Cambridge meditation center says practice is 'training for the mind'
CAMBRIDGE - Zeenat Potia taps the heavy temple bell, resting on its own pillow, three times. The large meditation room on the top floor of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center is suddenly filled with sound.
She is a meditation instructor and is guiding me through a short practice.
"It's training for the mind, to keep coming back to the present moment," she said.
Meditation originated in India some 3,000 years ago but is perhaps more valuable today than ever before.
"The Buddha said famously, 'I teach one thing and one thing only - suffering and the end of suffering,'" said Potia. In contemporary times, that suffering comes in many forms: anxiety, chronic stress, depression, insomnia, pain, physical pain and more.
Meditation can help, especially given the post-pandemic mental health crises the nation is facing. Clinical evidence shows meditation supports whole body health. The most respected hospital systems in the county acknowledge its benefits.
"It has been a lifeline for me. It has given me the capacity to meet life's challenges with more groundedness, presence, and I have available to me more wisdom" said Potia.
Some of that wisdom includes advice on self-awareness, forgiveness and mindfulness.
"We are either ruminating about the past or catastrophizing or fantasizing or planning about the future. Very seldom are we in the here and now, but our life is being lived in the here and now" she said.
Despite its Asian roots, meditation is ubiquitous in America and more accessible than ever. The CIMC is a nonprofit that invites anyone to enter its doors, and Potia has several services she offers through the center and independently.