REGENERATE YOUR BRAIN: MEDITATION

Sometimes you get in a few days time the same message from different sides; this is clearly a sign that you have to do something with it. Unfortunately the message never says what exactly you have to do with it: that you have to figure it out yourself. So be creative.


With me this happened over the last few days with the issue of identity. On Sunday I read an article on identities of immigration groups in the US (as part of my study of American history), on Monday I had an interview with my career coach which touched this subject and on Tuesday I had a chat over lunch with a friend of mine and it all came down to the same bottom-line: what do you want to be in life, how do you allow yourself to be what you really are and how can you achieve these insights. Tough questions which need an answer. I am not a therapist, but experienced it first hand, so maybe I have got the authority to say something about what helped me in this matter.


Some people might never ask themselves these questions. Not me. I struggled very hard with them over a very long period; in the end I decided to quit my job and make a shift. This was a very tough decision to make and sometimes I still doubt whether it was the right decision. I can not go back anymore; it would be betrayal to myself. The decision to quit my job created the much required space in my head to be creative and be spiritual; the everyday nitty-gritty of a stressful job is often such a loss of time and inspiration. The decision also created problems like loss of income, status etc., but that is a whole other story.


OK; now you have time and less stress, what to do with it ? First, there comes the issue of identity. In our world it is not important who the person IS, but what the person DOES. The system judges you on what you contribute to society and which function you have. If you do not have a job, you are seen as a mooch and an outcast and not of value. Luckily not by everyone; there are also people who have seen your struggle or understand the phase you are going through. Treasure these people, because they are a big help in making you feel strong and confident. You feel soon enough in which category the people you meet fall; it is best to limit the encounters with persons of the non-understanding category. They make you feel bad and doubt the decisions you make or the path you take.


So build a fence for self-protection, but do not shut everybody out. There is your own space and your own thinking which is now hitting you full in the face. What now and who is the real me ? Besides therapy (in my opinion always useful) personality theories, like I mentioned earlier, have helped me a lot to understand myself and others around me. The most valuable lesson was that every type of person has his own fears and challenges and that no one is better than the other. What also helped me was yoga and meditation.


I read in an article in Der Spiegel, a German news magazine http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,592597,00.html , that now scientifically has been proved that meditation helps to push back stress and even regenerates your brain by building new brain cells. The functioning of the brain has always fascinated me. In fact it is nice, that science proved that meditation actually works, but in fact I knew it already, and with me millions of people around the globe.


Meditating is not easy and I worked out for myself which type of meditation helped me best. I am not looking for a spiritual or even religious experience, but simply to feel what my deepest ME is or wants. The first trick you have to learn is to think of nothing and that is hard. Questions pop into your mind or you are still too jumpy to sit or lay on the floor. In those cases limit your time or simply postpone. What helped me was if someone guides you through meditation; you can concentrate on the voice and simply follow. Experience with meditation also helps to empty your mind.


Thinking of nothing is already relaxing; I wanted to use meditation though to get some answers. Sometimes just things pop into your head (remember them !!) or it is also useful to write down or pose yourself a specific question and then go into meditation. For me a meditation of max. 10 minutes is best (otherwise you postpone because it costs you too much time) and if no answers come into your mind: bad luck, try again. If an idea or brainwave comes up I can immediately feel if it is genuine or not. For example, the idea to start a blog also came up in meditation and although I at first instance could not see the use of starting a weblog I did it anyway and it really helps me to get things out of my head and be creative. A useful website to start: http://www.learningmeditation.com/room.htm


TIP: Picture an animal to ask your questions to and hear what the animal tells you. Because I am originally from a forest area, that animal is a deer for me. Imagining a person does not work. Last tip: do not tell anyone that an animal has given you the answers; it is really YOU and you want to keep your reputation.