Meditate to Make Time

By Ben Turshen.

One of the main obstacles that keeps some people from learning Vedic Meditation is time. Although the technique itself is absolutely effortless, requiring no focus or concentration, paying attention to or monitoring thoughts or activity, it does require time. 

The general strategy is to meditate for twenty minutes twice a day. 

We tend to think of our time linearly. Meaning if spending our time meditating, that is time taken away from doing something else, like work or spending time with our friends and family or going to the gym. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Stress and fatigue rob us of our time. When we're at work, we're thinking about being at home with the family. When we're home with the family, we're thinking about being at work. The result is we're never really anywhere. That is time lost. 

The profound deep rest experienced while practicing Vedic Meditation heals our bodies of the effects of decades of accumulated stress. Practicing Vedic Meditation twice a day for twenty minutes has the effect of sleeping an extra two to four hours. This provides us with energy and clarity so that we can be infinitely more attentive, productive, efficient and available in all of our relationships and endeavors. That is time gained. 

The Power of Leverage

By Ben Turshen.

When we were kids in school we learned about pulleys and levers in our science and math classes. With amazement, we found that by utilizing these tools we could move heavy objects with significantly less effort. 

These natural laws apply to Vedic Meditation as well--to the technique itself and its effects. By doing less, we accomplish more. By doing least, we accomplish most. 

Vedic Meditation is easy and effortless. For thousands of years in India, this form of meditation was referred to in Sanskrit as "Nishkam Karma Yoga", which translates to yoga or union attained by action hardly taken. The technique does not involve any focus or concentration, nor does it involve paying attention to, or monitoring, thoughts or activity, as is the case in some other types of mediation, such as mindfullness. With Vedic Meditation, our mind de-excites and body rests deeply (much deeper than the rest experienced in sleep), unwinding decades of accumulated stress and fatigue.

We start sleeping better and feeling rested, we get sick less, we become more focused and productive at work, our relationships improve as notice ourselves being more patient and attentive. 

Vedic Meditation gives you leverage. When we practice this technique, we find that we can move the "heavy objects" in our lives with less effort. 

You Don't Have to be a Monk to Meditate

By Ben Turshen. 

My views on meditation have changed. This may surprise you, but I used to think meditation was strange. Something for people that were not like me at all. When I thought of meditation, I imagined monks dressed in robes sitting perfectly still in silence for hours in mountaintop temples or yogis sitting in full lotus position chanting mantras.

I had no desire to become a monk and had never taken a yoga class, but I was envious. The idea that I could quiet my mind, shut down the daily barrage of fear, worry, anger, sadness, frustration that swirled in my head was very appealing. But it seemed like an impossible dream for someone like me. Along with anxiety, depression and insomnia, I struggled with what doctors diagnosed as Attention Deficit Disorder. I thought that my mind was too busy to meditate. 

Fortunately, I was mistaken. While many types of meditation are monastic by nature (i.e., designed for monks), Vedic Meditation is a "householder" meditation technique, designed for people fully integrated in life, with families, jobs and busy minds--people like me (and you). Vedic Meditation settles the mind and body effortlessly and automatically without any need to focus or concentrate.

Although Vedic Meditation was born in ancient India over 5,000 years ago, it's application in modern life cannot be overstated. Accumulated stress leads to disease, pre-mature aging and low-grade performance and behavior. A plague of modern times. Vedic Meditation efficiently and systematically removes accumulated stress, improving all aspects of our lives, our physical health, our mental health and our relationships. 

So if you're not a monk, that's OK, Vedic Meditation is the perfect practice for you. 

"I Can't Meditate"

By Ben Turshen. 

Unfortunately, some people believe that they "can’t meditate". To them, it seems like an impossible task. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Vedic Meditation is not a monastic practice. Meaning, it wasn’t designed for people whose spiritual path involves detaching from society. This technique was developed for “householders”—people like you and me, who are fully engaged in life. Multi-tasking people with hyperactive minds who lead busy, active lives with jobs, relationships, and families.

If you feel like your mind is too busy, or that your body is too fidgety to sit still, this is the perfect technique because you don’t have to "try" to stop thinking, "try" to sit still, or "try" to do anything. "Trying" to meditate excites the mind and leads to more thinking. Vedic Meditation effortlessly settles the mind and body in the most natural and immediate way.

The technique triggers a physiological effect in the brain and body, it requires absolutely no faith or belief system to work. The practice elicits a spontaneous and autonomic response—you don’t have to believe in it to derive its benefits. Even if you don’t believe in it, it still works.