Meditation is very well known and practiced. For centuries,
cultures across the world have used meditation as a means of calming the mind,
reaching great realization, or even as a process of mental healing. Meditation
is an exercise that requires no movement and involves reaching a level of focus
that most are unaware is even possible. There have even been some that claim to
have experience what is called an ‘out of body’ experience in which their
consciousness ‘leaves their body’ and is able to roam about as the body would
during usual consciousness. There has been no scientific evidence of this being
possible; however, you can see how meditation may help you reach a level of
focus that feels supernatural.
Author and Psychologist Dave Grossman states in his book On
Combat: The Psychology and
Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace that the body’s heart rate is
directly related to its capabilities at the moment. What he means by this is:
your heart rate affects your minds processing ability. He states that there are
several ‘zones’ that the heart rate reaches and they have an appropriate color
to distinguish them as well. For instance: NASCAR racers operate in the
orange-red zones. Red zone is when the heart rate is nearing maximum and motor
function starts to deteriorate. Adrenaline allows you to make quick, yet not
precise reactions and is a heart rate (HR) zone that is best for a near death
encounter with an unarmed attacker that would otherwise over power you. This
same heart rate does not work for SWAT team officers. At this HR Zone your body
cannot control complex motor functions as precisely and leaves you susceptible
to mistakes that could cost you or your team members lives. This is where
meditation comes in. Dave Grossman’s studies have proven that through deep
breathing or meditating you can calm the heart rate to the desired zone,
therefore preventing loss of motor skills associated with being in the higher
HR zones. This can be applied to many facets of everyday life as well.
The average person
is not a soldier, especially not in the elite class of SWAT or Special Ops,
however, their form of meditation can benefit anyone. The next time you have a
big task or project that you must accomplish in a short amount of time or you
are in a stressful situation, try breathing. It sounds self-explanatory, right?
But most don’t use this. Take deep breaths in until you can feel your lungs
stretch all the way down your abdomen, then exhale until you feel your lungs
are completely empty. This breathing and clearing of the lungs will
dramatically lower your heart rate because it allows your body to take in more
oxygen; which in turn, relaxes you. The lower your (healthy) heart rate, the
better you will be able to think and process. You don’t need anything other
than your own mind and spirit to meditate, which makes it such a powerful tool
for focus.
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The conscious mind would divide time as the past, the present and the future while the subconscious would view all the events only as the present. For this reason, we would have different reactions when we try to remember past events that are either great events or embarrassing moments.
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