New Poll: How Many Hours per Week Do You Meditate?

I ran this poll last year and thought I’d run it again to see if there has been any changes in your meditation schedule.

Do you meditate in the morning or the night?

What is Mindfulness?

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a technique usually spoken of in terms of meditation. But it can be defined as: becoming intentionally aware of your thoughts and actions in the present moment without placing values, labels or categories on these mental phenomena. It is a process of observing your thoughts, feelings, everything around you, and staying right here in the present moment.

Mindfulness meditation has been practiced by many different wisdom traditions for centuries. Its ability to shed insights into perception beyond the senses is well known in these traditions. Only recently has the Western world, and science in particular, picked up on the role that mind plays in how we view ourselves, and the world around us. Because most people are extremely busy these days, being aware of your thoughts and emotions in every moment is not simple. We can get caught up in our daily activities easily, sometimes going on autopilot for hours. Our mind carries us from one idea to the next, without being truly aware of this process or even the individual thoughts themselves. We can get carried away with memories of the past and projections into the future. Have you ever experienced a train of thought that goes something like this: Remember that pizza from my New York holiday…oh but the seats were very uncomfortable …seats…I need a new chair…chairs…pool chairs…oh my god when I am going to get the pool cleaned…I never have enough time to myself. Does that seem familiar? You can go from having a memory of a lovely holiday to getting stressed by some unfinished work within a split second, and without even noticing each individual thought.

This mental chatter is a result of a lack of mindfulness. Being mindful, therefore, requires practice in order to master. One of the easiest ways to practice mindfulness is to meditate. It gives you the mental space required to focus on the process. You don’t need to find a mountain retreat to meditate, you can practice mindfulness meditation at work, in a park or garden on your lunch break, on the train to work or even while walking. You don’t need to adopt a certain lifestyle or belief system. Mindfulness meditation can be practiced by anyone at anytime.

Recently, there has been a lot of research published on meditation. This science has shown the effects of mindfulness meditation on the brain, detailing just how the simple process of watching the breath or your thoughts can have remarkable positive effects on your health, blood pressure, improve your sleep, decrease stress levels and even improve your immune system.

We focus on emotion-related brain activity because meditation has been found in numerous studies to reduce anxiety and increase positive affect. In an extensive corpus of work on the functional neuroanatomical substrates of emotion and affective style, we have established that the frontal regions of the brain exhibit a specialization for certain forms of positive and negative emotion. Left-sided activation in several anterior regions is observed during certain forms of positive emotion and in subjects with more dispositional positive affect. - Richard J. Davidson, PhD.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness meditation is simply observing your thoughts through introspection. Bringing your awareness inside to the inner world of the mind, you let go of memories of the past or thoughts of the future. Simply watch your thoughts emerge and dissolve within the space of your mind without judgment. This starts with watching the breath. Watching the breath calms the mind. A meditator will then turn his or her attention to the mind itself. Watching thoughts, analyzing to determine the real nature of those thoughts and their functions. You can do this at any time by closing your eyes and turning your attention to the inner world of the mind. Not only does meditation support your present life in terms of health, you will also become more productive and even more creative. Through mindfulness
you will get to know who you are and why you do things.

Therefore, mindfulness is a key component to a happy and productive life. Some may object at this point saying, “how can I find time to meditate? I’ve got too much to do to stop and idly watch my thoughts!” However, many studies have shown that mindfulness meditation reduces stress and anxiety. Which in turn, allows you to be more productive with greater efficacy, and with a higher level of satisfaction. So instead of meditation taking up time that could be better served working or “doing something”, meditation helps you get these things done more easily thus leaving you with more spare time not less.

For those who would like to learn about meditation go here…Learn how to meditate and signup for the free 4 Day Meditation Course delivered to you via email. The course is devidied into 4 parts and has guided meditation on MP3 for you to download. I hope you enjoy them.

What is Meditation?

What is Meditation

Meditation is an integral part of a larger process of becoming healthy. It is both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool used in this endeavour. In the classical Buddhist context, the term meditation is used to translate the Sanskrit term bhävana and its Tibetan equivalent gom.

The Sanskrit term carries with it the connotation of cultivating particular consciousness or perception, while its Tibetan equivalent gom has the idea of developing a familiarity of that perception and emotions like such as compassion. Together they imply the idea of a process of repetitive cultivation of functional states of mind, and in this regard you could call it “mind training”.

