The object in meditation is to fall like a feather down from the top of a
building, slowly and steadily. You first train yourself to let your body
initially relax, but keep your mind focused. Once you begin to master the
skill, the ultimate goal is to let your body fall asleep while your mind stays
awake or active.
Here is the progression. If waking consciousness is Beta (from low to
high, depending on your levels of stress), once you sit up straight to keep
your spine erect, close your eyes, take a series of conscious breaths, and go
inward, you will naturally switch from the sympathetic nervous system to
the parasympathetic nervous system. You will change your physiology from
the emergency protection system (fight/fright/flight) to the internal
protection system for long-term building projects (growth and repair). As
the body relaxes, your brain-wave patterns will naturally begin to move to
Alpha.
If done properly, meditation will shift your brain to a more coherent and
orderly wave pattern. You will go from focusing on the Big Three to
becoming no body, no thing, and no time. Now you begin to feel connected,
whole, and balanced; and you experience healthier, elevated emotions of
trust, joy, and inspiration.
Orchestrating for Coherence
If our definition of mind is the brain in action or the brain’s activity when
it processes different streams of consciousness, then meditation naturally
produces more synchronized, coherent states of mind.^4
On the other hand, when the brain is stressed, its electrical activity will
be like an entire orchestra of musical instruments playing badly. The mind
will be out of rhythm, out of balance, and out of tune.
Your job is to play a masterpiece. If you persist with this band of
disorderly, egocentric, self-important members who think that their
individual musical instruments need to be heard above all others—and if
you insist that they work together and follow your lead—there will come a
moment when they will surrender to you as their leader and will act as a
team.