I also found that the results you achieve in the tranquil setting provided for these classes, and with the guidance of a teacher, are hard to replicate when you at home alone. It may take years of practice to be able to do this. I then went on to talk about the many technological solutions that are now available. There are several different audio programs that use binaural beats and other technologies to put your brain into the kind of states you are trying to achieve through meditation. The difference is that they do it automatically.

I have been a long term user of one of these programs and have used some of the others too. I compared some of them in the previous post. But some thing that I read recently made me realize that I didn’t get across the important distinction between them. I have been using the program from the Centerpointe Research Institute. It is a long term program requiring a commitment to daily use over a number of years to get the real benefits from it.

Relaxation at the touch of a button

I compared this to the Totally Tranquil program from Holothink. This will also give you greater benefits with regular usage but there is no requirement to do this. Also, if you don’t have the full 45 minutes available when you do use it, you can stop earlier. That is OK. They even provide a 10 minute quick relaxation track for when you really need it. I was talking about these two programs as an aid to relaxation and the relief of stress. I did say that Holothink is the better option for this but I now realize why.

The two programs are fundamentally different in their aims. Think of Centerpointe as your annual gym membership and Holothink as your day at the spa. The Centerpointe program works on your brain in the way that weights work on your muscles. It is designed to gently overwhelm you so that your brain rewires itself to be able to cope next time. Except that as you work through the levels, it is forced to work harder. In this way, your threshold for what you can handle being thrown at you is gradually increased. Eventually, things that would have seemed like big problems before just don’t bother you anymore.

It is a quicker and more assured way to achieve this than traditional meditation provides, but it still takes several years. I now realize that it is not appropriate to talk about it in terms of quick stress relief. It doesn’t provide a solution to the stress you are feeling today after a hard day at work. Totally Tranquil is a far better option for that, not to mention, very much cheaper. It is also one of the better programs I have tried. It is by no means the only one out there and there are certainly other good ones available.

Far from being an either or situation, I use the two programs alongside each other for different reasons. If you are looking for quick stress relief, try Totally Tranquil. Find out if works for you, for free!

In the darkest days of my depression, one of the most frightening things that happened was when my mind seemed to be out of control. Thoughts raced through my head constantly and I couldn’t do anything about it. It was as if my mind wasn’t a part of me.

Have you ever had the experience of learning a foreign language and hearing a native speaker. You catch a word that you know and your mind runs off to check its internal database. By the time it comes back with the translation, you have missed the next 6 words and you can’t keep up with the conversation. That was happening to me internally.

Thoughts were running through my head so insanely quickly that I could only catch one occasionally. There was a conversation going on in my mind and I couldn’t understand it. It just wasn’t making sense to me. This went on for several days and it was at its worst when I tried to settle down to sleep. I was becoming physically and mentally drained. It was when I started to attend meditation classes that I started to have some periods of calm.

Meditation CDs are the answer

The classes were only once a week and I found it difficult to get the same results outside of the class setting. But then I found out about meditation CDs. By using headphones and playing a different tone into each ear, the brain is forced to produce the type of electrical signals associated with deep meditative states. This is known as entrainment and has been well established since the nineteen seventies.

The system that I first heard of was the Holosync Solution. This is a more industrial strength system than most. It is not just a quick fix. It is intended as a daily meditation practice. You work through progressively deeper levels, but don’t have to do the entire course. You can stop at any time and maintain the benefits you have already achieved.

Holosync is not the cheapest solution but I believe that the level of support and back up that comes with it justifies the price. I have chosen to reduce the cost by buying several levels together. I have the next 4 years or so covered. I am happy to know that that is taken care of as I have benefited greatly from using Holosync. I am much more physically relaxed and the best thing is that my mind is still. I don’t have thoughts running out of control all the time. I have periods of great tranquilty and when I need to think, I can do it with much more clarity.

Meditation has been an amazing discovery for me and I tend to tell everybody I meet that they should try it. And meditation CDs make it possible for everyone to fit it into their busy lifestyles. Those who say they don’t have time to meditate are exactly the ones who need it most.

Get a free trial of Holosync

Does your idea of meditation fit into one of these categories?

• Weird, New Age nonsense
• A way for some guru to separate you from your cash
• It might work but it is hard to do and takes years to learn

If so, you might be surprised. When I began to look for ways to relieve my chronic stress, a friend recommended trying the meditation class at a local Buddhist centre. (Don’t worry, I am not asking you to convert). At the time, I was suffering from thoughts going through my mind so fast that I couldn’t even understand them. I wondered if I would get any benefit from a few weeks of classes. I was in the third of those categories and didn’t expect quick results.

I was wrong. The guided meditation did give me some immediate relief from the mind chatter and I felt better for several hours afterwards. But, there is a but. The classes took place in a lovely, tranquil setting, which helps to produce the proper mindset. I was surrounded by experienced meditators and that definitely has an effect on you. I had to set aside time to go to the class and lack of time had been one of my problems in the first place.

