Los Angeles Times
If meditation sounds intriguing, you can try it out 鈥� in as few as 10 minutes a day 鈥� without leaving your office.
鈥淚鈥檇 say there鈥檚 quite a range [of styles],鈥� says Mark Coleman, a longtime teacher. 鈥淪itting. Stillness. Movement. Yoga, tai chi, chi gong. Ones that cultivate the heart, mind and awareness and clarity. Concentration meditations 鈥� mantras. Various New Age meditations that focus on energy. Once you choose, you have to give it some period of time to evaluate.鈥�
There are many free or low-cost downloads available and classes at meditation centres, universities and sites such as Kaiser Permanente, a U.S. health consortium, which offers meditation programs for members and employees.
Rachel Donaldson, senior behavioural health educator at Kaiser, says all sorts of people are attracted to the class, including those who get headaches or feel anxiety or have trouble sleeping. 鈥淲e try to make it comfortable for people,鈥� she says, by explaining it鈥檚 not a religion, telling people they don鈥檛 need to sit cross-legged, and enabling them to 鈥渟tick their toe in the water鈥� with an easy entry, such as mindful eating.
James Gimian, publisher of the new Mindful magazine, likens the state of meditation to that of yoga a couple of decades ago, moving from the margins of life to gaining an estimated 20聽million U.S. practitioners.
Andy Puddicome, a former Buddhist monk and founder of the meditation nonprofit Headspace, says he wants people to integrate mindfulness into ordinary activities. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 ultimately where we need to bring it, in the midst of everyday life. It鈥檚 a great opportunity to learn to be mindful when you are chopping the vegetables or gardening. Eating, clearing up, making a cup of tea.鈥�
In her memoir Blood, Bones and Butter, the New York chef Gabrielle Hamilton describes a life busy beyond imagining.
But when she prepares food, she says, her mind becomes 鈥渇ree to sort everything out. I have never once finished an eight-hour prep shift without something from my life 鈥� mundane or profound 鈥� sorted out.鈥�
Diana Winston of the University of California, Los Angeles, tries walking meditation on the way from the parking lot to her office. 鈥淲hen I am harried or rushed, it鈥檚 trying to maintain an awareness and have compassion for myself when I screw up.鈥�
