Co-Meditation:
A
Sharing Of Breaths
by Olivia H.
Miller
Co-meditation, shared breathing, is not a cure but a way to relieve
psychic suffering. Co-meditation is based on the principle that a certain mode
of respiration evokes a particular state of mind and vice-versa. The power of
the breath and the breath-mind relationship has been recognized for centuries by
many cultures and religious traditions. Like other forms of meditation, the deep
abdominal breathing produced by co-meditation affects the hypothalamus gland,
which controls the autonomic nervous system, reducing heart rate, respiration,
temperature, blood pressure, anxiety, and stress. It may also lessen
pain.
The meditation process induces
a deep state of relaxation...
Co-meditation has been performed for centuries by Tibetan priests and
physicians to clear and quiet the minds of dying lamas. Through
"cross-breathing" the lamas easily enter a meditative state which calms the
terror and stops the racing mind that so often accompany illness and death. The
use of the co-meditation process in hospices and palliative care units has
allowed patients and loved ones to maintain "clear mind and peaceful heart"
through the life-death transition.
Breath-Mind Connection
This ancient and profound procedure requires no belief system or previous
experience. It is offered as a deep physical and psychological relaxation
practice prior to and during the dying process. Adapted from an authentic
medical procedure, the method can be used by anyone, sick or healthy, who wants
to slow down their spinning mind and achieve serenity.
How It's Done
Co-meditation begins with traditional relaxation exercises, starting with
the toes and continuing upward to the top of the head. The patient lies
comfortably with the eyes closed; he or she simply listens and breathes. After
the meditator (or patient) becomes deeply calmed, the co-meditator (or guide)
recites a soothing phrase or word or a mantra chosen by the meditator, on each
exhale. Following a guide's voice helps avoid outside distractions allowing the
meditator to reach a deep meditative state very quickly. The process slows
respiration and pulse rate, lowers body temperature and blood pressure, releases
anxiety and reduces pain. The effects of a co-meditation session can last hours
or days and doesn't require a trained professional. An added benefit is that it
allows the caregiver — family member or friend — to feel useful during the
difficult period leading into death.
How It Helps
Hulen Kornfeld, R.N., director of the Learning Center for Supportive Care
in Lincoln, MA, uses co-meditation in special instances. For example, an older
woman she was treating became terrified of an upcoming angiogram because she had
once gone into cardiac arrest during a similar procedure. Kornfeld used
co-meditation to calm the woman, and when she was in a deep meditative state,
she had her visualize a problem-free test and full recovery. After the
procedure, her patient said, "What wonderful thing did you do for me? I wasn't
frightened at all." Another patient, who was dying, had terrifying nightmares
that disturbed his sleep — he literally saw himself in the grave, hounded by
demons. During co-meditation she led him through a visualization where he went
into the dream and towards a light where, Kornfeld assured him, he would be
safe. He slept, uninterrupted, for six hours.
Mary Bosley, board member of the Cape Cod AIDS Council and chairperson of
its Mental Health Services Committee, has seen how co-meditation helps clients
and families. "Co-meditation has proved to be a very powerful tool in recovery.
It has gotten patients and families through some of the times that everyone with
this disease faces."
Dying In Peace
Through his work at the First Unitarian Congregation in Toronto, Richard
Martin teaches meditation and helps those who are terminally ill. He first used
co-meditation with his wife, who died of cancer in 1987. Her death, he says, was
very peaceful. "Co-meditation introduces a state of bliss and euphoria before
death occurs. Like a road map of the ultimate journey, it shows you where you
are going. It has been used for countless generations in Tibet to eliminate the
fear of death. When you're no longer afraid, you can release and let go
peacefully."
Physiologically, Martin explained, co-meditation is helpful because it
reduces the need for oxygen.
"In the last stages of dying, the lungs often fill up and the person dies
of congestive heart failure," he said. "The meditation process induces a deep
state of relaxation, slowing oxygen requirements. It is a way to die in peace,
joy, harmony, and dignity, without drugs or euthanasia. It is the most loving
gift you can give to anyone."
 Recommended book:
"Meditations - Creative Visualizations &
Meditation Exercises to Enrich Your life"
by Shakti Gawain.
Info/Purchase the book
About the Author
Olivia H. Miller, owner of OhmWorks, Inc., has been a freelance feature writer since
1983, focusing on issues dealing with alternative ways to maintain our physical, emotional and
spiritual health both individually and in our primary relationships. She has interviewed healers, writers and educators such as
Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Joan Borysenko, and Rabbi Harold Kushner. Her articles have appeared in
numerous publications including the Boston Globe, Boston Woman, Cape Cod Times, Cape Women, New
Age Journal, Spirit of Change and Yoga Journal. Olivia has been a student of yoga for over 25
years. The above
was an adaptation of her original article, first published in "The Quest
Magazine", 1991. Olivia can be reached at: 115 Blue Rock Road, South Yarmouth,
MA 02664. Visit her website at www.ohmworks.com
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