Collide Issue 30: The Middle

shorts
Finding your
Center: Exploring
the Rhythms of
Meditation
By Ashlee Polarek
They say that the center or the ‘eye’ of a storm is the
calmest. Chaos lurks in the gray clouds that swirl around,
yet at the center there is peace. Occasionally life is its own
version of an F-5 tornado. It’s as if things are being hurled
at us—deadlines,work, friendships, life after graduation.
One thousand voices telling us to accomplish one thousand
things in 24 hours.
When the body is stressed, the immune system is at
a higher risk of being attacked. Therefore, those that are
stressed have a higher rate of contracting sickness. According
to the Mayo Clinic, stress can affect the body in
many ways including; headaches, sleep problems, muscle
tension, anxiety, depression and irritability. Stress may also
lead to changes in behavior, possibly resulting in substance
abuse, eating disorders and social withdrawal.
A study released in Biological Psychiatry early this February
found that mindfulness meditation is linked with
improvements in markers of health. The study showed
that after three day intensive meditation treatments participants
produced more of a chemical in their brain that
combats inflammation.
Many Americans are turning to meditation to combat
some of the results that stress has played in their lives. According
to the Department of Health and Human Services,
18 million adults in the U.S report using mediation
as a complementary and integrative approach to their
health.
In his book, “Awaken to Superconsciousness: Meditation
for Inner Peace, Inner Guidance, and Greater Awareness,”
guru Swami Kriyananda taught, “Center everywhere, circumference
nowhere.”
Kriyananda said that most people live superficially and
show their ‘circumference’, which is created of chaos and
vibrations, to the world and others. In order to achieve
inner peace and turn outer peace and improved health,
one must learn to find the peaceful center and project that
center outwards.
10 • Collide • March 2016
Attitudes of a Successful Mediator Kriyananda offers
several attitudes of success that help capture successful
meditation to find one’s center during a time of great
stress. If warding off illness isn’t enough reward for practicing
mediation, recent studies by Yale, Harvard and John
Hopkins University conclude that meditation improves
concentration, reduces anxiety, and helps individuals recover
from addictions and lower blood pressure.
Kriyananda claims that the first step to beginning successful
meditation is self-acceptance, writing, “You are
who you are. Make the best of it, and envy no one for what
he or she is. Don’t draw comparisons between you and
others: encourage yourself, rather, in your efforts to attain
your own highest potential. Self-acceptance will come progressively
as you try to live up to the highest that is in you.”
The second step to successful meditation is kindness.
Practice kindness outwardly as one does inwardly. Be kind
to others, but also to yourself. You will never get over your
failings, like bombing a test or forgetting a friend’s birthday,
by hating your mistakes or yourself. Be stern with
yourself but do not be judgmental.
photo courtsey of
creativecommmons
When to Meditate Tris Thorp, a certified yoga and
meditation master, offered some tips for mediation, claiming
that the center is not based on balance, but on harmony.
According to Thorp, balance in life is nearly impossible,
but harmony is more feasible. To achieve a state of
centered harmony, Thorp recommends meditating twice
a day.
“Start and end your day with time in stillness and silence,”
said Thorp. “If you can start your day with 15-20
minutes of stillness and silence in meditation before you
greet your day, then essentially what you’re doing is beginning
your day coming from that place of centered, restful
awareness.”