In the west, we are very familiar with the notion of physical training to become physically fit, but not so when it comes to our inner world, the world of the mind. As mind play such a major role in our life, it makes sense to spend some time training to become mentally fit. This is what meditation does. Minds such as friendliness, citizenship, open-mindedness, humor, integrity, prudence and so on are the actual causes of happiness. The implication of cultivating functional states of mind, is the discordant minds such as stress, depression, anger and so forth, cannot manifest at the same time as the mind of love, compassion or wisdom. It is difficult to be cheerful, relaxed yet stressed all at the same time. Becoming aware of this fact, we can start to develop these minds bringing them more and more into our everyday experiences.

By doing so we are in fact developing the actual causes of peace and happiness. Whether it is with respect to a habit, a way of seeing yourself and the world around you, or a way of being. It can be said that meditation is about becoming familiar with functional states of mind and views of reality that are concordant with happiness producing experiences and states of mind.

Why Is Meditation Important?

Greek philosophers diagnosed the weakness of will to be the problem of why knowledge does not immediately translate into action. Smokers are a good example of this. They know fully well, that every cigarette is killing them, yet they continue to smoke. The Eastern wisdom traditions like Buddhism on the other hand, would argue that the problem is the failure to integrate such knowledge into the person’s being. It is meditation that serves as the link and the tool in the integration of intellectual knowledge and the desired changes in our behavior. Therefore in order to make meaningful changes in our physical actions, we need to change our perspective on life.

We Need to Meditate.

Three Levels of Understanding: It is said that there are three levels of understanding.
1. Intellectual knowledge
2. Knowledge that has been gained by thinking and contemplation
3. Knowledge that has arisen from meditation.

It is the third type of understanding that we are trying to cultivate. These three levels of understanding are a process of deepening stages of insight into the truth of a given subject. First one hears or reads, for example, unhappiness comes from the mind and that we have the capacity to change this situation. At first the understanding remains somewhat superficial and tied closely to understanding the meaning of the words. We then reflect deeply upon the meaning of those words using analysis as well as relating their meaning to our own existence. Eventually a deep sense of conviction will arise of the truth and this is the second level of understanding.Taking the knowledge from reflection - the second level - and applying it in meditation we gain the third level of understanding. We alternate between analysis and absorption meditation to refine our understanding. Finally this level of understanding will pierce the psyche so that it is totally integrated into our very being, such that it is incorporated into the habit of our mind. This third level of understanding arises as a result of prolonged internalization of the insights gained through meditation. This level of understanding is characterized as being “experiential,” “spontaneous,” and “effortless”. A good analogy here is the process of acquiring a skill, such as swimming or riding a bicycle where the key factor is actual practice.

Different Types of Meditation

There is the classic mindfulness meditation, wherein the individual learns to pay deep attention to the minute processes within the flow of his or her breath or mental processes, while remaining undistracted by sensory or discursive thought. Then there is the meditation in the form of taking something as an object, such as when the person takes the fundamental truth that we as all beings want to find happiness and do not want to experience suffering, and that in this regard all beings are equal – thus developing equanimity towards all beings. Then there is the meditation in the form of cultivation of positive mental qualities, such as compassion and loving-kindness or friendliness. Here compassion and loving kindness are not so much as the objects of meditation; rather we are seeking to cultivate these qualities within our heart. There is also the practice of meditation as visualization. Here we use visualization as a tool to overcome deeply ingrained psychological assumptions about ourselves and our capacity for change.

Given the various types of meditation you can see that it requires such different terms as “cultivation,” “visualization,” “aspiration,” “reflection,” “meditation” and so on in different contexts. However broadly speaking, the practice of meditation can be broken into two generic categories: absorptive meditation and analytic meditation. Absorptive meditation is a type of meditation whereby the meditator focuses single-pointedly on a given object or emotion so that one becomes completely absorbed into this experience. Analytic meditation on the other hand is a refined process of analysis and critical thinking whereby we take an object and investigate its nature, function and impact on our continuum.

Understanding this diversity of meditation practices and their associated states is crucial if we are to avoid the temptation of viewing meditation as constituting some kind of homogeneous mental state, characterized primarily by absence of thought. This way meditation acts as a therapeutic process whereby we learn to let go of even the most deep-seated tendency to view ourselves and the world around us, as being inherently and concretely a certain way. I would argue that meditation plays a major role in teaching us how to see ourselves and the world, in a new, “enlightened” way.

Benefits of Meditation

Through meditation you will gain insights into who you really are, and what makes you do certain actions. Most people have a narrow and naïve view of themselves. They assume that what appears to them exists the way it appears. Through having greater access into the psychological aspects that motivate your actions you will have greater understanding of what constitutes actions that produce a constructive result. Thereby making your life a series of positive results.

• Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
• Broader Comprehension and Improved Ability to Focus
• Increased Creativity
• Deeper Level of Relaxation
• Improved Perception and Memory
• Development of Intelligence
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Increased Self-Actualization
• Increased Relaxation and Decreased Stress
• Improved Health and More Positive Health Habits

Be Like a Meditator, Think Like a Meditator: Embrace Failure

For those of us that aspire to meditate well, it can be easy to get caught in thoughts of how wonderful it would be to have flawless concentration. As most of us carry expectations into our meditation sessions, and as we sit with a mind that continues to wander, continues to play the uncontrollable buffoon, it is easy for us to become disheartened by our lack of progress.

Be like a meditator, think like a meditator: embrace failure.

Successful meditators on the other hand, no strike that, successful people, embrace failure. Such people are not put off by long and difficult journeys, in fact, they are often inspired by such challenges. Great Meditators have a innate ability to see through their everyday likes and dislikes, enabling them to offset short term pleasure for long term goals. This ability sees restlessness as an enemy of meditation, and understands the benefits of disregarding short term hardships that may arise during meditation, for long terms goals of meditation.

Meditating every morning, even for just 15 minutes, will help reduce restlessness. Moreover, being aware of your restlessness during normal daily activities will increase your ability to meditate when you hit the cushion. These two are mutually supporting and they arise together. If you commit to at least 15 minutes of meditation each morning, this will help support your daily activities. Because you feel better through the day you are more likely to continue meditating each morning. Through committing to an ongoing program of morning meditation, your ability to put aside the pleasure of an extra 15 minutes of sleep for sitting on the floor with crossed legs, focusing on your personal object of meditation be it the breath or compassion, will increase your endurance and perseverance, attributes that are key to becoming a meditator.

However, every meditator at some point has to deal with the restlessness that arises from boredom. If you can make it through this point in your meditation career, realizations will flow naturally. Unfortunately few do. This is because the mind can play tricks as boredom manifests. For instance, as your meditation deepens and your creativity increases, new ideas for various projects can arise. New ways to do ‘this’ or ‘that’ dawn upon us, and we can get caught in the trap of forgetting the purpose of meditation or even forgetting that creative energy comes from a clear mind and this in turn comes from meditation.

So, meditate more, and meditate with confidence. If you fail often, embrace it, and start over.

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Meditator

1. Meditate.
2. Meditate more.
3. Meditate even more.
4. Meditate even more than that.
5. Meditate when you don’t want to.
6. Meditate when you do.
7. Meditate when you have something to meditate on.
8. Meditate when you don’t.
9. Meditate every day.
10. Keep meditating.

Seriously though there is a lesson in there. Think like a meditator, be like a meditator. Which is by the way the title of a forth coming blog post I’m currently working on.

Meditation classes in Sunbury

I will be presenting classes on meditation at the Sunbury Community Health Centre starting May 6th and running through to June 10th.

Meditation - Key to a Calmer Life

A practical approach to improving health, happiness and relaxation through meditation. The main aim is to develop a clear, happy mind free of tension and stress. This effective short course is facilitated by the Tibetan Buddhist Society. This program has been running for over 10 years with excellent feedback from participants, many of whom have repeated the program.
May 6 - June 10

Email: fionata@sunburychc.org.au
Time: Tuesday 7:30 - 8:30pm
Venue: Sunbury Community Health Centre
Cost: $65 for 6 weeks
Contact: Fiona Tanner 9744-9564
Dates: 06 May 08 - 10 June 08

Click Here to download Application Form

Buddhist Tools of Meditation

Learning to meditate is a creative process of persistent enthusiastic effort in becoming familiar with functional minds such as the minds of compassion and the wisdom the knows emptiness. Being able to meditate deeply is not something that will naturally happen over night. Would you expect to become an artist or musician after just one lesson?

