MEDITATION GROUP

Join us to explore the art and practice of meditation. Each session includes instruction, experiential practice, and the opportunity to process your experience in the group. The group is facilitated by an experienced meditation practitioner. Some topics that will be explored include concentrative meditation versus mindfulness meditation, mindfulness-based stress-reduction techniques, sitting meditation, breathing meditation, relaxation, guided imagery, visualizations, and manifestations. Learn how to establish a personal meditation practice. The benefits of meditation include improved focus, concentration, heightened creativity, increased empathy, stress-relief, the ability to be more “present” in your life, more energy, and much more. No experience is needed. Come as you are! J

When:  Wednesdays, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (Starting September 7^th, 2011) Space is limited, so reserve a spot.

Where:  Warnecke Professional Counseling, 2050 Roswell Road, Marietta, GA 30062 (RE/MAX building, ground-floor entrance)

Leader:  Bob Poynter, MS, EdS, LPC

Cost:  $35 per session

More Info:  poynter.bob@gmail.com

To register or for inquiries, please call 678.784.4293

Mindfulness Meditation 101: Benefits of Cultivating a Mindfulness Meditation Practice

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

~ Albert Einstein

What is Mindfulness Meditation? Mindfulness meditation is a technique of meditation in which distracting thoughts and feelings are not ignored but are rather acknowledged and observed with non-judgment. Through a variety of exercises and techniques, meditation increases an individual’s awareness of his or her thoughts, feelings, and body sensations without feeling the need to be controlled by them. Yes, you can actually control your responses to your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations without feeling controlled by them. You are not your thoughts, feelings, or body sensations. They are only a fraction of your ‘whole’ self. You are not who you think you are until you discover meditation and the power of exploring your inner wisdom and intuition.

Mindfulness is about being fully aware of whatever is happening in the moment. It is a moment-to-moment awareness where time slows down where you can actually focus on the task or situation that is present. Through mindfulness meditation, you are trying to achieve a mind that is stable and calm, and with practice, you will be developing and strengthening your mind in becoming calm without struggling.

Mindfulness is not a new idea. It has been part of religious texts for thousands of years, writers and poets have embellished their insights, and it has been central to many contemplative traditions such as Buddhism. Mindfulness has entered the mainstream in the West and is exerting an influence in a wide variety of contexts, including medicine, neuroscience, psychology, counseling, education, and business. As a nation, we are suffering from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders from a point of view of meditative traditions. We are always doing and there is no time to rest, so we have created a society where there are more certifiable attention-deficit disorders and diagnoses. As Eastern practices gain more popularity in the West, mindfulness has been shown to have promising results.

What are the benefits? Scientific research has shown growing evidence that cultivating mindfulness can increase your enjoyment of life, expand your capacity to cope with illness, and improve your physical and emotional health. It is a powerful tool in reducing the stress and anxiety that occurs with chronic illness and as an adjunct to modern medicine it may enhance other treatments. Mindfulness has been found to be one of the best holistic treatments in reducing symptoms of mental illness and increasing mental wellness. Here is a compiled list of benefits that have been analyzed as the top 10 benefiting factors of cultivating a mindfulness meditation practice:

•         Increases self-awareness, self-trust, and self-acceptance

 •        More fluid adaptation to change and development of more effective coping strategies

•         Significant decrease in a variety of stress-related physical or emotional symptoms (work-related, relationship issues, life stressors, etc)

•         Significant decrease in anxiety and depression symptoms

•         Improved concentration, focus, and creativity

•         Improved immune system function (lowers blood pressure, helps with heart disease, and helps   with cancer and other long term illnesses)

•         An increased ability to relax and control racing thoughts

•         Greater energy and enthusiasm for life (work productivity, relationship satisfaction, and love for life)

•         Enhanced interpersonal relationships

•         Improved self-esteem

 Exercises and how to cultivate a practice: I encourage people to meditate frequently, but for short periods of time­—ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes. Training the mind should be very, very simple.

Exercise #1: Meditation

Simply find a comfortable place, free of distractions, and sit quietly while quieting your mind. Gently close your eyes. Just observe what is going on the body (body sensations, thoughts, and feelings). Just notice how your thoughts come and go, like clouds dissipating in the sky. Just notice and observe.

 Exercise #2: Deep Breathing

Beware of your breathing. Gently close your eyes or stare at a spot. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Breathe from your belly, not your chest. It may be awkward at first, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes. Become aware of the belly rising and falling, feeling the sensations in your nostrils, chest, and diaphragm.

