My next group meditation meeting for people who already practice Vedic meditation is at 7pm, this Wednesday, February 3rd at 1331 N Mansfield, in Hollywood, 90028. It will last about an hour. I am currently doing some private courses; my next open course for beginners will be posted soon. Please contact me at info@twentyminutemeditation.com for more information.
If you're new to Vedic meditation, see the links on the far right column, below, about what kind of meditation this is, why to do it, and so forth.
The Still Point
Thousands of years into the future, when we look back at this funny time in human evolution, we'll smile (or whatever our version of smiling may be) about a few of our early mis-takes.
1. That we prized independence so fiercely, moving as far away from our families as fast and as early as we could, living in boxes alone, transporting ourselves around alone, having babies alone (even if it's with a partner), eating alone, entertaining ourselves alone. When what we really wanted all along was the opposite thing: Connection.
2. That in our rush to independence and progress, we chucked out some extremely useful tools. Such as using techniques for de-exciting the mind and body, like meditation. Things our forefathers knew how to do naturally: Accessing that Still Point within ourselves—that quiet, massive reserve that lies at the seabed of our conscious mind, underneath all the mental noise.
3. That we spent so much time talking about, reading books about, and consulting experts about how to be better, we totally forgot we came equipped with our own inner GPS. It was trying to guide us the right way all along, but like an avalanche beacon buried under huge snowfall, it was muffled and hard to hear.
I use a lot of different tools to find health and happiness, and take the best tips I can from some incredible experts to heal imbalance and make better choices. But these things are all scenes in the Second Act. They come after Act One, which is the fundamental, daily, and totally ordinary process of de-exciting the mind and body deliberately. To me, meditating is finding the way to that seabed again and again--being in or near the Still Point for a few minutes. It is so integral to being fully functional--my favorite new phrase, by the way--that I'm not sure how we're supposed to get by without it.
The Still Point is where the deep rest we need to fuel our multi-faceted, independent-but-actually-when-you-think-about-it-making-new-webs-of-connection-that-are-just-different-from-our-forefathers lifestyles.
The Still Point is where we begin to hear that peep! peep! of our inner GPS, the innate knowledge of what's good for us, who to align with, and when to act and when to just sit still and wait.
The Still Point is where we begin to actually experience--instead of thinking, talking, or reading about--that thing, that lovely indescribable gossamer durable powerful thing: Connection.
1. That we prized independence so fiercely, moving as far away from our families as fast and as early as we could, living in boxes alone, transporting ourselves around alone, having babies alone (even if it's with a partner), eating alone, entertaining ourselves alone. When what we really wanted all along was the opposite thing: Connection.
2. That in our rush to independence and progress, we chucked out some extremely useful tools. Such as using techniques for de-exciting the mind and body, like meditation. Things our forefathers knew how to do naturally: Accessing that Still Point within ourselves—that quiet, massive reserve that lies at the seabed of our conscious mind, underneath all the mental noise.
3. That we spent so much time talking about, reading books about, and consulting experts about how to be better, we totally forgot we came equipped with our own inner GPS. It was trying to guide us the right way all along, but like an avalanche beacon buried under huge snowfall, it was muffled and hard to hear.
I use a lot of different tools to find health and happiness, and take the best tips I can from some incredible experts to heal imbalance and make better choices. But these things are all scenes in the Second Act. They come after Act One, which is the fundamental, daily, and totally ordinary process of de-exciting the mind and body deliberately. To me, meditating is finding the way to that seabed again and again--being in or near the Still Point for a few minutes. It is so integral to being fully functional--my favorite new phrase, by the way--that I'm not sure how we're supposed to get by without it.
The Still Point is where the deep rest we need to fuel our multi-faceted, independent-but-actually-when-you-think-about-it-making-new-webs-of-connection-that-are-just-different-from-our-forefathers lifestyles.
The Still Point is where we begin to hear that peep! peep! of our inner GPS, the innate knowledge of what's good for us, who to align with, and when to act and when to just sit still and wait.
The Still Point is where we begin to actually experience--instead of thinking, talking, or reading about--that thing, that lovely indescribable gossamer durable powerful thing: Connection.
