Friday, April 11, 2008

Meditation CDs and DVDs


Born and brought up a Quaker, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t meditate. Even though I don’t attend Meeting now, Jerry and I meditate every morning, and I certainly think of meditation and relaxation techniques as part of my toolkit for dealing with cancer.
Which is not to say that I’m anything more than a beginner: I’ll put my drunken monkey up against anyone else’s. I’m always ready to learn more, so I've been collecting some materials that promise to help me become a better meditator.
All of these depend on the same kind of willing suspension of disbelief that you need to enjoy a movie or a good book. Jerry has trouble when he visits my yoga class and the teacher says something like, “Let your shoulders sink into your shoulder blades, and your front ribs rest quietly on your back ribs.” He snaps to attention to figure out why all that is impossible. These techniques are not for him or anyone else who expects a logical universe.
Here are three cds that deal with meditation, only one of which I can recommend:
First, and weirdest, is one put out by GlaxoSmithKline. It’s called Guided Imagery: a Technique that Engages the Imagination in the Healing Process, by Belleruth Naparstek. The CD started with the standard breathing instructions, and then, somehow as I listened and breathed, some Beings appeared (I think she meant angels, but I kept seeing green extraterrestrials) who used Magick (and I could clearly hear the k) to shrink the tumors. At this point I snapped to attention and turned off the cd. I don’t do Magick.
I had hopes for Eight Meditations for Optimum Health by Andrew Weil, a guru of mainstream alternative medicine. The basic introduction with breathing instructions was fine, but I ran into trouble with the meditation on Healing Yourself. Strangely, it was the opposite problem from the first CD. In order to emphasize how powerful the body is in healing itself, he suggested a minor kitchen accident, cutting yourself with a paring knife. Suddenly in my mind the countertop was covered with blood and I couldn’t find a bandaid. I had to do a lot of deep breathing to counteract that image.
The best CD is Imagery and Meditations for General Health: 5 Relaxation Techniques for Optimal Well-being. (It strikes me that what all of these share is really awful titles.) This is by Jennifer Bloome, and she has a pleasant voice. The breathing section is standard, but there are a nice progressive muscle relaxation and a beautiful color imagery section. This is the one I use.
There are also two DVDs: Stress and Relaxation Explained, by Alice Domar, which is actually an infomercial designed to get you to buy the full set of DVDs, but which includes a nice guided relaxation with waves lapping up on a shore, and Dean Ornish’s The Spectrum, with Anne Ornish explaining and leading short meditations. Since I like to close my eyes while I meditate, neither of these is my choice.
Anyone else have any favorites?

2 comments:

Blue Spruce said...

When I was a teenager I used to spend a lot of time meditating over the uselessness of homework.

Heather said...

I love Good Medicine by Pema Chodron. Are you familiar with her books / cds? She's an American Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition. She makes Buddhist ideas accessible to Westerners