Meditating the stress away

MONTROSE  — As the holiday season arrives, so does stress. One outlet to relieve the pressure of visiting relatives, financial strain and the rush of everyday life is meditation.

“Because meditation makes discipline for mind, because of that mind discipline, it stops the disorders or mental illness — mind problems,” said Geshe Phuntsok, a Tibetan monk who recently relocated to Montrose and is a teacher at Asanga Institute.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine requested a study, which was done through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to understand the benefits of meditation to improve healthcare in the United States.

The study was completed in June. Though small, it did find participants showed that certain meditations significantly reduced blood pressure, stress and anxiety, according to the evidence report prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Phuntsok said it is the discipline of the mind that gives these results.

Meditation has been around for thousands of years, said Rev. Arlyn Macdonald, of the Community for Spiritual Awareness, an interface church.

“Many holy men in different religions spent time in the woods in deep meditation,” she said. “They found truths and then taught their disciples to meditate.”

Phuntsok calls this truth, wisdom and it is something that can be achieved through practiced meditation.

First, he said, people must have the nine stages of trained mind. He said people could learn more about these stages at the Asanga Institute on 1200 N. First St. in Montrose (call first 249-1488). Once those are established, he talks about two different meditations, Shamata and Vipassana.

Shamata is “single-pointed mind” where the person chooses one object and lets the mind rest there.

“It’s easy to understand, but practice is very difficult because the mind is so restless,” he said.

Vipassana is analytical meditation and is achieved after Shamata. Phuntsok said when your mind is not jumping everywhere, one can then try to analyze something.

“You can analyze deep, so you can go beyond the ordinary mind. That is what we call wisdom. It is easy to say wisdom is the best mind, which has the potential to understand the ultimate reality,” he said.

Meditation practices can be deep, but what about the ordinary person who has never tried meditation?

“Meditation is being very quiet and learning not to think, which is very difficult for us,” Macdonald said, adding a person should find a few minutes out of their day to meditate. “You can take a few minutes to go into another room. The family isn’t going to miss you for five minutes, or take a walk.”

Meditation can be done walking by concentrating on the motions of the movement; focusing on the legs taking slow steps.

The easiest meditation, Macdonald said, is to count breaths on the exhale; count to 10 and then start over.

“Just start breathing and counting,” she said.

There are plenty of places in Montrose to sit and relax. She said meditation could be done at Riverbottom Park by watching the ducks. But it can also be done while waiting at the gas pump or standing in line at the grocery store.

“Doing meditation during this busy time of year is very important,” Macdonald said. “Just let it all go. It’s not important that uncle Joe get the tie he wants or the turkey is cooked. What’s important is that you stay in peace and balance — take time to cultivate the inner happiness — and the whole holiday season will be wonderful.”

For a schedule and hours, visit www.asangainstitute.org.

Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com