The West Island of Montreal Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote the development of our business community. It was Dr.Bali’s great pleasure to be their guest speaker this past March 12th, 2014.
Dr.Bali addressed the group of professionals of over 50 guests to offer his insight and knowledge about learning to focus on the present moment using meditation as a stress management technique.
“Fear, anxiety, and worry cannot produce positive energy.”
He encouraged the group to defuse past memories of anxiety and stress, and to replace them with new memories of love and compassion. The audience was impressed to learn that the body is indeed equipped with its own inner pharmacy to overcome any functional decline of the system. He spoke of the brain drain and how we must reprogram our cellular memory through relaxation to avoid permanent damage to our health and wellbeing.
“We have amazing potential, we just have to learn to relax and tap into it.”
Stress depletes our batteries. Like a cell phone or iPad, we too need to recharge if we are to be productive and useful to society!
Dr.Bali then led the group in a short meditation session.
“When our mind is scattered, our energy is scattered. Focus on the rhythm of your breath.”
In the five minutes that the group sat quietly and listed to Dr.Bali’s soothing, comforting voice, the calm in the room was nearly palpable. Shoulders dropped, eyes closed, faces relaxed, chests were rising and falling… The results were amazing in just a few short minutes.
The talk was followed by a brief Q&A session:
Q: How can busy people start to meditate?
A: Anywhere, anytime. Sit quietly, eyes closed, hands in your lap, feet on the floor (or cross-legged if you are comfortable). Focus on the breath. Feel the warmth and the hissing sounds. Feel the energy that comes with each breath. The breath is Prana, the Life Force. Let everything else slip away and enjoy the present moment. How ever short your meditation session may be.
Q: What’s the difference between doing yoga and meditating?
A: You can “do” yoga, but you cannot “do” meditation. You have to let meditation happen. Yoga exercises (asanas = poses) help the mind concentrate, focus on the present moment and let go of all else – that allows the state of meditation. In meditation we go beyond the mind, we transcend the mind. It’s not like modern psychology that tries to manipulate the mind.
In the image below you can see how the beta waves (shown in bright colours on the left) are dramatically reduced during meditation (on the right).
Frontal lobe : This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.
Parietal lobe : This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.
Occipital lobe: involved in several functions of the body including visual perception and colour recognition.
Thalamus: The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funnelling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.
Reticular formation: As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.
The result? Better focus, less anxiety. More creativity, less stress. Better memory, more grey matter. New insights and productivity!
Read more about mediation here.
Pictures from the event:
