Adam J. Weber - Meditation Not Medicine: Survive and Thrive in Our Stress-Filled World

My days in the corporate world usually started at 3:00 a.m., when it was still dark outside but I was wide awake.

Day after day, weekends too, I was overwhelmed. It was like putting my foot on the gas pedal and being unable to find the brake to slow down or stop.

My body would ache to go back to sleep for just fifteen more minutes, but I would wake up, and my adrenaline would be pumping. The anticipation of a full day, being pulled in twenty different directions, woke me up.

I had a wife and worked in commercial real estate for one of the worlds real estate giants. The corporate world in New York City is well known for serving up stress on a silver platter. I made great money, but I let the work own me.

The stress was eating me alive, and I was hurting bad.

I became easily agitated, frustrated, and moody. At times I not only felt like I was losing control; at times, I did lose control. I had difficulty relaxing. I felt lonely, worthless, and depressed. I avoided others like they were the plague, including those closest to me.

My health was a mess. I had knee surgery and then back surgery for two herniated discs. But what was supposed to be a routine double discectomy turned into much more.

My doctor, a neurologist, asked me to come to his office for a follow - up visit. At the appointment, he pulled up my MRI and X - rays .

He pointed out numerous spots to me on the film. They were lesions on my spine, and they were from multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is an incurable and debilitating disease. Multiple sclerosis is a life sentence.

Stress exacerbates the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and at times my stress became unmanageable. At times I was unable to eat or walk without falling. Everyday tasks became hard to do. It became tough to work in my hard - charging job, and my relationships suffered, both personally and professionally.

You might be in the same position as I was: working hard, raising your family, and doing twenty other things at any given time. You might, as I was, be facing a chronic illness made even worse by stress. You might feel anxious or depressed because of your stress. You might be struggling to meet the overwhelming demands of the present world. Ive been there.

You wake up every day, and the stress hits the fan. You go home after work, and the stress hits the fan. Weekends and holidays come, and the stress hits the fan. But how do you cope?

My diagnosis forced me to figure it out. I had no choice. After speaking with my doctors and conducting exhaustive research, I finally had the proverbial aha moment.

My breakthrough: meditation! With meditation, I was able to reduce my stress and calm my mind, even in the midst of incredibly challenging circumstances. I was able to see improvements in my pain and symptoms. You can too.

It is no secret that stress is one of the most common conditions in the world. Millions of people are suffering from stress this very minute, but the good news is that the suffering can end.

It doesnt matter who you are or where you live. Stress doesnt care about your age or your net worth. Nothing is worse than walking through your own big, dark, and violent stress tsunami. Fortunately, you dont have to be thrown around by the tsunami anymore. Stress can be managed, lessened, and tamed through meditation. When the stress lightens, everything else gets easier.

A daily meditation practice can address your stress, reduce your anxiety, improve some of your physical ailments and pain, and give you a higher quality of life. You can enjoy a better, calmer life where you feel more in control and more able to cope.

When I started meditating many years ago, I was nervous. Meditation was new to me, and I had no idea what I should expect. I wondered if meditation was supposed to be like an off switch for my stress. I had no clear expectations, and it seemed there were no guarantees with anything.

I read books about meditation and ran into so much flowery woo - woo fluff. I wish that someone had just given me simple, actionable information. I ended up writing the book I wish I had then.

The reality was different than expected. Within days of starting to meditate, I felt the stress start to melt away. The benefits began compounding, and soon I no longer felt on edge. As of the writing of this book, I have practiced meditation for more than ten years. It has helped me in many ways, but most importantly in reducing my own internal stress and anxiety. It has given me a drug - free tool that I can use as often as needed, anytime and anywhere.

There are six recognized types of meditation, including the three I have personally utilized: mindfulness meditation, focused meditation, and transcendental meditation. Most are needlessly difficult for the beginner. Given how incredibly effective meditation is to control stress, and how common the epidemic of stress has become, it is time for that to change. I wrote this book to be of service, to offer a framework that truly makes it easy for anyone to meditate.

You may not be as stressed as I was or dealing with the same physical symptoms from the stress, but you deserve an answer. You deserve a solution that wont cause you more stress or any of the troubling side effects of medication.