CLEARLAKE — For years, Kathy Bishop, 50, at the time, volunteered for extra assignments at work and in her personal life, not realizing the pressure she was putting on herself.
“I was so caught up in everything that I thought I had to do,” Bishop said. “I was driving myself nuts, without even knowing it.”
Sometimes she would snap at her family and coworkers. “I would find myself not wanting to be grouchy, but still being grouchy,” she said. She tried therapy, but it wasn”t for her. She felt like all her attention was focused on the negative things that had happened in her life.
Meditation was the answer. Her husband had been doing it for a couple of years, and she had seen improvements in him. “I could see how it was helping him; the methods are very practical,” she said. “It fits people”s lifestyles whether they”re religious or not.” Bishop and her husband follow an eight-step meditation program developed by Eknath Easwaran, who founded the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation in Tomales.
Eight years later, Bishop says a mantram to herself several times a day: “I”ll say it when I”m brushing my teeth or when I”m at a stop light,” Bishop said. “It helps me see that there”s a bigger picture and not worth it for me to get angry or get impatient.” It”s a way for Bishop to detach from her thinking process. “Sometimes you don”t realize you have a choice,” Bishop said. “You”ll feel angry and think, ?That”s just how I am.” Now, I can see the anger rising.” And she”s able to change her attitude.
Others who practice the Blue Mountain”s eight-point meditation talk of similar experiences.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Liz Wake of Scottsdale felt anxious all the time.
Wake, 52 at the time, started attending the weekly meditation group and incorporated the eight-point program into her life. “One of the things that meditation does is it helps you become more in control of your own thoughts,” she said. She compared her thoughts before she started meditating to a television set without a remote control. “If the anger channel comes on, you respond with anger,” Wake said.
Her relationships with others have improved. “I”m more patient with my kids,” Wake said of her children, ages 14 and 16. Becoming more flexible allows those around you to also be flexible, she said. It works better than trying to control a situation. “It”s ironic in a way, when you think you try to control someone, they consciously or unconsciously rebel against you and do the opposite of what you”re trying to achieve.”
Mark Minnick of said meditating has made him less reactive and given him more control of his actions. “When I began to meditate, the first 30 to 60 days, I didn”t realize how busy my mind was,” Minnick, 49 said. “Thoughts would keep coming up. I learned I don”t have to identify with all those thoughts. I can choose them or let them go.” The change doesn”t happen overnight, Wake said. But every day she”s closer to the person she wants to be: “I don”t see myself ever quitting.”
For more information about Passage Meditation in the Clearlake area please contact Steve Shields at 350-2613 or email steve@steveashields.com.