Are you In ... or are you Out?
Just like the contestants on Project Runway, I lay myself before some sharp-minded critics. You can read a few reviews of me from people I've taught by clicking here.
Detox the Mind, Detox the Body
Eight months after its release, my recent book collaboration,
CLEAN: The Revolutionary Program to Restore Your Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itselfwith Dr. Alejandro Junger, is still going strong. It's pretty amazing to see how the Community Site that Alejandro developed as part of his Clean program has mushroomed in size. I've not seen anything quite like it; a web forum devoted to a book/program, where ordinary Americans get to share their wisdom, pose their questions, vent their frustrations, and celebrate their achievements in building health, passing on first-person knowledge from peer to peer. If you read it, or if you do the program, drop me a note to let me know about your experience.
My Forecast for Twenty Ten
A meditator wrote me and asked, Why was 2009 so intensely turbulent and dramatic? I know several people who went through a lot of drama and who are happy that the year is finally behind us. I would love to know more about this.
Here's what I wrote: 2009? Well, to me, it was the time when things truly began to rumble. The clarity about just how unsustainable are our current paradigms rose up like a wave in consciousness—as well as waves in nature—and anyone with a pulse could feel it in their body. It was like a massive inner earthquake. I, for one, had moments of hanging onto the floorboards. But not everyone could recognize it as a collective rumbling. Most people felt the shaking was coming from themselves, their lives, from all the things that urgently needed to change, right now! And so they began to break things left, right, and center, partly to stop the rumbling, to stop the pain.
That breaking apart is important. Old things must be pruned away for new things to grow. But it seems that, because we were so dulled to the small tremors—missing all the cues from earth’s early warning signs—the breaking, when it happened, was a violent chain sawing instead of a gentle clipping. That’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way the mechanics of nature work. Ignore the early clues of rumbling sidewalks or rising tides, and you get slammed by falling debris and giant surf.
Perhaps we've cleared some overgrowth now. What I'm feeling in myself and in some of the peers and friends who I admire the most, is this sense that NOW IS TIME FOR ACTION. Like warriors who’ve shed heavy armor that was outdated and outmoded, and who’ve been initiated by the storms of change, we now have the courage to go into battle barefoot, semi nude, armed mainly with cunning skills and vast, multi-dimensional awareness. I’m talking about the people with I come into contact daily: writers, mothers, teachers, creators, doctors, scientists, athletes, marines, and more. I have this sense that a generation is rising and is going to go out into the field and make progressive change. These are the heroes. Us. If you can hear or see or sense or feel it’s almost impossible to do otherwise. I'm excited.
So perhaps 2009 was a necessary, uncomfortable shedding of old skin, like a snake slithering out of its scaly leather. Or, as many people have noted, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, an evolutionary process, which, it turns out, is incredibly violent. New cells attack old cells inside the organism before the butterfly is created and can unfold her wings and fly.
I still think it's a major transition time; there is no sudden "smooth sailing". It will be turbulent. It will cause great collateral damage. But more of us have been initiated into the new warrior way. We have more skills, more resiliency, and a functional passion that’s grounded in capability not tethered to the stars. In 2010, we'll be more active, less passive. More vocal, more connected, and more powerful.
Here's what I wrote: 2009? Well, to me, it was the time when things truly began to rumble. The clarity about just how unsustainable are our current paradigms rose up like a wave in consciousness—as well as waves in nature—and anyone with a pulse could feel it in their body. It was like a massive inner earthquake. I, for one, had moments of hanging onto the floorboards. But not everyone could recognize it as a collective rumbling. Most people felt the shaking was coming from themselves, their lives, from all the things that urgently needed to change, right now! And so they began to break things left, right, and center, partly to stop the rumbling, to stop the pain.
That breaking apart is important. Old things must be pruned away for new things to grow. But it seems that, because we were so dulled to the small tremors—missing all the cues from earth’s early warning signs—the breaking, when it happened, was a violent chain sawing instead of a gentle clipping. That’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way the mechanics of nature work. Ignore the early clues of rumbling sidewalks or rising tides, and you get slammed by falling debris and giant surf.
Perhaps we've cleared some overgrowth now. What I'm feeling in myself and in some of the peers and friends who I admire the most, is this sense that NOW IS TIME FOR ACTION. Like warriors who’ve shed heavy armor that was outdated and outmoded, and who’ve been initiated by the storms of change, we now have the courage to go into battle barefoot, semi nude, armed mainly with cunning skills and vast, multi-dimensional awareness. I’m talking about the people with I come into contact daily: writers, mothers, teachers, creators, doctors, scientists, athletes, marines, and more. I have this sense that a generation is rising and is going to go out into the field and make progressive change. These are the heroes. Us. If you can hear or see or sense or feel it’s almost impossible to do otherwise. I'm excited.
So perhaps 2009 was a necessary, uncomfortable shedding of old skin, like a snake slithering out of its scaly leather. Or, as many people have noted, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, an evolutionary process, which, it turns out, is incredibly violent. New cells attack old cells inside the organism before the butterfly is created and can unfold her wings and fly.
I still think it's a major transition time; there is no sudden "smooth sailing". It will be turbulent. It will cause great collateral damage. But more of us have been initiated into the new warrior way. We have more skills, more resiliency, and a functional passion that’s grounded in capability not tethered to the stars. In 2010, we'll be more active, less passive. More vocal, more connected, and more powerful.
Mothers Who Meditate
One of the recurring themes of my Fall and Winter was mothers under pressure. Full-time moms with almost zero home help; business-owning mothers juggling kids, entrepreneurship, and mortgage payments; writer mothers whose minds are pulled in one direction by massive deadlines—and whose hearts are pulled in the other by the needs of their young.
How do we support mothers better in our society? It's a question I think and talk about frequently. The urgent priority: Insert deeply functional rest into the equation of the day. Meditation isn't just about taking a "time out." It is more of a "time in." It allows for a profound de-excitation of body and mind; a return to the still point within, the place where energy comes from and where healing, reorganizing, and rebalancing takes place.
This would all sound like some kind of twee Oprah magazine article, if it weren't for the reality check. Moms, especially those with young kids, have more of a challenge in meditating daily. They don't get the luxury of full twenty-minute sittings. They take what they can. With a baby at their breast. Their kids interrupt. They rise before five a.m. to get their practice done. They pull over their car on noticing the little ones have fallen asleep, and hope to get their full practice in.
I'm not saying fathers don't do this also. Maybe it's because I'm a woman—other women share their stories with me more. But what strikes me deeply are the validations my mothers-who-meditate have been sending about the benefits of their practice during some unsettled months. "It is literally the thing saving me right now." "My four year old said, 'Mom, you didn't shout at me today—it's because you meditated!" and I nearly cried." "There's been a shift in the family; my husband's stress has gone down. He's even started doing yoga on his own." Even with imperfect practice, these mothers have self-engineered a more stable life experience.
One of my favorite things about meditating mothers is witnessing what gets set up in utero. This weekend I ran into a meditator whose three-month old, Sebastian, was bundled against her chest. Lucky boy: Forty weeks of sharing a meditating mother's body chemistry had created a bliss baby, who'd been sleeping through the night since his first days and whose presence was saturated with wise-eyed calm.
How do we support mothers better in our society? It's a question I think and talk about frequently. The urgent priority: Insert deeply functional rest into the equation of the day. Meditation isn't just about taking a "time out." It is more of a "time in." It allows for a profound de-excitation of body and mind; a return to the still point within, the place where energy comes from and where healing, reorganizing, and rebalancing takes place.
This would all sound like some kind of twee Oprah magazine article, if it weren't for the reality check. Moms, especially those with young kids, have more of a challenge in meditating daily. They don't get the luxury of full twenty-minute sittings. They take what they can. With a baby at their breast. Their kids interrupt. They rise before five a.m. to get their practice done. They pull over their car on noticing the little ones have fallen asleep, and hope to get their full practice in.
I'm not saying fathers don't do this also. Maybe it's because I'm a woman—other women share their stories with me more. But what strikes me deeply are the validations my mothers-who-meditate have been sending about the benefits of their practice during some unsettled months. "It is literally the thing saving me right now." "My four year old said, 'Mom, you didn't shout at me today—it's because you meditated!" and I nearly cried." "There's been a shift in the family; my husband's stress has gone down. He's even started doing yoga on his own." Even with imperfect practice, these mothers have self-engineered a more stable life experience.
