Part 5 - Research carried out on Osho’s Dynamic Meditation

Meditation—

J. Krishnamurthy says, ‘meditation is a state of choiceless awareness’. In the East,Buddhist meditation such as Vipassanā, Zazen, Chinese Qi Gong and Yoga have long been practiced whereas meditation practices in the West include mind-body techniques such as relaxation response,mindfulness meditation and paced respiration, Transcendental Meditation etc.Many of these techniques are surprisingly similar, such as sitting in a comfortable position with eye’s closed,repeating a word or phrase silently to one’s self awareness of one’s breathing, relaxing one’s muscles.

According to Osho, the essence of meditation is just witnessing the body, mind and feelings without judgement. Further he adds the modern man today of eastern or western origin has changed so much that new methods are needed to calm him down. Chaotic methods are required because the modern man is restless and chaotic. One of the techniques is Osho’s Dynamic Meditation.

Active / Dynamic Meditation—

Active / dynamic meditation refers to any meditation technique which does not have one’s body assuming a static posture. Although they are many, dynamic meditation method introduced by Osho is one of the most popular active mediation techniques. He said that if people are repressed, psychologically, are carrying a lot of burden, then they need catharsis. Hence, dynamic meditation is just to help them clean the place.

Osho said,he employed Western psychotherapy as a means of preparing for meditation–A way to become aware of one’s mental and emotional hang-ups-and also introduced his own ‘active meditation’ techniques, characterized by alternating stages of physical activity and silence.

Dynamic meditation lasts 1 hour and is in five stages. It can be done alone, and will be even more powerful if it is done with others. It is an individual experience, so you should remain oblivious of others around you and keep your eyes closed throughout, preferably using a blindfold. It is best to have an empty stomach and wear loose, comfortable clothing.It should be preferably done at sunrise.

First Stage: 10 mins.

Breathe chaotically through the nose, concentrating always on exhalation. The body will take care of the inhalation. The breath should move deeply into the lungs. Be as fast as you can in your breathing, making sure the breathing stays deep. Do this as fast and as hard as you possibly can-And then a little harder, until you literally become the breathing. Use your natural body movements to help you to build up your energy. Feel it building up, but do not let go during the first stage.

Second Stage: 10 mins.

Explode! Express everything that needs to be thrown out. Go totally mad. Scream, shout, cry, jump, shake, dance, sing, laugh; throw yourself around. Hold nothing back; keep your whole body moving. A little acting often helps to get you started. Never allow your mind to interfere with what is happening. Be a total, be whole hearted.

Third Stage: 10 mins.

With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra, “Hoo! Hoo!” as deeply as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep. Give all you have; exhaust yourself totally.

Fourth Stage: 15 mins.

Stop! Freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself. Do not arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement -anything will dissipate the energy flow, and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.

Fifth Stage: 15 mins.

Celebrate through dance, expressing your gratitude toward the whole. Carry your happiness with you throughout the day.

Research on Dynamic Meditation—

Although meditation has been practiced for centuries, only recently the effects of meditation have been studied widely within the scientific community, albeit challenges in research methodology.

Osho claims that the dynamic meditation can be done by individuals.

1) Anuj Bansal,Mittal and Seth,^[1] have conducted research to investigate the effects of 21 days of Osho dynamic meditation on serum cortisol levels. This study indicated that,significant reduction in plasma cortisol levels(stress maker) occurred when participants were tested after 21 days of dynamic meditation.This suggests that Osho dynamic meditation provides anti-stress effects. Therefore, a regular practice of dynamic meditation could be recommended as healing intervention for the amelioration of stress and stress related physical and mental disorders.

2) Naved Iqbal,Singh Archana,Aleem and Bano^[2] conducted research on 60 subjects(30 each in experimental and 30 in control) for 21 days dynamic meditation. Dynamic meditation provides the mediator an opportunity to catharsis and purify his mind and body which is according to Osho is essential to gain the meditative state of mind. Thus, this purification of mind and body helps the individual to wash out his mind from anxiety. Dynamic meditation technique used in this study was found to control anxiety of the subjects.

3) Dr. Avni Vyas,^[3] conducted research study on 7-day participation of 41 subjects and found statistically significant decrease in traits such as anger, temperament, anger expression and increase in anger control.

4) Omelyaneko V. I.^[4] worked on 20 dancers of age 40-50 years, 3 hours twice a week for a year. These methods proved pedagogical effect for sports ballroom dances training of senior category dancers.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Web:-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198312 Journal of clinical and diagnostic research-issn-0973-709x,published online 2016, Nov 1.

[2]:

Web:-http:/researchgate.net/profile/Naved–Iqbal/312120198 http://www.iahrw.com/index.php/home/journal_details/19#list—Indian journal of Health and wellbeing,2014-Effects of dynamic meditation on Anxiety.

[3]:

http://oshomeditationstudio.com/osho-dymamic -meditation-research—2012/3,sept 2017.

[4]:

http:/www.Figshre.com/articles/dymnaic-meditation-in-sports-dances/894390,10^TH Sept,2017