The Many Benefits of Meditation
by Rena Urso. Published September 20th, 2022.
A favorite quote from Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl encapsulates meditation perfectly: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Some believe that to meditate, all the conditions around them need to be perfect; for instance, they must be completely alone in a silent space, without any thoughts to cloud the experience. The notion that everything must be just right, or completely silent, or the absence of thoughts in order to practice is a false assertion. Meditation isn’t about achieving perfection, even if there was such a thing; it’s about the possibility of growth and improving our well-being.
Dating back thousands of years, meditation is one of the eight limbs of yoga from Patangali’s Yoga Sutras. Its Sanskrit dhyana translates to absorption, and it is the process of training our attention, developing deeper awareness, and creating a sustained voluntary attention. A regular practice of meditation can literally change our brain, creating more grey matter, enlarging the prefrontal cortex (decision making), thickening our hippocampus (learning/memory), enhancing gamma brain wave activity (greater awareness/bliss), and shrinking the amygdala (reduced stress/fear/anxiety).
We live in a society that is abuzz, where people are constantly striving for “perfection.” The practice of the ancient art of meditation gives us the gift to let this go. Rather than lingering when a thought enters our mind, or focusing on an external sound, we learn in meditation to reframe these distractions by simply acknowledging them and then letting them float by like big, fluffy clouds. We turn our attention to our breath, allow it to be our anchor, and return to the present moment. Thus, our practice can encourage curiosity both in our daily lives and invite us to become more observational and inclusively aware.
Imagine how this can positively affect us as musicians and performing artists?
Having experienced anxiety both on and off the stage, meditation has made a profound difference in my life. In January 2020, before the pandemic world shut the world down, I set out on a journey of what would become one of the best gifts I could give to myself. Like many others would do in the months to come, I took a deeper dive into self-care and earned my Yoga and Meditation Teaching certifications. (YTT/MTT) This was something I considered for years but never thought it would be possible, given my rigorous performing, teaching, and traveling schedules. The process was challenging, enlightening, and enormously beneficial in more ways than I ever imagined. Honestly, when I began the YTT journey, I just wanted to get better at yoga, and as it turns out, it’s one of the best things I have done for my playing, and further; I felt an immediate sense of personal pride that accompanied the completion of these achievements. I now also have. . .
More stamina in my daily practice.
The ability to weather the storms with greater resilience.
Noticed a distinct shift in my ability to be less judgmental or subjective about myself in my practice room.
Experienced greater enjoyment with the process of becoming a better flute/piccolo player.
More curiosity, creativity, and freedom to color outside the lines in my flute and piccolo playing as well as my yoga practice.
A beautiful ongoing friendship with yoga, pranayama (Sanskrit word meaning the control of breath), meditation, and Body Mapping, which continue to pay dividends not only for my work as a musician but more importantly, for my overall well-being as a human.
The benefits of meditation are tenfold:
The ability to deal with stress in a better way by becoming more patient and non-reactive. We can’t stop stressful situations from happening, but we can help ourselves gain the tools to deal with these moments in a better way.
Improved focus and attention.
Greater self-awareness and inclusive awareness.
Replacing subjective or judgmental behavior with objectivity and a deeper and more sincere level of empathy, kindness, and compassion.
Lower blood pressure and slower heart rate.
Improved sleep and overall general health and well-being.
Pranayama has also become a part of my daily practice, both as an accompaniment with my yoga/meditation practice and as a stand-alone. Another of the eight limbs, pranayama consists of two parts: prana (energy) and ayama (to stretch or extend). It has been said that through the practice of pranayama, the veil is gradually drawn away from our mind, creating more clarity. It is grounding and purifying. In fact, the beauty and simplicity of Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana) for example, is something I have often done backstage or in a dressing room before a performance, or in the on-deck room before playing a round at an audition. A few minutes of this breathing technique can go a long way to help ground us and quiet our inner critic.
We classical musicians are famous for living in our heads, ruminating over how we could/should play a phrase, a measure, an interval, a note, dissecting everything to the tiniest granule. Mistakes are not something we take lightly. This is precisely why yoga, meditation, and pranayama are essential, and why I’m happy to share this with my musician colleagues and students, so we all can begin to invite greater peace, acceptance, and non-judgement, and ultimately find more joy as performing artists.
If we really want to fix something, it takes courage to reflect and dig deep, get to the root of the issue, and address the issue at its base level. Anything less is simply a band-aid, particularly as we continue to navigate COVID and all the atrocities and general unrest in our world, it is not uncommon to want to avoid deep introspection. At these times, we all can feel a bit like a little shrub in the middle of a wild tornado. It can be a struggle to maintain our daily practice of yoga, meditation, pranayama, and yes, even our regular practice regimen doing what we love; however, it is in these very moments that we must return to our breath, take what we need, appreciate the peace, and continue to create for ourselves, because it’s all about the process. If we take care of the process, the product will be there when we need it.
Cultivating a practice of paying attention on purpose in the present moment, without judgement, can be tricky – we are all living a lot of life. Meditation is a positive step toward creating greater curiosity and mindfulness. This is exactly why making this shift in our minds and our breath is so vital.
Be well.
Happy Practicing!
BIO
Rena Urso is a member of the faculties at California State University Long Beach and California State University Stanislaus, and a Course Coordinator for California State University Summer Arts – home to her popular biennial summer flute course, The Complete 21st Century Flutist at CSU Summer Arts. As a Licensed Body Mapping Educator, she presents Body Mapping workshops and masterclasses all over the world. Rena is also a teaching artist at the International Piccolo Flute Academy. An active freelance musician in the San Francisco Bay Area, she is a member of the Oakland Symphony, the Oregon Coast Music Festival Orchestra, and Alcyone Ensemble. Additionally, she is a certified yoga and meditation instructor and member of the NFA Performance Health Committee. Rena lives in the Chicago area with her husband John and their three dogs: Lillie, Po, and Girl. She is available for personal or group Zoom Body Mapping sessions. For more information about Rena and Body Mapping tips, please visit www.renaurso.com.