Its practitioners never cease to sing its praises:by controlling one's breathing and by emptying oneself, one would achieve truly incredible results, capable of carrying out a real revolution in one's inner being, and bringing peace, serenity and clarity. where all other methods have previously failed. It would be enough to devote only a few minutes a day to meditation to see its positive effects rub off on everything else in your daily life. Like all miracle solutions, this one has something to make the most skeptical of us doubt while making them envious to say the least. In any case, those for whom the recipe took do not budge. So how does it work exactly? And why and how to get started?
Imagine sitting comfortably in a dark room, except that the projectionist... is you. On the screen, your little inner cinema unfolds. For most of us, that would make for a disjointed film to say the least and we would have to invent new categories at the Césars to see it in the running. Because at any time, a subplot is likely to become central to the scenario, before seeing itself supplanted, and so on. Meditation is a way of letting go. If it is normal for thoughts to arise at any time, we learn by meditating to let them pass, to pose as a simple spectator of this inner cinema, rather than writing the script at the same time as we realize it. By meditating, we sharpen our attention by focusing on ourselves. It is not a question, as one might think, of clearing your head – who would want to go see this film? — than learning not to fixate on negative thoughts, and to let them flow without fighting them.
No wonder meditation, different from relaxation, is gaining popularity in our time when everything goes faster, where the whole world seems at our fingertips via the teaser screen of our smartphones, where the food that fills our plates has three times around the globe, and where you are never really disconnected and protected from an untimely notification. Meditation seems to be the perfect remedy for this overflow of information. And it is true that it is indeed an excellent anti-stress. Thanks to it, we constitute a kind of bubble, within which negative thoughts are not annihilated — because after all, these also have their uses, and we cannot live in a stupid bubble of positivity — but are better managed:we learn not to focus on them and to avoid ruminating, which often generates anxiety.
But this does not end here. The benefits distributed by the practice of meditation are also measured physically. Thus, regular practitioners would be rewarded with a more efficient immune system and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disorders. Their sensitivity to pain would also be reduced. In other words, by meditating, you feel better in your head and in your body. No wonder she's been so successful. And you don't need to become a Buddhist to get started. Meditation as it is practiced today has nothing strictly speaking religious about it, although its virtues can accompany a certain spiritual awakening.
Think of meditation as an exercise in stripping the soul. Just as we shower daily - for most of us - in order to cleanse our body of the dirt that accumulates there, we meditate to cleanse our mind of all the parasitic thoughts that accumulate and weigh it down. . For his supporters, a life without it has become unthinkable:a bit like the way our modern eyes look at the only annual bath of medieval rulers with a mixture of mockery and disgust.
The list of benefits of meditation does not end there, and some of them are particularly interesting for seniors. The benefits mentioned above, on cardiovascular disorders and the strengthening of the immune system, are particularly beneficial at an age when the body begins to deteriorate, and can easily fall into abandonment if care is not taken. Less risk of stroke and heart attack therefore, but there is also a positive effect on chronic pain, likely to fossilize with age.
In addition, cognitive performance is also enhanced through practice. In addition to the aging of the body, it is therefore the aging of the brain that is occasionally slowed down. Memory is indeed positively stimulated there thanks to the efforts of attention and concentration that meditation requires, and it would even seem that it can in this respect have positive effects on the onset and course of Alzheimer's disease. To put it simply, a diligent practice of meditation literally slows down aging!
Finally, seniors, if they belong to a generation where the discussion was less open on the subject, are not spared from mental disorders and anxiety, which can result from traumatic events such as the loss of their spouse, or the loneliness to which many of them are delivered. Focusing on the present moment, at an age when it is easy to ruminate on the past, and the future seems to have less to offer, can only be beneficial.
In general, with the aging of the population, the question of "aging well" arises more and more. We observe on this subject that the aging of the body and the mind is not simply a function of age but depends enormously on well-being. To this end, methods such as meditation should therefore be encouraged, especially since they allow aging people to feel active in their support.
One of the great assets of meditation is that it requires no other instrument than... yourself! It can be done anywhere, anytime, and it is an activity that can be done alone, and which you gain in dexterity with practice. A piece of advice is therefore to set yourself a time slot dedicated to practice and to stick to it. When you wake up or before bedtime, or even after lunch? Everyone has their own preference, it doesn't matter. No, what matters above all is your attendance. This will allow you to take the fold, and immerse yourself in a meditative state at will, or almost. Therefore, one can practice meditation everywhere and in any situation!
One of the most popular techniques is that based on breathing. It is a question of concentrating on this one, on the movement of inspiration and expiration. As this is constant, it offers something to focus on. But one can also use a mantra, repeated aloud or silently, to "sweep" the body by fixing one's attention in turn on each of its members, from the toes to the top of the skull. Once sufficiently initiated, it is possible to meditate by practicing any activity. This is why we speak of "mindfulness" meditation, which consists, so to speak, of becoming aware of oneself and one's environment in the present moment:Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American professor of medicine, has contributed to spreading this technique worldwide as cognitive therapy for stress and anxiety.
The easiest way is still to get a book on the subject, or to register for a private or group session, discarding those that seem sectarian led by a guru. There are also many online resources and other applications to start, free or at frankly ridiculous prices, compared to that of any alternative medicine session. Finally, there are training courses designed specifically for seniors, and some EHPAD and retirement home leaders recognize the virtues of meditation and organize initiations. Once you understand the principle, it's a technique you can use all your life!
