The Ultimate Practice: Beginner Meditation for Everyone – Rewiring for a Healthy Brain

By LoLo Shaw

Stress has become the number one killer of the twenty-first century, linked to six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. Stress is rooted in our default negativity bias. We humans, on average, have 60,000–80,000 thoughts per day, 80% of which are negative.

If you find yourself stressed and constantly behind, you are a strong candidate for frequent doctors visits, hospital stays, and mortality statistics. Like smoking, it can take decades for stress to take its toll. What is the way out? Well, the way out is in. Meditation is found to be the “cure” for stress, anxiety, and depression. It literally changes the brain's structure with measurable effects on the prefrontal cortex, associated with our perception and decision-making.

The Ultimate Practice: Beginner Meditation for Everyone – Rewiring for a Healthy Brain is written by a yogini who traced footsteps of the ancient yogis all the way to the foot of the Himalayas. In this book, LoLo Shaw has collected important lessons she learned along the way from monks, yogis, and Zen masters. These lessons are like seeds, and a seed is a promise of a forest. With regular meditation practice, you are on your way to self-mastery. Master your emotions and you master your health.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798765244326

LoLo Shaw

LoLo Shaw is a certified yoga teacher from the Aroya Yoga School of India. A recipient of the Ontario Best Ethnic Media Award of Canada, LoLo was a former bilingual television host of “Prescription for Health,” sponsored by Ontario Mental Health Association of Canada. She holds a master’s degree in health science from the University of Toronto and offers personal training and group retreats with monks in Asia and North America.

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Copyright © 2023 LoLo Shaw.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4431-9 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4432-6 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/10/2024

Disturbance of the Mind Stirs Up 100 Diseases.

Quieting of the Mind Eases Off 100 Ailments.

—Yellow Emperor’s Internal Medicine

2600BC

Your mind is your greatest asset

or largest liability.

—Vedanta

To

Mama

& Three Men

in My Life

Thank you, Mama. Each time I visited you in your senior home while I was writing this book, you urged me to go back and finish my manuscript. Go finish your book. I know deep down you want to share something important with the world. Xiexie, Mama. You are the best.

Thank you, Peter, my son. This book would not have been finished without your continuing faith in me and unwavering support.

Thank you, Michael, my son. This book would not have been written without your shabulaji sense of humor and silent support.

Thank you, Ken. This book would not have been possible without your unconditional love and resilient spirit, which lives on after you have long gone. My love and gratitude go beyond words.

FROGIMG.psd

Siva-Sankalpa-Suktam

Vedanta

Watch your thoughts, they become your beliefs.

Watch your beliefs, they become your words.

Watch your words, they become your actions.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Watch your habits, they become your personality.

Watch your personality, it becomes your destiny.

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Deep Bow to Five Masters

Introduction

Rewiring for a Healthy Brain

Part I: Meditation Made Simple

Start a Home Meditation Practice in Five Simple Steps

1.   Step 1: Get Your Body Ready

Sit like a Pharaoh

2.   Step 2: Get Your Mind Ready

Turn Your Gaze Inward

3.   Step 3: Experience a Yogic Meditation

Japa for Inner Peace

4.   Step 4: Let Meditation Carry You

Your Daily Breath

5.   Step 5: Download a Yogic Mind

Think like a Yogi

Part II: Science of Meditation   49

Rewiring for a Healthy Brain

6.   Secret to Emotional Mastery

Part III: Yogic Mind   65

7.   Encounter with the Tallest Monk in India

8.   Personal Transformation Starts Here

Practise Your Alchemy

Questions and Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

About the Author

Foreword

Meditation has become increasingly popular in the West. Yet it remains the most difficult practice and has caused enormous confusion.

Why does meditation appear difficult?

Swami Sarvapriyananda explained it this way: Meditation is difficult because only parts are taken out. Many techniques of meditation have come to existence for quick consumption to suit various personal tastes. There is a supermarket of techniques out there, many of which are promoted like another form of commodity.

Meditation can relax you, but it only scratches the surface. If you are unable to make peace with yourself, the same disturbed mind remains after your practice. Being able to sit still and feel calm during meditation is one thing, your ability to remain calm after sitting is the true practice of a right meditation.

Ancient yogic meditation does just that. Meditation is described as chitta vritti nirodja in the Yoga Sutra of Sage Patanjali. It means to quieten the constant mental chatter. Rooted in the ancient mind-body science of yoga meditation.

When LoLo Shaw asked me to read her manuscript, I was incredibly pleased. Many teachers and writers tend to add color and mysticism to meditation, she managed to explain the ancient practice in the simplest terms without losing its profundity. Straightforward and engaging, LoLo’s book The Ultimate Practice is a timely gift. It is a short and concise guide for anyone who wishes to start a solo practice, at home or in the office.

Take a few moments each day from your busy and hurried life just to be with yourself. With regular practice, peace, health, and happiness will naturally come to you. When you are peaceful and happy, you are ready to take on the world, working toward a larger goal that is good for you,