The Benefits

'One who overcomes others has force;
One who overcomes himself is strong.'
Taoist poem

WHAT MEDITATION WILL DO FOR YOU

The benefits of meitation are widely documented and accepted today. Although it may be considered to be the province of ageing hippies and New Age types in some quarters, it is increasingly being used as a creative and therapeutic exercise by people in all walks of life.

The best thing I can say about thr Calm Technique is that you'll feel better after twenty minutes of successful meditation than you will after twelve hours of sleep. It is not intended to replace sleep, but it will leave you feeling more rested, more relaxed, and more alert.

The rewards that the Calm Technique will bring your way are many. As you read through its list of benefits, the claims of this programme may appear almost miraculous. This is not the case. You will not be overwhelmed by great physical and emotional transformation. The process is slow, subtle, cumulative and long term.

Think of it as an exercise programme. You begin in the knowledge that exercise is good for you. You know that twenty minutes one day per month is not enough, and that if you are to experience the full benefits of your efforts you must exercise regularly. So you do it regularly.

After your first couple of days, you will really feel like you have accomplished something. You're relaxed, you eat well, you sleep well. And as you work on it day by day, you become fitter and fitter.

Two months pass. You begin to think you're at your physical best (though common sense tells you there's still a long way to go). Now the day-to-day improvements aren't quite as noticeable. The novelty begins to wane. The importance seems to diminish. This is the period when most determination is needed. This is the turning point, where you either go on to become fit, or go back to  where you started. The temptation to take it easy for a while gnaws at you - you don't need exercise, you're fit, this is all a waste of time. You have a choice: continue or take a 'harmless' break. If you abandon your exercise programme at this stage, you will soon become aware of how much good it was doing you; but by then it's too late and you have to start all over again. If, on the other hand, you had persevered during this slow period, you would be so much closer to your ultimate goal - fitness.

The Calm Technique works just like that. It's an exercise programme for the mind and emotions, if you like. As with the physical exercise programme, there is an immediate result. Then there is the tendency for you to become either impatient or blase. If you persist, knowing that in the long term it will be well worth the effort, you will begin to notice significant improvements. You'll be more relaxed, more able to cope with everyday problems and annoyances, you'll have a greater capacity to enjoy life. Your wits will be keener and you'll be more creative. You'll have more energy, better health and a deeper (and ever- increasing) understanding of yourself, your life and how you relate to the world. In effect, you will flourish as a human being.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESS

Since the West first began to take a serious interest in Yogic meditation at the turn of this century, there have been several notable studies of the physiological processes that take place during meditation. The most extensive and well reported studies took place primarily during the late 1960s at various US medical schools from Harvard to UCLA. There are enough books available on this subject for you to study it in as much detail as you can stand. For the purposes of this book, we will concern ourselves with a broad overview of these findings.

Meditation produces a state of deep relaxation (the Calm State) where, quite unlike sleep or hypnosis, your mind is wide awake and alert. During this state, some extraordinary things happen in your physiology.

There is a dramatic in the pattern of your brainwaves. There is an increase in slow alpha waves, which are usually only present when you are wide awake and relaxed. Often there is an increase in theta waves, which relate to higher forms of consciousness such as creativity.

At the same time, as these alpha waves are evident, there is a definite presence of delta waves, which occur only in the deepest sleep. Brainwave patterns during meditation indicate a state of mind that is alert, creative, but in deep relaxation. By all conventional physiological standards, this is impossible. To compound the mystery even further, there is virtually no rapid eye movement (REM) - an indication of sleep and dreaming - recorded in the meditative state.

Your metabolism is also affected (that's why you should avoid meditating directly after meals). Your oxygen consumption decreases about 20 per cent and you produce significantly less carbon monoxide. (Even in the deepest sleep, your decrease in oxygen consumption fails to equal those figures.) Your heartbeat and respiration rate decrease almost as dramatically. The lactate level in your bloodstream decreases by up to 50 per cent, nearly four times faster than in a state of deep relaxation! (Lactic acids are producing during the 'fight or flight' syndrome and contribute to feelings of anxiety, tension and fatigue.) Your blood pressure drops, and there is a definite increase in the electrical resistance of your skin (tension and anxiety induce a decrease in electrical resistance).

These remarkable physiological phenomena are unique to the meditative state and contribute to the great sense of peace, harmony and wellbeing you experience during the Calm Technique. Furthermore, these characteristics are the opposite to those you would find in a state of anxiety or anger. The Calm Technique produces an opposite response to that 'fight or flight' condition, and is therefore the most effective counter to stress and tension you can employ.

If you use the following checklist of life improvements after the first couple of weeks of the Calm Technique to test its effectiveness, you're having yourself on. While you will be aware of some benefits from the very beginning, others will develop with time and perseverance.

This excerpt was taken from The Calm Technique by Paul Wilson