Breathitation©/Meditation teaches you how to:
1. Lower stress levels
2. Lower your blood pressure
3. Oxygenate the blood
4. Improve focus and concentration
5. Get into the zone
6. Control your thought processing
7. Improve sleep patterns
8. Better manage distractions
Simple meditation is a panacea for most, if not all, thought-based challenges like presented above. Meditation can be considered the virtual driving range for a golfer’s mental game. Just like golf technique and body conditioning, you must regularly train/practice for a strong mental game. And meditation is a key to developing that strong mental game.
Many people are confused about meditation in that some think it is mystical, some think it is tied to a religion, some think it is complicated, and some think you might have to sit naked in a vat of chocolate facing the East. All of those thoughts are simply incorrect and not true.
After years of study, The ZGA developed a combination of traditional meditation and the western world approach to ‘healthy breathing practices’- we call it Breathitation© and the term is interchangeable with meditation.
Breathitation© can become a MAP (Mindful, Awareness Practice) to a healthy, relaxed, and focused body. In its simplest form, it is merely a breath counting exercise with a single point of focus on deep breaths and their affect on your body. A regular MAP will reduce stress levels on-the-course and off-the-course. It can become empowering and enlightening.
To learn to meditate, you don’t need an actual Zen master (like my teacher/mentor) to see of the benefits. You just need to read a few books, get some CDs, and practice.
There landmark book entitled “The Relaxation Response” written by Dr Herbert Benson, who was at the time was a heart surgeon at the Harvard Mental Center. His main premise is that mediation can prevent some serious diseases and can also reverse certain diseases. However, “Relaxation Response” does not teach you how to meditate.
The best book to learn how to meditate is “Wherever You Go, There You Are” by Jon Kabit-Zinn, who is a leading meditation expert. In that book, he references CDs for purchase that have programs with detailed steps how to meditate.
I also recommend “Full Catastrophe”, a best-seller for a decade, by Jon Kabit-Zinn that deals with stress reduction. The No. 1 tool in Kabit-Zinn’s Stress Reduction Clinics is meditation.
Another book that might be of interest is “Zen Golf” that was written by my friend and former business partner, Dr Joe Parent. This is the best golf mental game book on the market. It will help your golf game and your life, but will also teach you about meditation on pages 68-83.
Most meditation books state that you do not have a preferred set of guidelines for the breathing patterns. Several books specifically on breathing patterns suggest that we need to use the following guidelines to maximize the benefits:
– Use deep or diaphragmatic breathing
– Inhale air for ~4 seconds (lower abs first)
– Exhale air for ~8 seconds (lungs first)
– Flow of air should be regular, no air bursts
– If needed, purse your lips on the exhale
– Inhale in via the nose and exhale via mouth
If you want more reading, please contact The ZGA for the titles. We have one book entitled “Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques Workbook” that presents addition methods to stress reduction and relaxation techniques including self-hypnosis, autogenics, NLP, etc. We feel that Breathitation©/Meditation is the easiest and best to self-administer.
Of course, to get the maximum benefit from meditation, you need to see a trained professional. The ZGA has classes in Breathitation©/Meditation, and we can direct you to places that specialize in meditation if that is the level you need.
If you want to learn more about Zen living and the benefits of mediation read the following: