Very Happy Phil

Hello!

I recently attended the Happiness & Its Causes Conference in Sydney 8 May 2008 and two of my favourite tips were; exercise and meditation! I don’t like or understand big complicated words so I used to call meditation relaxation and now I just call it breathing! Every morning I do some breathing with my eyes closed! I do about 8 hours every night as well!

What is meditation?
Focusing the conscious mind on something, like breathing, while the subconscious mind relaxes.
Meditation is as simple as breathing! Anyone who can breathe can do it!

Six Common Meditation Techniques;
Counting breaths
Repeating a word, mantra or chant (sometimes called Transcendental
meditation)
Focus on physical sensations (sometimes called Vipassana meditation)
Focus on visual object or image
Focus on awareness of present moment e.g. focus on breathing, etc
Loving kindness

“The truth is, you can learn the basics of meditation in five minutes. Just sit in a comfortable position, straighten your back, breathe deeply, and follow your breath.”
-Stephen Bodian, ‘Meditation for Dummies’

How do I meditate?
1.Back straight. (sitting or lying –but not lying in bed unless I want to fall asleep)
2.Comfortable (posture and temperature. I often sit on a chair rather than the ground.)
3.Relaxed (safe environment)
4. Quiet (undistracted if possible)
5.Breathing in and out through my nose
6.Hands and Palms together in my lap (hands together boosts relaxation)
7.Eyes closed
8.Single focused attention on any of the 6 senses e.g. breathing or sensations or sounds or visuals or tastes or thoughts. I use the first 2 most often.

7 of my tips;
1)Breathe from the lungs not the chest. The stomach moves in and out, not the chest.
2)Breathing is a FOUR stage process. Breath in. Pause. Breath out. Pause. I start most meditations by breathing in and saying to myself ‘I am breathing in’ and as I am breathing out I say ‘I am breathing out’. Then I repeat a few times.
3)Place the tongue on the roof of the mouth. (boosts relaxation)
4)When I started meditating I was surprised how busy my mind is! When your mind wanders (and it will!), let your thoughts come and go like passing clouds/cars/fish. Gently bring back focus. Don’t beat yourself up! (Only monks who have done 10,000 hours meditating have been found capable of holding focused attention for an hour)
5)Keep your shoulders as far away from your ears as possible!
6)Switch phone off.
7) Keep your pen and journal beside you for post meditation insights and ideas.

I have great ideas during meditation and so does David Lynch (see his book ‘Catching the big fish’) and so to does a top fund manager I read about who stands on his head for an hour everyday.

8) Learn and meditate with experienced mediators. Go to a meditation class or retreat or buy a CD or book (‘Meditation for Dummies’ is brilliant).

Two other meditations I do. I sometimes meditate on love and kindness and joy and send it to people I know and sometimes the world at large. I sometimes meditate and relax my body from head to toe e.g. ‘I feel my head, I relax my head etc’

Meditation is just like exercise for the mind! It is good in the short and long term. I have known about the benefits of meditation for a long time but had not kept the habit up until I read ‘Happiness- A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill by Matthieu Ricard (friend and student of the Dali Lama and ‘the happiest monk in the world’). It is an amazing book full of amazing stories and research. I will tell you a little story; monks were asked to meditate while wearing headphones and told the sound of a gun shot would go off at some point in the near future. The monks began meditating and when the BANG! sounded the monks didn’t even twitch! The scientists found no other human that could do this! Even Secret Service agents flinched! I realised that by meditating for hours a Monk has developed a strong powerful mind that can handle challenging sounds/thoughts/emotions was easily and skillfully than me. Awesome.

Meditation is also great for happiness. I will give you an example; The book ‘Happiness-Developing Life’s Most Important Skill’ includes a fascinating study which basically showed that Monks who had meditated for 60,000 hours were happier than those who had meditated for 10,000 hours. Mattiew points out that to become expert at anything (e.g. like the piano, the football, the mind) takes 10,000 hours. Becoming skillful with the mind takes 10,000 hours meditating. 10,000 hours equates to 9 hours a day for 3 years or 1 hour a day for 27 years. After reading these two stories I was motivated to commence one hour of meditation or mindfulness a day.

Meditation is also great for unhappiness. People who have previously suffered depression are less likely to suffer depression in the future if they begin meditating.

