"As soon as you bring awareness to a stressful situation, you have already changed everything." Jon Kabat-Zinn
Meditations for Reducing Stress
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches meditation to his medical patients. He writes: "The stress in our lives has become so great and insidious that more and more people are making the deliberate decision to understand it better and to bring stress under personal control." His two books teach a selection of meditation techniques, including body scans, sitting or walking meditation, yoga, chants, and visualizations. He writes: "When you are grounded in calmness and moment-to-moment awareness, you are more creative and you see new options. Life is more workable."
He encourages developing mindfulness in daily life, with calm, alert attention to routine activities such as doing dishes or laundry. He asks, "Is there any waking moment in your life that would not be richer and more alive for you if you were more fully awake while it was happening?"
Rabbi Avram Davis writes: "We've seen a rapid acceleration of the ills of modernity, such as expanding workloads, increased anonymity, and a general loss of personal safety. Consequently, people are very aware of what is missing from their lives, and they hunger for the Divine. Jewish meditation is meant to bring us a direct experience of ourselves and of God." His book provides insights and meditation instructions from twenty-two leading Jewish meditation masters.
Stephen Levine writes: "Meditation begins with the practice of non-injury, a deep willingness to end the suffering in the world and in ourselves. We use this intention of non-injury to support the changes our heart demands. We change our minds without becoming aggressive toward our minds, based on what our hearts suggest to us. What we need is neither force nor acquiescence, but an active participation in the moment." Levine offers several different meditation techniques for acheiving this balanced viewpoint.
"Yoga suggests a 3-pronged solution to stress," writes Georg Feuerstein in Yoga for Dummies. "1) Correct stress-producing attitudes, 2) change your physical habits, and 3) regularly release tension through a daily exercise regimen." His book lists urban and rural Yoga retreat centers, where you can study Yoga in a supportive atmosphere.
Books Available from Amazon
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn ($19) Kabat-Zinn, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is perhaps the best-known proponent of using meditation to help patients deal with illness This book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign.
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn ($11).This book blends stories, anecdotes, poems, images, and scientific observations with easily followed meditation instructions.
Mindfulness Meditation, by Jon Kabat-Zinn on CD ($14) or on cassette ($14) guides the listener through a number of mindfulness meditations.
Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings, by Stephen Levine ($11). This book offers dozens of different meditation techniques for developing compassion, confronting illness or grief, recovering from addictions or eating disorders, and working with pain.
Meditation for Beginners: Six Meditations for Insight, Greater Clarity and Cultivating a Compassionate Heart, by Jack Kornfield ($20) hardback book with CD or CD without the book. Kornfield uses clear language and step-by-step demonstrations to show how simple it is to start - and stick with - a daily meditation practice. In this complete beginner's course, Jack introduces the "Insight" tradition of Buddhist meditation.
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra ($17), a NY Times bestseller for many weeks, this meditation book is also available in audio formats: Cassette ($17) and CD ($20). Chopra offers practical meditation advice, backed with a theory of the mind that supports and inspires meditation.
The Soul of Healing Meditations, by Deepak Chopra, CD ($14) is a perfect introduction for beginners. Dr. Chopra offers four guided meditations set to music.
Yoga for Dummies, by Georg Feuerstein ($14) covers all the basics in the easy-to-follow style typical of this book series. A perfect introduction to Yoga for beginners.
Links
The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM), founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, has information about him, his teaching schedule, and his meditation techniques. www.umassmed.edu/cfm
Jack Kornfield co-founded the Insight Meditation Society www.ims.org and Spirit Rock meditation center www.spiritrock.org. His biography and teaching schedule are available at the Spirit Rock site.
The Chopra Center for Wellness www.chopra.com offers meditation classes and has information about speaking and teaching tours of Deepak Chopra. They conduct public retreats, and also train people who offer their methods in other parts of the country. Check with them for more details.
The Shambhala organization offers both Buddhist and Shambhala meditation programs all around the world. Check the site www.shambhala.org.
