| Tips and Techniques
Take me back to the Resource Centre index
How I learned to meditate Let me begin with a confession. When I started to do stress management counseling in 1981, I thought that relaxation techniques were flaky. I'd heard they were effective but they seemed out on the fringe to me. I couldn't relate to them. Here's the story of my personal odyssey from skeptic to advocate. When I decided, in 1985, to make stress management my full-time pursuit, I realized that I needed to know more about relaxation skills. I enrolled in a course taught by Eli Bay whom I'd met at a conference. My wife was interested as well, so we went together. There were 20 people in the class. I fully participated in the sessions and did the homework assignments faithfully. But I felt detached from the group - and frankly a bit smug. My inner voice said: "I'm here out of academic interest - not because I really need this stuff!" However, by the third session I noticed something interesting -- I was no longer clenching my jaw nor grinding my teeth. Then it hit me: "Wake up, Wise Guy, there's something of value here for you too." That certainly shifted my attitude and I became fully committed to the process. I completed the course with a considerable repertoire of relaxation techniques, many of which I still use to this day. Fast forward to 1996. By now I was a firm adherent to the principles of relaxation, and had referred many patients to the course. One day, a young man I was counseling told me he'd enrolled in a course on Transcendental Meditation. A few weeks later he was meditating for 20 minutes twice a day. I asked how he found the time to do that. "When you get this much benefit out of something, you make the time." That really caught my attention. I decided to check it out myself. My wife joined me for the introductory lecture. They showed a video which featured the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi himself as well as clips of several high-powered CEOs and celebrities who practiced meditation. One of them was football legend Joe Namath who used to meditate in a corner of the dressing room before games. We signed up for the course. It finished on a Tuesday and the next day we flew to the Bahamas for a vacation. We arrived in Nassau at night, checked into our hotel and went to bed. The next morning I looked outside at the inviting scenery and prepared to go to breakfast. My wife said we had to meditate first. (The course advocates meditating for 20 minutes on waking in the morning and, again, in the afternoon.) I said, "Let's start when we get home. It's a beautiful day out there." Fortunately, she persisted. "No, we have to do this. We need to get off on the right foot." Of course she was right so we delayed our breakfast and meditated. That afternoon we were out on the beach, swimming and reading and enjoying the sun. Around 4:00 Susan said, "We need to go in and meditate again." There was no way I wanted to leave this gorgeous afternoon and so, again, I resisted. We compromised. We decided to meditate on the beach. Now you have to know this was one busy place: scores of people, music, chatter, local folks selling everything from tee-shirts to parasailing rides to braiding peoples' hair. There, in the midst of all this chaos, we settled into our chairs and mediated. (Actually, aside from all the external commotion, it was a pretty idyllic setting.) We continued to do this for the rest of the week and after we returned home. Within a few weeks, I began to notice the benefits. I felt more calm and relaxed and the activity itself was effortless and pleasant. It was a great way to start the day and provided a wonderful break in the afternoon. I was hooked and I still meditate regularly. I meditate quietly at home and at my office, but also on trains and planes, in the dentist's chair during a procedure - just about anywhere. I've also noticed a lot of creative thoughts during meditation. It's a real discipline to keep from jumping up to write them down. However, I usually remember the ideas after I'm finished. I've gone from being a skeptic to an adherent to an advocate of relaxation
and meditation, recommending it to others and extolling its many virtues.
Next week I'll talk further about the theory and principles of relaxation. All material copyrighted, David B. Posen M.D. |