•         Pay attention to your breathing at red lights

•         When you are upset, take some ‘mindful’ breaths (take 5 or 10 breaths to help you calm down)

If you would like to learn more about mindfulness meditation, you can find me at Warnecke Professional Counseling in Marietta, where I provide teachings and disciplines that help individuals cultivate their own meditational practice, so they can find more clarity in their lives.

Sources: Kabat-Zinn, John.  Full Catastrophe Living, 1990.

Creating Space

Have you ever experienced a time when you noticed that you have not taken a good ol' fashion deep breath? Have you ever noticed that your breathing was shallow? Do you ever find yourself running from one project to the next without any breaks? Do you ever find your energy drained at the end of the day because there is always something else to do?  Well, in this fast paced society, it is very common to experience all of these in a given day. Is it healthy? What do you think? Work, relationships, kids, bills, illness, income, cars, and housing are all daily entities that we must encounter and maintain. These are maintained through excessive work, caffeinated breaks, nicotine fits, and pressure from others. These pressures become stressful and the stress attacks the mind and body, resulting in anxiety, depression, heart issues, and illness. Stressors do not go away, but the way you handle and cope with them can lessen their intensity. By just creating a little space in the day may help deescalate the tense feelings you experience in an average to above average workday. How do you create space and what does that mean? It only takes a few minutes a couple times a day to help deal with the stress around you and within you. We need to create space that incorporates stillness into our daily stress management diet. And if you do not have a daily stress management diet, I encourage you to adopt one; it just might save your life and bring you some peace and happiness:) So, when you are moving from one place to the next, allow yourself to sit quietly for a minute or two. Pay attention to the stillness and the quietness of not needing to move to the next activity. Focus on your breath and allow yourself to take some deep breaths from your diaphragm. Notice the rise and fall of your diaphragm. Notice that when you breathe deep that you are not thinking of the past or future. You are in the present moment; the here and now, which helps your mind take a break. If you are stopped at a red light, notice how that stoppage time offers you an opportunity to explore the inner stillness. Allow yourself to create more intervals of space into your schedule where you can just relax your mind and become still. Just for a couple minutes, that's all.  Our society does not take many breaks and will not give you breaks unless you create the break for yourself. Allow yourself to find more silence and stillness within yourself. Notice that space is everywhere; it's inevitable. Once you find this stillness and space, notice how your thinking slows and how your mind is more calm. When we are still, we can actually find more clarity and purpose without being distracted. Silence is where creativity is found. The body, not the mind's racing thoughts, is a place where many doors may open up for you. Through creating space in the body, you may observe a unique feeling of understanding your true existence. Just think, there is even space between two neurons at the synapse, where there is an electrical or chemical signal emitted from one neuron to another. 

Shift in Consciousness

Freeing consciousness from the mind allows the body to experience a life full of intentions that seem and appear to BE bright and full of life. It is the Mind-Body connection that initiates or sparks the divine interest. Once the body and mind connect, the spiritual connection will soon follow. The mind enters the connection with the observer's caution. The caution is believed to be the gate keeper from any link stealing the present consciousness.

When the sun is so bright and seamlessly positive, how can one hide from this experience? There is a core need and curiosity that thrives to believe that there is so much more to understanding ourselves and meaning of our existence.

Is it our human existence to discover the unknown that we continually search for? What if we are not aware that we are already doing it? Again, the human psyche is always pursuing a truth that is only found within and it is NOW!

Finding the true balance will ultimately expose the mind-body-spirit to be seen as whole. Whole within ourself and whole within the universe. We are one!

Focusing in 2010...

With a new decade emerging and with new insights, I am curious to see how individuals will maintain their integrity to balance their time with families, friends, and work. Can the human race create a new profound consciousness where we begin listening to others and assisting others when it is needed? I hope that we can be less greedy and more generous in the next year. If everyone just helped out a little extra every day, our lives and society would benefit from the powers of altruism. Just think, if you and I focused more of our time to our friends and family, then we will find more connections within our circles of life. We can enjoy the simple pleasures of relationships while maintaining a less stressful approach to work in 2010. Yes, we can all join hands and begin the new decade by finding more clarity in our approaches and feel less distracted from negative energies. I wish for 2010 to be less stressful, yet more invigorating with new ideas which may bring prosperity. What are you going to do for yourself to be less stressful in 2010? Maybe your ideas can help someone else...