One of my favorite things about meditating mothers is witnessing what gets set up in utero. This weekend I ran into a meditator whose three-month old, Sebastian, was bundled against her chest. Lucky boy: Forty weeks of sharing a meditating mother's body chemistry had created a bliss baby, who'd been sleeping through the night since his first days and whose presence was saturated with wise-eyed calm.
Reducing Heart Disease 50% - without statins
A new study carried out at the Medical College of Wisconsin revealed that over the long term, men and women who practice a short, twice daily meditation had almost 50% lower rates of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths compared to non-meditators. The practice's results were so striking, it was as if the participants who meditated were taking a new class of medications, the authors said.
Meanwhile, a study done of college students at the American University in Washington showed that those who meditated reduced blood pressure significantly, lowering their future risk of hypertension by 52%. Not surprisingly, they significantly improved their ability to cope with school and life stresses, and reduced anxiety, depression, and anger.
Meanwhile, a study done of college students at the American University in Washington showed that those who meditated reduced blood pressure significantly, lowering their future risk of hypertension by 52%. Not surprisingly, they significantly improved their ability to cope with school and life stresses, and reduced anxiety, depression, and anger.
D.I.Y. Age Reversal, Stress Resistance
What's the elevator pitch for Vedic meditation?
When you meditate, it's like you have a new power tool in your kit. Once you learn to operate it, this tool is your go-to for demolishing stress, building a stronger foundation against disease and anxiety, and renovating your exterior so it looks and feels radically younger. (8 years younger on average over time.)
There are lots of tools on offer today to make life better. Meditators love this one because it is easy, effective, reliable, and totally portable. They take it with them wherever they go. Done!
When you meditate, it's like you have a new power tool in your kit. Once you learn to operate it, this tool is your go-to for demolishing stress, building a stronger foundation against disease and anxiety, and renovating your exterior so it looks and feels radically younger. (8 years younger on average over time.)
There are lots of tools on offer today to make life better. Meditators love this one because it is easy, effective, reliable, and totally portable. They take it with them wherever they go. Done!
Meditation Builds a Bigger Brain
We go to the gym to build up our body strength—but what can we do to increase our brain power? This week UCLA's Lab of Neuro Imaging released its findings on meditation's brain-building effects. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of meditators and non-meditators. Science Daily reported, "Meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus — all regions known for regulating emotions.
"We know that people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior," said Eileen Luders, lead author and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Laboratory. "The observed differences in brain anatomy might give us a clue why meditators have these exceptional abilities."
In my experience, meditators frequently report how their responses to the challenges and demands of life become clearer, calmer, more confident and less reactive. They'll report that emotional state is steadier and more optimistic. Cognitive function increases--work gets done quicker and decisions made swifter--and productivity rises. Science is therefore confirming what anecdotal reporting has said for eons; that the brain's remarkable plasticity lets it reshape, reorganize, and upgrade itself throughout adulthood.
This study reminds me of a fascinating piece in National Geographic magazine four years ago, which explains brain plasticity in detail and ends up explaining how meditation increases activity in the prefrontal cortex, contributing to greater happiness. Researchers claim, rather wonderfully, that the noble, hooked-up Tibetan monk above has such heightened activity in that area, he may just "quantifiably" be the happiest person on earth.
Survey Says...
It's been such a joy to share this practice with all sorts of people from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville, and the UK. Here are some comments that recently found their way into my inbox, from freshly-minted meditators, and from one who has been on the program for a year now.
"I'm constantly so amazed and happy with the way my practice has just woven itself into my life. It's usually so hard for me to sustain any new routine, but this one has definitely stuck with me and created such subtle yet profound changes. All I can say is thank you!!!!!"
"Somehow, I feel as though I have created a bit more space between my inner awareness and the outer me that faces the world everyday."
"It's been an incredible experience so far. I've been able to keep up with my practice and make time for those 20 minutes, which is a really wonderful respite amid my hectic days."
