Whitney Stewart - Mindfulness and Meditation: Handling Life with a Calm and Focused Mind

I started high school confident, athletic, and intellectually curious. When I wasnt tossing a ball or rock climbing, I tried out for plays or studied. I was motivated and college-bound. My school asked me to speak at an alumni day. So, as a freshman, I stood before adults and spoke about individualism. I thought I was wise and could handle anything.

I was wrong.

In tenth grade, I had knee trouble and couldnt keep up on varsity lacrosse team runs. I went to a surgeon, who told me that if I quit competitive sports, I would still be walking at the age of forty. If not, Id probably be in a wheelchair. I didnt think I had much of a choice, so I quit. After that, my field hockey and lacrosse coach, who had paid so much attention to me as a promising freshman, ignored me. My teammates were busy with practice, so I also lost my pack of friends. Instead of seeing myself as strong and dynamic, and using my energy in hard workouts, I sat around and felt like a quitter. The more I imagined myself that way, the weaker I became. I stopped eating well and spent time studying alone and feeling stressed out. My mind was always racing, and I couldnt sleep. I didnt know whom to talk to or how to admit my troubling thoughts and feelings.

Adding to my stress was family turbulence. Several family members battled alcoholism or drug addiction, and I was sexually assaulted and didnt know how to talk about it. I was ashamed to tell anyone and afraid of the consequences of doing so. Life felt like one long string of crises, and I was always on guard, expecting the worst.

Then I saw a sign for a yoga class. Back then, in the 1970s, many people thought yoga was weird or radical, but I decided to try it. I immediately loved this form of moving meditation; it helped me feel inner peace, at least some of the time. I was sixteen and my life started to shiftever so slowly. I dont mean that a few yoga classes took away my problems. They didntnot by a long shot. Chaos at home continued. Pressure to do well in school continued. And I was hard on myself.

As a young writer in the 1980s, I spent time in Asia and learned how to meditate. Back home, I began to meditate regularly and learned to sit more comfortably with my difficult emotions. Through this practice, I began to question my negative thoughts and to accept things I couldnt control. I gradually learned to relax more and to trust change and uncertainty.

But my story is only one of many. We all need ways to deal with our emotions and challenges. Sometimes that feels impossible. I wrote this book as a guide to finding a way to inner balance. We may not be able to change other people or circumstances, but we can change ourselves. If youre ready to work with your mindand heartmindfulness can get you started.

Mind Training:
Practice and More Practice

M atthieu Ricard doesnt call himself the happiest man in the world, but many other people do. Its absurd, he says of his nickname, explaining that he knows happier people. I dont see everything as rosy, Ricard says, but the ups and downs of life dont unsettle me in the usual way. Ricard, who was born in France, holds a PhD in molecular genetics. But he gave up his scientific career. Instead, he studied Buddhism, an ancient Asian religion, and became a Buddhist monk, a writer, and a photographer. Ricard lives in Nepal, where he runs an organization that provides health care, education, and social services to poor children. He also practices and writes about meditation, a mental discipline of staying focused and alert and resting the mind in a calm, relaxed, and natural state of awareness.

Studies reveal that people who meditate every day display increased activity in parts of the brain associated with happiness, focus, and memory.

In 2008 Ricard collaborated with Richard Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of WisconsinMadison and director of the universitys Center for Healthy Minds. Ricard allowed Davidson to attach 256 sensors to his scalp. Then, using an instrument called an electroencephalograph, Davidson measured the electrical impulses in Ricards brain while he meditated. Davidson also scanned Ricards brain during meditation using a technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging.

These analyses revealed that when Ricard focused his mind in meditation, the level of gamma waves in his brain were off the chartsno scientists had ever recorded such high levels. Gamma waves, the fastest of all brain waves, are linked to focus, information processing, and memory. During meditation, Ricard also demonstrated high levels of activity in his left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain thats linked to happiness. The study provided evidence that meditation affects the brain in positive ways.

The more you meditate, the stronger the lasting traits become.... We see it in cognitive changes. We see it in behavioral changes. And most importantly, we see it in neurological changes.... Right from the beginning [of meditation practice] there are attentional benefits. There are stress benefits. Youre more resilient under stress.