Artists and musician’s have their tools of the trade, as do meditators. What are these tools? Below is a list along with short explanations of each. However the list is by no means an exhaustive list.

There are external tools for meditation such as

1. A dedicated room or place within a room.
2. Cushion.
3. Blanket.
4. Table for books and meditation manuals.

and there are internal tools for meditation such as

1. An appreciation of the benefits of meditation.
2. Awareness of attention.
3. Enthusiasm.
4. Patience.
5. Knowledge.

So lets now expand on each of these a little.

A dedicated room or place within a room for meditation
It is useful to have a dedicated place for your meditation practice. By having a dedicated place for meditation you are saying to yourself:

I believe meditation is an important and worthwhile activity. I see the advantages it can bring to my life, my family and everyone I engage with throughout my life. For this reason I believe it is important enough to have it’s own dedicated space.

You will also be reminded every time you walk by the room. There are other benefits also besides these for instance; When I was young my grandfather, who we called “green pa” because he had a green car, had a shed in his backyard. My grandmother knew that when he was in his shed he could not be disturbed. My grandfather use to build things for people out of wood. It was like a meditation for him. So similarly, we need our own shed - a meditation shed. A place where we can build things like the minds of compassion, wisdom, equanimity and develop the skills to really help others.

Meditation Cushion
You don’t need to sit on the floor or in a crossed legged position to meditate. Meditation is a mental activity not a physical one but, you do need to be comfortable. If you are not comfortable it will be difficult to develop a deep and stable practice. So when you are first starting out, pay attention to how your body feels. If pain arises, try and fix it by adjusting your position slightly. However don’t fuss over this process. Don’t spend too much time worrying about the pain or discomfort. Otherwise this checking could itself become an obstacle to meditation.

Also, sitting in a chair is permissible. However sitting as the great meditators of the past did is best if you can. Why? Because adopting a cross legged position is a powerful signal to yourself that it is now time to meditate. However if you are sitting in a chair make sure it is not the same chair you use to have afternoon naps, as your meditation will probably just turn into more sleeping.

Also the cushion is to keep you comfortable. It is not a fashion item, or a decorative piece. Don’t turn your meditation practice into another worldly activity.

Meditation Blanket
There are two types of meditation blankets. One to keep you warm and one for keeping your hands comfortable. If you are too warm by having too many blankets wrapped around your body this can induce sleep. So make certain you are comfortable and warm while leaving some space for the air to flow around your body. Remember your meditating not sleeping!

The second type is for your hands. Place a soft piece of fabric or a fold of your blanket under your hands, this will help your mind relax. The sooner you relax the quicker your meditation will develop. However meditation is not just about deep relaxation, so don’t allow yourself to fall into the abyss of sleepiness. It is very much like tuning your mind. Too tight and conceptualization will occur, too loose and you will end up wasting time in the fogginess of laxity. In this regard meditation is a creative ongoing process of adjusting between too tight and too loose. So have fun learning to meditate!

If you live in a noisy area try using ear plugs.

Meditation Table
This tool is simply to allow you to read guided meditation manuals or writing notes without having to get up from your meditation seat. Not all meditation is about only focusing the mind. You can meditate on subjects that are quite subtle and difficult to understand. So you might need a couple of books handy in order to consult.

An appreciation of the benefits of meditation
This tool cannot be overemphasized. However an appreciation of the benefits of meditation can only develop over time as you see first hand the benefits. So given this some what difficult premise, that is, an appreciation of the benefits of meditation can only come after you see the benefits of meditation, try and research articles or stories of the benefits of meditation in order to inspire. If you like biographies, read the biographies of great yogis like Milarepa. If you are a science type, find articles on the science of meditation or http://www.danielgoleman.info/blog/2008/01/01/the-inexplicable-monks/ to inspire you. The point is, many have said there is benefits in learning to meditate. However the only way you can verify these benefits is to learn to meditate yourself.

Reading inspiring stories will help develop an aspiration to engage in meditation. Aspiration is the key to a successful practice. Without an aspiration to engage in meditation, even if you have all the external tools of the trade, the best cushions, a dedicated room, a beautiful meditation table made of fine antique timber, you will still find yourself watching television or finding some excuse to not meditate. It’s amazing just how sophisticated some excuses can be. Don’t get fooled by them.

Awareness of attention
Are you aware of your thoughts right now? Probably not. As you are reading this your mind is engaged in the process of reading. But, there are other things going on that you may not be aware of. I’m not just talking about being mindful per se but, rather a broader class of attention. It might even be classified as intention. I think it is more like being attentive of your intentions. What does that mean? If your intention is to sit down to meditate, be certain that is what you end up doing. Don’t spend your time worrying about money, or your job, or your children or your broken finger nail or whether your football team is going to win on the weekend. If you come up with some cool new idea for a project that will help get you a great new job. Jot down the idea while remaining seated, then continue meditating until you finish. Then start thinking about the idea after that. Actually this can be an issue. Because as your meditation deepens you will find that creativity can increase. So watch out for this one. Don’t let yourself go off day-dreaming or speculating about the future. Be attentive of your intention to meditate.

Through this, stability will develop. Stability is a lack of being here, there and everywhere! Stability will arise at the same time as conceptualization decreases. But conceptualization can only decrease if you do not engage it. It is a little like ignoring someone who is standing near you asking the same questions over and over again. If you ignore them long enough they will eventually go away.

For this reason it is also good to meditate at the same time of day, each day. This will allow you to develop the habit of meditating rather than spending this time stressing over things that can, in the end, be dealt with later.

Enthusiasm
This tool is the meditators engine. It is the one thing that will get you out of bed early every morning to meditate. It is closely linked with appreciation. So when you feel your enthusiasm waning, go back to internal tool # 1 and read something inspiring.

The more you appreciate the results of meditation, the more your enthusiasm will increase. But, be careful because too much meditation can be a large factor in destroying enthusiasm for meditation. So be smart with how much meditation you do. If you are new to meditation aim to meditate everyday for at least 20 minutes and, build from there. The goal would be 3-4 hours a day everyday. When you get to this point. The problem won’t be trying to meditate it will be stopping.

Patience
Patience is a necessary ingredient to a successful meditation practice. It is not only a willingness to practice. It is a steadfastness in the face of difficulties. When meditation gets boring, patience will be that voice in your head encouraging you to keep trying. It can be your best friend in meditation. Always there with kind words to help and encourage you along. When you have patience you can except difficulties without resistance. And if you have no resistance you will become irresistible! Just joking.

The point is be patient, with the right motivation, meditation can be the best thing you can do with your life. Wisdom, compassion and knowledge of how to help others will develop naturally. Then you can be of use to both yourself and others. Does that sound like something worth campaigning for? Geshe Loden my teacher often says, most people only campaign for this life. Thinking about having more money, a better car or a better looking body. Not so many campaign for better future lives! Which one do you want to be?

Knowledge
The topic of Buddhist wisdom used as both a method for the use within meditation and as the result of meditation, will be covered in an upcoming post entitled Buddhism as Philosophy.

But I will leave you with a quote from the Great Kamapa

Some think, Meditators do not need to study; those who teach need to study. Actually, learning is more necessary from the meditator; teachers may just incur the fault of explaining something incorrectly.

Do you see his point? I will let you think about it and explain what I think he is saying in the post on Knowledge.

You may like to participate in a free online Buddhist meditation course

Buddhist prayers for the dying

I often get asked, what people can do during the last days of a loved one.
Below is some simply advice for anyone currently dealing with death.

What to do when someone is dying
Generally speaking, just having good thoughts and memories of your loved one will be helpful both to you and your loved one(s). Getting upset, crying or getting angry, will only serve to make things worse. A persons state of mind at the time of death is important for a good rebirth. Therefore it is best to help the dying person remain calm and happy. Reminding them of events that will only cause problems is not a skillful action. So try to avoid this as much as possible.

If you feel so inclined, you and if possible, the dying person can meditate on compassion and loving-kindness for all sentient beings.

Start off the meditation by not focusing on a friend, as this can cause people to get upset and attachment to arise. Think about someone like a work friend or someone similar. Someone that you know and care for but, who is not too close that attachment will arise. Then as the meditation continues, add more and more people into the scope of your attention. In the end add all beings, even your enemies if you can without causing issues. Then this is the important part, try and develop a feeling that all the beings in the scope of your meditation are of equal importance to you. Why? because all beings want happiness and do not want suffering. No one wants to die, not even the worse people! But, we all have to leave our bodies behind. We all come into the world naked and all we leave naked. In this regard we are all the same, we are all equal. Try and develop a sense of equanimity towards all beings. This will happy remove attachment for friends and family and anger for people you feel have done you wrong. Buddhist assert that someone who dies with this type of mind is very likely to have a good rebirth.