"Meditation has allowed me to shed a tiny bit of what was enabling me to hide out and not step into myself fully. It has spiraled into all facets of my life in such a short period of time and I am so
happy that I chose to have you point me in the right direction."
Thanks for all you comments, and keep sending them, along with your questions.
"I'm constantly so amazed and happy with the way my practice has just woven itself into my life. It's usually so hard for me to sustain any new routine, but this one has definitely stuck with me and created such subtle yet profound changes. All I can say is thank you!!!!!"
"Somehow, I feel as though I have created a bit more space between my inner awareness and the outer me that faces the world everyday."
"It's been an incredible experience so far. I've been able to keep up with my practice and make time for those 20 minutes, which is a really wonderful respite amid my hectic days."
"Meditation has allowed me to shed a tiny bit of what was enabling me to hide out and not step into myself fully. It has spiraled into all facets of my life in such a short period of time and I am so
happy that I chose to have you point me in the right direction."
Thanks for all you comments, and keep sending them, along with your questions.
Bloom Where You're Planted
The writings of the ancient sages can be very illuminating, but sometimes the most profound truths arise from everyday conversations. The other morning, I attended a breakfast-time social event here in Los Angeles, organized by hostess extraordinaire (and Vedic meditator) Audrey Bernstein as a kind of "cross-pollination" event, a way for people to meet and talk in the broad light of day instead of smokey, dark nights. One of the attendees, a striking English film director, was asked, "Where do you live?" "Well, it seems like I live here in L.A. now," she replied. "I never officially moved here, but apparently I've ended up here." She paused for a moment and then added, with equanimity, "I suppose you bloom where you're planted."
"Eureka!" I thought. That is it. The wisdom of the ages captured in the kind of common-sense lingo our grandmother would have used. You bloom where you're planted. We spend so much energy today distracted by thoughts of how much better life might be if we lived somewhere else; how we might hit on enduring, all-solving happiness if we just changed everything (job, city, partner, lifestyle).
Yet the truth is the simple, wake-up-every-day-and-
feel-content-where-I-am happiness doesn't come from juggling and re-jigging the external circumstances. Sure, sometimes change is necessary and new chapters worthy of starting. But we're mistaken if we think that mythical "other place" will deliver the unconditional sense of quiet fulfillment we seek. We're erroneous if we think that by ploughing through Craigs List for new apartments across the country, we'll no longer be seeking.
We need to locate that stable happiness where we are today (clue: it's inside us, and meditation is a vehicle to go discover it) and then draw off that fulfillment--really use it--by taking action in our lives, using our inner reserves of creativity, our compassion, our humor and grace in all sorts of everyday ways. Like attending breakfasts with strangers on a Thursday morning.
And then we find, almost magically, we're blooming. We're unfolding. Our happiness has been located at its source--literally, its roots. And in not always running "somewhere else, somewhere else," we've given it a chance to bloom.
"Eureka!" I thought. That is it. The wisdom of the ages captured in the kind of common-sense lingo our grandmother would have used. You bloom where you're planted. We spend so much energy today distracted by thoughts of how much better life might be if we lived somewhere else; how we might hit on enduring, all-solving happiness if we just changed everything (job, city, partner, lifestyle).
Yet the truth is the simple, wake-up-every-day-and-
feel-content-where-I-am happiness doesn't come from juggling and re-jigging the external circumstances. Sure, sometimes change is necessary and new chapters worthy of starting. But we're mistaken if we think that mythical "other place" will deliver the unconditional sense of quiet fulfillment we seek. We're erroneous if we think that by ploughing through Craigs List for new apartments across the country, we'll no longer be seeking.
We need to locate that stable happiness where we are today (clue: it's inside us, and meditation is a vehicle to go discover it) and then draw off that fulfillment--really use it--by taking action in our lives, using our inner reserves of creativity, our compassion, our humor and grace in all sorts of everyday ways. Like attending breakfasts with strangers on a Thursday morning.
And then we find, almost magically, we're blooming. We're unfolding. Our happiness has been located at its source--literally, its roots. And in not always running "somewhere else, somewhere else," we've given it a chance to bloom.
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