Meditation Made Easy [Paperback]

Lorin Roche (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 1998

You′ve probably heard about the benefits of meditation: Sharper thinking, reduced stress, improved concentration, lower blood pressure, even increased sexual pleasure , all of these positive effects have been confirmed by science. In this uniquely accessible guide, Lorin Roche shows that meditation is that easy , and pleasurable.

Roche answers questions and debunks meditation myths, and gives three easy-to-follow techniques for getting started 塴he Do Nothing Technique," "Salute Each of the Senses," and "Feeling at Home Exercise". He and shows you how to integrate "mini meditations" into spare moments of the day, from savouring morning coffee to taking advantage of the five minutes before a meeting. He explains how to overcome meditation obstacles, customise meditation to your own needs, and use your breath, voice, and attention as meditation aids. And he shows how meditation will give you the power to explore your inner passions , and enrich your sense of self.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"This is come-as-you-are meditation," writes Lorin Roche in Meditation Made Easy. Roche, a meditation trainer for 30 years, knows how to make the uninitiated feel at ease. He debunks the stereotype that you have to follow monastic rules: you don't have to sit still, or empty your mind, or overcome your ego. "Meditation is about being intimate with your deepest self," so imposing techniques and formalities that don't fit you will just interfere. Meditation should be "a direct response to sensing some need in your body or heart ... a pleasurable indulgence ... a mini-vacation." Roche discusses the basics in a warm, friendly, question-and-answer chapter, and then teaches the stages of "getting in" to a meditation. Varied techniques and exercises let you explore what works for you. "Going Deeper" shows you how to turn details of everyday experience--such as drinking coffee--into a mini-meditation. For fun, check out "How to Make Yourself Miserable in Meditation"--for example, "Use a mantra that grates on your nerves"; "Worry about whether your chakras are balanced"; "Choose a tradition that reminds you of the worst aspects of your childhood." This book not only teaches you how to meditate; it makes the process easy and enjoyable. --Joan Price

Review

"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

"A really good book for starting meditation. He knows his stuff." -- Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

"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 really good book for starting meditation. He knows his stuff." -- Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart

"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

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 take just 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. -- Booklist

You 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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (November 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006251542X
• ISBN-13: 978-0062515421
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Now 59, Lorin has been meditating since age 18, when he signed up to be part of a research project on the physiology of meditation. He was a control subject, and received no instructions whatsoever they wanted him to just sit in a totally dark, soundproofed room in the lab for two hours a day for several weeks, and measure his brain waves. With no instructions, and never having heard of meditation, Lorin just paid attention to the total silence and darkness, and spontaneously entered entered a state of intense alertness. A few months later, someone handed him a little book describing 112 meditation practices, and he realized that he had experienced many of them while sitting in the lab.

This experience made it clear that meditation is a spontaneous and natural human experience, and that there are many doorways into meditation. After the experiment was over, people began asking Lorin to teach simple meditation practices as part of scientific studies and university classes. One thing led to another, and soon Lorin was running his own College-within-the University, called Experiential Workshops, which offered classes in meditation, Tai Chi, Structural Integration Movement Awareness, Yoga, Dance Meditation, Art Meditation, and Gestalt Body Awareness.

Lorin was born in 1949 and grew up in Southern California, in little beach towns such as Ventura, Malibu and Dana Point, which in the 1950's, 60's and 70's were middle-class and unpretentious. Both his parents were surfers and members of the San Onofre Surfing Club from the 1940's on, and took him into the ocean before he could walk.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, December 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Meditation Made Easy (Paperback)

So many meditation books are trapped in the eastern traditions which they come from that it is difficult for an atheist like myself to get past all of the superficial trappings in order to gain anything from them. This book is different from any other meditation book I have ever read. The author is smart enough to realize that the trappings are unnecessary. He also presents a new side to meditation by explaining that meditation is a wonderfully sensual experience to be enjoyed for its own sake. I like this book a lot. I have been reading it a few pages at a time and enjoying it very much. If you are looking for a book on how to meditate which is very friendly to Westerners and the non-religious, this is very good.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book on the subject by far, February 14, 2000

By 

Andy Todes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meditation Made Easy (Paperback)

best book? big claim, i know. but then again i've read several of 'em, tried several of 'em, and you know what? they all failed to convey the sheer joy of meditation. not this book, however. not by a long way. within a couple of days of merely starting the book i was craving my next meditation session. craving it. and enjoying it way way beyond what i had come to expect. meditation is not hard work. it's not work at all. this book has such a wonderful attitude. is useful. and totally indispensible. thank you, lorin.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the world's finest meditation teachers., October 5, 2002

By 

Wild Justice (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meditation Made Easy (Paperback)

Is it possible to write a fun, easy, yet technically brilliant meditation book? After reading, "Meditation Made Easy," the answer is a simple and a resounding, "Yes."

Roche has pulled off something amazing here: simple, powerful guidance COMBINED WITH elegant, common-sense sophistication. (Which brings to mind that wonderful aphorism, "There's nothing common about common sense.")

In other words, there's a precision to Roche's description of meditation techniques that far surpasses other writers and meditation teachers. The language he uses is irresistible; it becomes part of your thinking, spicing and invigorating your own personal meditation, and  this is the point  MAKING IT YOUR OWN.

The beauty of "Meditation Made Easy" is that Roche relates his points to everyday, earthy experience, so that they seem obvious. But they weren't obvious until he pointed them out.

Reading his book with pen in hand, you'll experience over and over those "Aha!" moments of clarity: "Aha! I finally get it! That's how it is for me. Funny I never saw it that way until now ..."

You won't be the only one getting it.

Meditators are finally catching on to Roche. Not to mention meditation (and yoga) teachers.

Over the last couple of years, especially, I've seen Roche's words on the instinctive naturalness and subtle sensuality of meditation, come into use by other writers. (Who else is making meditation this fun, this healthy, and this sexy?)

Keep your (third) eye on Lorin Roche. Grab this book today.