The high tech meditation solution

I continued to search for ways out of my depression and I eventually found solution. The Holosync Solution in fact. Holosync was developed by Bill Harris at Centerpointe. It uses binaural beat technology to to reduce the signals produced by the brain to levels that are rarely achieved  even after years of traditional meditation. Prolonged use has a calming effect on the mind and increases your threshold for what you can handle being thrown at you by life. I have been a dedicated user for about two years now.

There is a downside though. This is not a quick fix. It requires some commitment from you. It takes an hour, every day. It is also quite expensive. You progress through deeper levels. I am on my 5th level now and have already paid for the next 4. Added to my current level, that will take about the next four and a half years. I would estimate that I have spent about $800. I don’t mind that as I have become committed to my personal development and believe the benefits are worth it. But we are not all the same.

The alternatives

I realize that not everybody would be willing to make this commitment or even see the need for it. If so, you can find several other solutions with a quick search on the internet. If you just need a quick boost after a hard day at the office, here is something I found recently. You can try this Free Demo instantly, online. It uses some strange electronic music but I found it easy to tune out and the effect was very pleasant. In fact, I tried it first with in-ear headphones and then I had to have another go with some proper ones. If you buy the product, it’s an instant download, so you don’t even have to wait for your meditation CDs to turn up. How stress free is that?

I can’t say if there are any long term benefits to using this, but it is a good alternative to turning to the bottle after a stressful day. And there is no regular time commitment. If you try the instant demo and it doesn’t work for you, there are plenty of other choices. I have found meditation to be a great stress reliever and I highly recommend it.

You can find out about some other stress relief meditation audio solutions on this page.

Meditation was one of the first stress relief techniques that I tried, once I was up to looking for solutions. It was recommended by a friend.  There is a Buddhist centre near to where she works and they hold open meditation sessions on Friday lunchtimes. I had virtually no experience of meditation but I she found it very relaxing so I thought I would give it a go.

Non Religious

I should say that I have no religious affiliations. I believe that the original philosophy of all the great religions have something to offer, but it seems to have been lost in all the rules and dogma. I went along just to do the meditation class, with no thought of converting.

I found it to be a very pleasant experience. I met some very nice people there and took to staying for lunch after the class. That may have been as therapeutic as the classes themselves. I came to look forward to these sessions and the walk to the centre.

Short term benefits

As to the meditation itself, it is not at all what we are used to doing in our daily lives and requires some patience and the development of some skill. We are not used to taking time for ourselves or controlling our thoughts and not just letting our minds wander. And in my hyper state, I found it particularly difficult.

I did feel much calmer and  more tranquil for several hours after the sessions, but the mind chatter would soon start up again. And the problem with traditional meditation is that it takes years to master and the results are not guaranteed. It doesn’t fit in easily with the modern lifestyle.

Technology to the rescue

Fortunately, by the time I was back at work and had to give up the Friday sessions, I had discovered that there are easier, technological solutions. There are a range of these, with different aims, benefits and price tags. It depends on whether you are looking for a quick de-stress after work or a more profound life change.

I have tried out some of these and become a daily user of one of them. More on these later.

Many people hear talk about those who meditate on a regular basis, but for the most part, they are somewhat in the dark about exactly what it can do for a person and what the real benefits are. When people think about the term meditation, they conjure up images of monks in far off monasteries on isolated mountain tops. But these days, meditating is a practice that is becoming more and more commonplace.

While it is true that the practice of meditation has strong and deep connections to many Eastern cultures and religions, it is also a fact that meditation has been practiced around the world by a wide variety of people of many beliefs. While meditating is something that has been done for thousands and thousands of years in these other areas, it has only been in the last few decades that it has become better known, understood and practiced in the Western world.

Meditation is a practice that anyone, from any walk of life or background, can utilize. It has been very effective in helping people to reduce stress and anxiety, and cope with problems and issues in their daily lives, from simply enjoying a more relaxed and calm day to dealing with a medical crisis.

There are a number of different approaches to the subject of meditation, but they all center on the same basic principles. The first thing people need to do when learning how to meditate is to quiet the mind of the clutter and chatter that is so common in today’s life, and increase mindfulness of things that can calm and relax.

Some of the more common ways to meditate that are among the most recognized, are prayer, transcendental meditations, mindfulness meditations, Zen meditations, Taoist meditations, and Buddhist meditations. Some of these meditation techniques require that the body be kept absolutely still, while others incorporate deliberate and controlled movements.

Regardless of the method of meditating, the process leads to a deeper contemplation and reflection of whatever is going on in one’s life, helping to bring those things that are most important to the surface. In this way, meditating can help to open the way for spiritual development and spiritual enlightenment because it is an effective way of allowing the mind to focus on the inner aspects of life and tune out the distractions of daily tasks and demands.

There are a number of different healing benefits that have been reported throughout the years. The benefits are most often seen by those who choose to make meditating a regular practice that is incorporated into their daily lives. Many have reported that their meditations have brought about healing in the physical body, the spirit, the emotions and the mind.

A few of the most commonly reported health benefits from meditation include the reduction of blood pressure levels, a lower resting heart rate, better circulation and oxygenation, better breathing and improved sleep patterns. Many people have also said that they feel more energetic, and that people comment to them that their skin and overall appearance seems younger.