The Meditation Lifestyle

To meditate, says Colum Hayward, is to co-opt into your life a practice that is often linked to spiritual 'highs' but in fact offers a path bringing strength and richness to every minute of the day. It does not commit you to religion in any traditional sense but it does make you connected to the whole of life. With it, a new 'you' develops: gentle, appreciative, sensitive to others, full of inner fire, strong before the winds and waves of life; a non-violent warrior for truth. This book offers tips for the meditator and shows how easy the practice can be, yet it is not so much about how to meditate as how to apply it; how to make sure that every moment of life is lived to the full. Modern studies by neurologists show that what happens in the brain during meditation is unique and has the power actually to change the brain and its way of ordering experience. It also has known advantages for health. Colum Hayward takes as his starting point the clear evidence that meditation is a real form of experience and a skill, and that its regular practice can change everyone's life. He shows that by meditating you can feel safe and therefore better able to deal with others and the challenges of life. You can deal with daily existence better. He shows how you can recognize and enjoy every moment you live, from the moment you accept the new breath through to the moment you release it. He teaches you how to draw vitality from your spiritual practice and use it in life, and he points to the life that you will want to lead when your practice deepens: one that does not damage the rest of life, and rests happily coexisting with the external world. Ultimately, he says, the one who meditates knows a consciousness so strong that death loses its power and fear is no more.