Meditation Made Easy

Description

Meditation, says author Lorin Roche, has been held captive by gurus and overly restrictive spiritual traditions for centuries. It should be one of life's great pleasures. You don't have to sit in an awkward position or empty your mind or relinquish desire to meditate, claims Roche. Here he offers simple techniques to wake up the senses and relax the body and mind.

Lorin Roche, Ph.D., has been a meditation trainer for the past 22 years. He lives in Marina del Rey, California.

"What a wonderful book. I was electrified from the first word. Read "Meditation Made Easy" and learn the secrets that all successful meditators have learned the hard way. "This" is how you make it work, how you make meditation fit into your life and benefit your heart, your soul, your health, your relationships. I give it my "highest" recommendation." -- Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., author of "Real Moments""A glorious book! It has given me more and better instruction than anything else in print or on audio. I prefer it to any other guide, including the one I wrote."-- James Fadiman, Ph.D., editor of "Essential Sufism" and author of "Personality and Personal Growth""An inviting, wise, funny, affirming, and marvelously informed book on meditation that dispels all our dumb reasons for not giving it a try."-- Belleruth Naparstek, author of "Your Sixth Sense" and creator of the "Health Journeys" audiotape series"A really good book for starting meditation. He knows his stuff."-- Jack Kornfield, author of "A Path With Heart"The art of meditation was long the domain of spiritual traditions and became a practice that was separate from everyday experience. But meditative experience occurs naturally, affirms Roche, and "technique" has to do with intention and attention. Meditation is "the practice of developing your capacity for rich experience." This straightforward book offers simple exercises to awaken the mind to sensory experiences and to help achieve the benefits of relaxation: better mood, enhanced ability to concentrate, lower blood pressure, a sense of well-being. There really are no rules'and no, you don't need a guru. Meditation can and does take place almost anytime (some exercises takejust a few seconds) and anywhere (sitting, standing, or walking). About the only thing "wrong" is too try to hard. A "sense of luxury" is one of the ways of knowing it's being done right. Results are available almost immediately; and regardless of whether the reader decides to practice meditation, this inspirational book is well worth the read.-- BooklistYou may think the last thing the world needs needs is another book on meditation, but take a look at the nifty MEDITATION MADE EASY by Lorin Roche before you have another meditative thought.Many books characterize meditation as difficult and elusive at first, requiring practice and the development of everybody's favorite contradiction, attentive nonattention. But Roche, a meditation trainer for 30 years, turns that old stuff on its head."Meditation is quietly sexy, in the way that getting a massage or listening to great music is, " he writes. "It should have a sense of luxury and deliciousness. It should be a place for you to entertain all your desires and longings and prepare to fulfill them . . . It may feel like loafing, and that's good."Roche knows all the tricks ("meditate less than you want to") and the tips (think of meditation as "taking time to watch the sunrise"). And he's great on the breathing/chanting rituals and "do-nothing techniques" that lead people to the "sense of wonder" about life and love and spirit that can make meditation so joyous.-- Pat Holt