Meditation for Agnostics

In the previous entry, I mentioned the practice of meditation. I will tell you a little more about it.

I am no great meditator. My total meditation time during the past two weeks has been about twenty minutes. And I am not trying to thereby make contact with any spiritual truths, whether of an organized religion like Christianity, or a vague one like Buddhism (although if there is a God who would like to tell me something, I’m ready to listen). I have intended it as a relaxation technique.

According to many studies, relaxation techniques lower your blood pressure, and have many other beneficial medical effects on the body. I recently read a short 1975 book, The Relaxation Response, by Herbert Benson, MD, who is now famous for the 2006 STEP (study of the therapeutic effects of prayer). This method is used for relaxation during the day, but can also be used to help you to fall asleep. I wanted to use this method for both purposes.

The Relaxation Response is similar to some religious meditation techniques, and to Transcendental Meditation, only there is no need to initiate yourself into any religion or to pay for TM seminars. You can do it quickly and easily, and begin experiencing the benefits right away.

Here are the essentials of the Relaxation Response.

First, find a comfortable position, so that you do not need to concentrate on not falling onto the floor.

Second, concentrate on a single word or phrase, and repeat it in your mind over and over, while breathing deeply and regularly. Try to keep your concentration on this single word or phrase. Now, my mind is always exploring every new possibility. And when I focus on a word or phrase, I immediately begin thinking of new things connected with it. I interrupt my meditation to write them down, then try again. Eventually I am just thinking about the word or phrase.

Third, do not worry about how well you are doing it or if you are doing it right. Just do it, and if your mind wanders, just start repeating the word or phrase again. Fifty percent success is better than ten, but even if you are only ten percent successful, this technique may provide immediate relaxation and its associated medical benefits.

One benefit that I expect from this technique is to be calmer in my daily life. I have a tendency to become passionate, often passionately upset, about bad things that are happening in the world, particularly those things that are aided and abetted by religion or politics. A certain amount of passion leads to productivity and effectiveness, but not too much passion. I expect the Relaxation Response to help me focus my passions into productive, effective, and creative outlets, while at the same time keeping my blood pressure low—as it has always been, and as I wish it to always be.