Comprehensive Stress Management

Thirteenth Edition

Chapter 10
Meditation

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 Chapter Outline
• What is meditation?
• Types of meditation
• Benefits of meditation
• How to meditate
• Other types of meditation
• Making time for meditation

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 Meditation - Introduction
• Mind-to-muscle relaxation technique that uses an
object of focus
– Has physical and psychological benefits
• Goal - Gaining control over one’s attention
– Transcendental meditation: Relaxation technique
involving the use of a Sanskrit word as the object of
focus

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 Types of Meditation
• Chakra yoga
• Rinzai Zen
• Mudra yoga
• Sufism
• Zen meditation
• Soto Zen

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 External Objects Used in Meditation
• Mandala: Geometric figure used as the object of
focus
• Nadam: Imagined sounds used as the object of
focus
• Mantra: Word used as the object of focus
• Koans: Unanswerable, illogical riddles (teka-teki)
used as the object of focus
• Pranayama: Hindu practice that involves
breathing as the object of focus during meditation
• Anapanasati: Zen practice that involves counting
breaths as the object of focus during meditation

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 Approaches to Meditation
• Opening up of attention
– Requires a nonjudgmental attitude
– Allows external or internal stimuli to enter
awareness
– All stimuli are absorbed (terserap)
• Focusing of attention
– Object of focus is either repetitive or
unchanging

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 Benefits of Meditation
• Physiological effects
• Psychological effects

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 Physiological Benefits (1 of 2)
• Decreases:
– Rate of respiration
– Resting heart rate
– Muscle tension
– Galvanic skin response
• Increases alpha brain waves
• Positively affects blood pressure
• Prevents hypertension
• Reduces cognitive stress and stress arousal (gairah)
• Results in a trophotropic response
– Trophotropic response: Physiological state
achieved when one is relaxed
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 Physiological Benefits (2 of 2)
• Reduction in anxiety
• Internal locus of control
• Greater self-actualization
• Positive feelings after encountering a stressor
• Improvement in sleep behavior
• Reduction in eating disorders
• Decreased cigarette smoking
• Relief from headaches
• General state of positive mental health
• Increased attention
• Effective in treating drug addiction
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 How to Meditate
• One should:
– Find a quiet environment
– Use a chair instead of lying down
– Relax muscles as best as he or she can
– Close his or her eyes
– Repeat “one’’ during inhale and “two” during
exhale
– Breathe regularly
– Continue for 20 minutes
– Repeat twice a day
– Open eyes gradually when finished and
readjust to normal conditions slowly

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 Other Meditation Suggestions
• Meditate immediately upon rising and right
before dinner
• Try to avoid caffeine, cigarettes, and other
stimulants before meditating
• Keep the head in a comfortable position
• Not use an alarm clock to signal when the
session is over
– Not rush through the meditation session
 Should relax and enjoy it
– Allow whatever sensations that he or she is
experiencing to occur
 Should not evaluate or take note of them

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 Heart Rhythm Meditation
• Designed to pull the richness of the universe
into the person, and anchor it in the heart
– Accomplished by experiencing all kinds of
emotion, simultaneously
– Requires and causes expanded emotional
capacity
– Includes chanting

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 Consciousness Meditation
• Shuts down the distinction between the self
and the other so that the boundary between
the two dissolves
– Rationale - Boundary is an illusion
– Sense of oneness with all occurs when personal
identity dissolves

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 Benson’s Secular Meditation
• Excludes all religious and philosophical aspects
of other types of meditation
• Insists on repeating “one” with every rhythmic
breath out
• Requisites
– Quiet environment
– Object of focus
– Passive attitude
– Comfortable position

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 Making Time for Meditation
• Meditation is effective only when it is practiced
– People who cannot find the time for meditation
need meditation the most

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 Meditation

© Javier Pierini/Getty Images

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