In today’s fast world that is stiff with competition, where great demands are made on all of us – be it our workplace or at study – we have to learn to work smarter, faster and be very competitive in order to successfully pursue our goals and objectives. All the activities that we engage in today can take a heavy toll on our minds and bodies.
Our lives are typically
filled with noise. There are the noises from the outside world that we have no control
over like the traffic, people talking on the bus, street, work etc… Then there
are the noises we actually facilitate into our lives. These noises, from
seemingly innocuous sources like the television and radio, can actually help us
avoid dealing with uncomfortable thoughts and emotions. Evidence shows that noise in the
home, work or school often disrupts people’s concentration. According to research even ambient noise also affects people’s
health by increasing general stress levels and aggravating stress-related
conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary disease, peptic ulcers and
migraine headaches.
Often we use noise as a
distraction; like for example with radio or television. We don’t go for a walk or a run anymore
without out earphones and our ipod.
It’s important to note though that using
noise as a distraction is more
unhelpful than we realise because sometimes we are using it to numb ourselves
to something that may be internally bubbling up to the surface for you to look
at and heal. Distracting yourself with talk-radio, television, or other
background noises can also prevent you from finding closure to issues that
haunt you.
Using noise as a distraction
can affect us in many ways. It can help you stay numb to emotions that you
don‚t want to feel, allow you to avoid dealing with problems, distract you from
having to think, and make it easier for you to forget reality. Drowning out the thoughts and emotions you
find uncomfortable or overwhelming can complicate your issues because it allows
them to fester. By allowing yourself just some space ‘without noise’ – some
empty silent space…. by tuning out noise and relishing silence, you create the
space to experience what’s going on for you in the here and now.
Meditation has an immense power to de-stress
and calm the mind and relax the body. Everyone knows it at this stage and maybe
we need not emphasise it? I think I
do! Unless you are practicing meditation –
you actually don’t know from an experiential level how beneficial it is!
Experts and doctors recommend regular
meditation for long term benefits and for better overall health. Meditation is
easy and at the same time hard. You need to just relax, close your eyes, breathe
deeply and calm your mind – but initially the relaxing and calming the mind
part are what most people find difficult. But the power and the paradox of
practicing any form of meditation is
that you soon get over these difficulties.
It is the vision of The Dancing Soul to
establish a drop-in meditation session daily, along with establishing teaching
from the various schools of meditation.
Currently, we have 2 drop in meditation groups ; on a Tuesday morning
with Emer and a Thursday lunchtime with Martina.
We welcome all to these gatherings and we also
encourage other serious meditators who would like to have a regular ‘sit’ to use our Soul Space
and help us develop this space as a Community Meditation Space.
Contact Martina for further details; 087
3296366