"Recent research has found regular meditation practice to be helpful in treating generalized anxiety disorder and in preventing relapse in people who have suffered episodes of major depression."
- Edmund J. Bourne PhD. 'The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (4th ed)'

Meditation is very powerful and very beneficial. I will give you an example; Some proven physical benefits of meditation are:
Decreases respiratory rate
Decreases oxygen consumption
Decreases heart rate
Increases blood flow
Reduces muscle tension, pain, head aches
Boosts immune system (can fight bacteria and cancer cells)
Reduces illnesses
Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc.
Reduces Pre- menstrual Syndrome.
Reduces high blood pressure
Reduces the levels of blood lactate and anxiety
Enhanced relaxation and sleep
Increases exercise tolerance in heart patients.
Helps healing after operations

Some proven psychological benefits of meditation are:
Boosts serotonin
Boosts mood and happiness
Reduces emotional distress
Increases creativity
Boosts intelligence
Boosts self esteem and confidence
Boosts feelings of control
Increases flexible thinking
Less depression
Less anxiety
Increased empathy
Enhances self actualization (“the full realization of one’s potential”-Maslow)
Helpful in curing addiction

Meditation may not be recommended for persons with depression or personality disorders, such as schizophrenic, borderline, or narcissistic disorders. Check with your doctor or physiologist. Meditation generally poses few risks for mentally healthy people. But don’t close your eyes to meditate while driving! Mindful driving is a better idea.

Meditation can have a very powerful effect on the person meditating and on the persons nearby. I will give you an example; When 4,000 Transcendental Mediators met up in 1993 in Washington D.C. for 6 weeks, crime reduced by 24% during the six week period. When a Transcendental Meditation group was set up in the UK in Merseyside there was a 60% reduction in crime relative to UK national trends and Merseyside crime reduced from the third highest to the lowest among metropolitan areas in England and Wales.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes which inspire me;

‘One third of adults in the US mediate daily’. -Newsweek

“Mindfulness meditation can have long-term beneficial effects in the treatment of people diagnosed with anxiety disorders.”
-University of Massachusetts

“Intuition and meditation are the two most important tools in business in the 21st century.” - Harvard Business Review

“There is something powerful about meditation, if you learn to apply it with sedulous effort and commitment.”
-Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky PhD, ‘The how of happiness’

“I commissioned a study that found you need to do at least 10 minutes of meditation to get the physical and psychological benefits. Even Rupert Murdoch can find 10 minutes a day.”
-Paul Wilson, author ‘The little book of calm’

“Learning to meditate was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. Meditation is power.”- Professor Dean Ornish MD, University of California

“Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.” – St Francis de Sales

"People who meditate are luckier. They make more intuitive decisions."
-Prof Richard Wiseman, ‘The Luck Factor'

"Research has shown that 20 minutes of meditation can be as powerful as 8 hours sleep."
-Gita Belin

“Peace in the world cannot be achieved without peace within individuals. One way to achieve inner peace is Vipassana Meditation.”
-S. N. Goenka, Vipassana teacher, talking at the UN Millennium World Peace Summit 2000

The 10 days Vipassana Meditation retreat I did last year was a very positive and beneficial experience for me. And it is free! See my previous post about it.

Do you want to know the secret to peace and calm? Breath in. Breath out. Repeat as necessary!

The more we meditate the happier we become.

Meditation is simple but not easy.

Have a HAPPY MEDITATING day!

Keep positive!

Love & hug
Very Happy Phil McNally, Author of ‘Winning Mentality’

Training; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Advanced (Dr Russ Harris MD), Happier (Tal Ben-Shahar Ph.D.), Authentic Happiness (Prof Martin Seligman), Art of Happiness (Dr Howard Cutler MD), Happiness NOW (Dr Robert Holden Ph.D.), Happiness (Monk Mattiew Riccard) and New Warrior (MKP).
:)

Remember,
“Meditating is just like exercise AND self defence for the mind! It boosts our happiness and mental health, just like exercise AND boosts our ability to deal with (mental and emotional) challenges, just like self defence.”
– Very Happy Phil McNally

PS read 213 of the most inspiring and famous quotes Including the quotes that have inspired FAMOUS PEOPLE plus hundreds of my OWN quotes in ‘winning mentality’! Here is a quote from a reader;

“Hi Phil,
I have spent the last week reviewing my exercises through the book and have put together a plan. Many aspects of my life have been improving recently whilst using the techniques in the book. I have been using these techniques off and on for many years and know that they work.
I set myself a 30 day challenge through September where I managed to run 26 days out of 30 at 6am in the morning and read Winning Mentality in the office for 30 minutes before starting work.

I have also been going to the gym and have shed a stone in weight over the last couple of months. We have redecorated 2 rooms in our flat and bought our first brand new car.
My golf has improved and I am back down to my 1 handicap (scratch next year!!).
My wife and I are expecting our first child so many things are going extremely well.
The area that I have yet to sort out is my career………………..
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Speak to you soon,
David Provan”

Buy my book or read my FREE happiness boosting tips here;
http://www.veryhappyphil.com

5 H.A.P.P.Y. Habits of Very Happy People;
Happiness is top priority
Altruistic kindness
Positive attitude
Positive health
You love yourself and others and are loved by others and lover

© Very Happy Phil McNally 2008
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