In terms of a Buddhist prayers for the dying you and if possible the dying person can recite the following prayer.

By this virtue (reciting this prayer), at the instant of death, may you take rebirth in Tushita (a heavenly realm). May you meet the limitless Bodhisattvas and be cared for by Maitreya, our supreme refuge.

Through the fire of great love, the wood of hatred is burnt.
Through the light of pristine awareness, the darkness of ignorance is dispelled. To the Regent of the Dharma (Maitreya Buddha) abiding in Tushita, I prostrate.

Also, learn the death process itself. If the dying person is a Buddhist and they want to hear. Read to them the explanation of the death process. This will also be useful for when we are dying.

As a side note you may have wondered why do Buddhist meditate of death and dying this post may shed some insight.

5 ways to becoming a better Buddhist

So you want to be a great meditator. You want your life to improve and you want realizations, correct?

Below are 5 basic characteristics you need to cultivate.

1. Honesty
2. Wisdom
3. Enthusiasm
4. Respect
5. Listen

1: Honesty
Being honest means not just telling truths. It mean having the ability to discern personality faults with pragmatism. This may seem obvious but, the ability to see subtle psychological traits is like seeing something from the corner of your eye. If there is not even a willingness to look, there will not be a willingness to see these traits as faults. How will you remove something that you don’t see as a fault?

2: Wisdom
So you have looked into the corner of your psyche now what! Wisdom is the capacity not only to see faults as faults but, also to see qualities as qualities. To know what to cultivate and encourage in our thoughts and emotions and what to remove to a type of wisdom. Simply put, it is knowing right from wrong.

3: Enthusiasm
Without enthusiasm your practice will be like Melbourne weather. Sunny one minute, raining the next.
Without enthusiasm laziness and a lack of joy for practice will easily creep in. Next you will be saying…meditation…what’s that? To combat laziness and engender enthusiasm, one need to see clearly the benefits of the goal at hand. If you are studying difficult philosophical texts or in meditation retreat, the greater appreciation you have for the benefits of your efforts, the less likely that problems will arise when you meet with difficulties…and you will meet them…trust me. Doubt, frustration and negative thoughts will arise, you need to seeing them as just difficulties and move on.

4: Respect
Respect for your teachers, parents, friends, strangers, enemies and yourself is the foundation of compassion. If you do not respect your own life, how can you expect to generate this for others. If you cannot generate genuine respect, how can you expect to generate compassion. Enough said!

5: Listen
Listen to your teacher, this is an easy one right? Anyone that has spent time with high Lamas will know that to really listen is not so easy. Many times when we seek the benefits of a teacher, we do so with baggage from past relationships. We can simply and without even knowing so, try to make the teacher become the father we never had. This approach will not work. To listen means to listen with an open mind and a willingness to do what your told. If you ask a question about how to practice or whether to accept a job. Ask the question with an openness that is willing to do whatever they say regardless of the answer. If you are not willing to do this, don’t ask questions.

Overnewton students learn meditation

Recently I was asked to lecture on Buddhist philosophy and meditation to a group of high school kids. The kids and staff were great. Very attentive and interested in learning about Buddhism and or meditation.

So a shout-out to the staff and kids at Overnewton College.

I applaud Overnewton College for their wonderful and progressive outlook to the education of their students. The event even made their local newspaper.

via http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/56016

MORE than 50 Overnewton College students got in touch with their spiritual side last month after a visit from a Buddhist monk.
Tibetan Buddhist Society monk Loden Jinpa led an animated discussion on Buddhism and meditation before involving the students in a practical meditation class.
The students, all part of the school’s new spiritual and values education program, were taught to manage negative thoughts and situations through meditation and deep breathing.
They were also shown methods to combat stress heading into their VCE years.
Spirituality and meditation teacher Amanda Clifford said it was important for the students to recognise and understand the ways of different religions and cultures.

“If you don’t know much about something you can fear it or not understand it and get different beliefs,” she said. To have an authentic Buddhist monk talk to them about it instead of me lecturing them is great. When Loden held the discussion there was lots of energy in the room and then we had the meditation practices and he said to them ‘do you notice any difference?’ and all of the kids were like ‘yeah, it’s so much calmer’.

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