1. By: Daniella Cooper Caitlyn Morris
Meditation
By:
Daniella Cooper
Caitlyn Morris

2. What is Meditation?

3. Meditation is …
“Meditation is a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totally different from the normal waking state. It is the means for fathoming all the levels of ourselves and finally experiencing the center of consciousness within.”

4. What Are Some Benefits of Meditation?

5. Some Benefits Include... Increases happiness Reduces stress
Increases acceptance
Slows aging
Benefits cardiovascular and immune system
Reduces stress
Improves concentration
Encourages a healthy lifestyle
Increases self-awareness

6. How Often Do You Meditate?

7. Some Basic Tips For Beginners
Simply start by sitting still for two minutes
Do it first thing each morning
Don’t get caught up in the how - just do
Count your breaths
Come back when you wander in thought
Fully commit yourself to making this a habit
Find a community!

8. How Do You Know if You Are Meditating?
Your mind is clear, relaxed and inwardly focused
You are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or the events surrounding you
Your inner-state is still so your mind has become silent
Your mind is silent and no longer distracting you

9. Some Science-y Facts!

10. Leads to Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is defined as the brain’s ability to change, structurally and functionally
This means that those who meditate have an ability to control their thoughts and reactiveness even after adulthood

11. Meditation Increases Grey Matter
Men and women who meditate nearly 40 minutes a day showed that their brains had thicker cortical walls than non-meditators
This means that their brains were aging at a slower rate, and also had positive influences in decision making, memory and attention

12. Meditating Can be Better than Sleeping
A study tested college students on on their alertness after either sleeping, meditating or watching TV
The results showed that the meditators had a higher rate of alertness than those who slept or watched TV by 10%

13. Meditation Beats Morphine
Based off a study by Wake Forest University, meditation can reduce pain intensity by 40% and pain unpleasantness by 57%
This compares to morphine and related drugs that reduce pain by only 25%

14. Meditating Can Help with Anxiety, Depression and Addiction
Helps manage symptoms of depression
Benefits in stress reduction
Reduces levels of anxiety including social anxiety
Helps those recovering from addiction
Helps keep kids in school showing cognitive and emotional benefits for schoolchildren

15. Five Types of Meditation Techniques
Concentration
Mindfulness
Reflective
Creative
Heart-Centered

16. Concentration Meditation
Foundation for all other kinds of meditation
Overcome distraction and sustain mental focus
Samadhi - “to establish, to make firm”
Necessary to have ability to place attention on object of meditation with no distraction

17. Mindfulness Meditation
Aware of the sounds and activities happening around us
Let the mind be fluid and flow from one thought to the next - not focusing on one particular thing
Strengthens sense of wonder and appreciation
Enables us to attend to the totality of our experience unfolding moment to moment
Vipassana, Zazen, Mahamudra, choiceless awareness, self-remembering, prayer of the heart

18. Reflective Meditation
Disciplined thinking: choosing a theme, question or topic of contemplation and focusing our reflection on it
Used to gain insight into meaning of life, death, interrelationships, and social conscience
Or to come to a conclusive insight regarding a key idea in science, philosophy, or scripture
Gives rise to strong sense of faith or conviction

19. Creative Meditation
Enables us to consciously cultivate and strengthen specific qualities of mind:
Patience
Gratitude
Love
Fearlessness
Humility

20. Heart-Centered Meditation
Help us to awaken the “radiance” of our loving-kindness and compassion
Deepen our empathy and forgiveness
Teach us to live in kinder ways
Begin with ourselves and then broaden to include all living things

21. Meditation All of these types are interrelated and mutually enhancing
Many practices draw inspiration from a variety of different types
Allow us to go beyond words and mental concepts in order to know the true nature of ourselves and our world

22. Time for TED Talk!
Judson Brewer: A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit

23. What Are Some Examples of Bad Habits That Meditation Can Help Break?

24. Now Let’s Try It! Meditation to Activate Creativity
Meditation to Activate Trust

25. Let’s Recap!
Meditation is engaging in mental exercise to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness
Meditating provides emotional, physical and mental benefits
Determine bad habits that you struggle with that can be either minimized or eliminated through the practice of meditation
There are five main categories that all meditation types fall under
Discover strategies that personalize how you can find time to meditate daily

26. Any Questions?

27. References