagining something different — whether it’s a place in their mind, an outdoor place such as a beach scene. It’s feeling it, being aware of it and having a sensory perception on that beach scene, smelling the salt in the air, hearing the seagulls. They’re completely there in a trance-like state.”

Read more from Park on the relaxation meditation practice called HypnoBirthing here.

Jayme Kunze pens this recent Tolland Patch post on the use of gongs during meditation, According to Kunze, the goal when using gongs, singing bells, and ocean drums is to find your breath, relax, and let go despite the potential distraction. The Conduit Center in East Hartford believes that adding subtle vibrations to a person’s journey brings a soothing effect that enhances meditation.

Cerrigione said that listeners often return for another concert and  take away something new from each session.

“Each individual, each time they do it, it’s a different experience,” he said, explaining that the concerts can soothe pain and enhance meditation.

This might be due to the great sensitivity of the gongs, which respond to humidity and the size of the crowd with subtle changes in vibrations.

Breathe…more owner Cherie Trice said that the center has hosted the concerts before. She finds the gongs to be both a method of relaxation and a pathway to meditation for beginners.

“We find that it’s a wonderful way to end the week,” she said. “And it’s a wonderful introduction to meditation. You never know what it might touch.”

Read more from Kunze on using gongs and other musical instruments during meditation here.

Olivia Rosewood pens this recent Huffington Post on the trials and tribulations parents face in practicing meditation. According to Rosewood who uses her own experience at cultivating that internal focus despite potentially overwhelming distraction, key for parents to take into consideration is echoed by the late meditator Lester Levinson and his quote, “Can I allow things to be other than the way I think they should be?”

I realized that I don’t have a problem meditating in noise, crowds, airports, buses, or even with loud and sometimes interrupting children. I had to look at that: where did this strange ability come from? At the heart of the matter is the late great sage of meditation, Lester Levinson, who famously said, “Can I allow things to be other than the way I think they should be?” Also, Eckhart Tolle espouses the simple yet profound encouragement to “allow what is without resistance.”

In fact, Eckhart has spoken at length about meditation practice and children. His most poignant recommendation, from my point of view, is not to yell harshly at your child when they interrupt your meditation practice. You are sitting quietly on your silk pillow, breathing, perhaps repeating a mantra silently. A child bursts in the room screaming and tackles you. How do you react? Scold? Ignore? Hug?

A meditation practice is just that: practice. Practice for what? Practice for life. It is practice for dealing with life as peacefully and receptively as possible, not just superficially, but on the inside, too. So if your child interrupts your practice, it’s no longer practice, it becomes real. Therefore hug the child, love the child, and if you can, resume your practice afterward. If you can’t resume your practice, whether it is energy cultivation or silent sitting, then practice is over and the game is on. How loving, receptive, and calm can you be in real life? Can you have boundaries without being reactive or emotionally volatile? Can you bring the principles of a meditative practice into your parenting style?

Read more from Rosewood on her experience with practicing meditation despite chaos here.

Checkout this recent Miller McCune post from Michael Haederle on how Buddhist meditation promotes rational thinking. According to Haederle, researchers at Baylor Medical College in Houston used a well-known experiment called the Ultimatum Game to show how meditation affects a person’s ability to think rationally. Using an MRI to bring science into the picture, scientists found that when subjects who practiced meditation were met with an unfair situation, there responses were quite different than those who didn’t.

One person has a sum of money to split with another person. If the other person accepts the offer, they both walk away with cash in their pocket, but if he or she rejects the offer as too chintzy — which happens surprisingly often — neither receives anything.

The rational course is to accept any offer that is proposed, because getting something is better than nothing at all, but the Ultimatum Game suggests that for many people, emotion trumps reason. Being treated fairly is more important than coming out ahead financially.

Kirk’s subjects had $20 to split among themselves. When the offers were wildly asymmetrical (keeping $19 for oneself, while offering only $1), 72 percent of the controls refused the money, meaning both parties left empty-handed. But when the meditators played, only 46 percent rejected such blatantly unfair offers. More than half were willing to take whatever they were offered.

The test subjects played the game while lying inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner, enabling the researchers to see which areas of their brains became active as they responded to various monetary offers. As in earlier experiments with the Ultimatum Game, the control subjects saw increased activity a brain structure called the anterior insula when they were confronted with an unfair offer — an area linked to the emotion of disgust.

But the meditators’ brains reacted quite differently, activating brain areas associated with interoception — the representation of the body’s internal state. In fact, the researchers found very little overlap in the two groups’ neural responses.

Read more from Haederle on the use of Buddhist meditation to promote rational thinking here.