The Meditation Initiative - Newsletter #1

The Meditation Initiative - Newsletter #1

Meditation and Dealing with Death

After meditation yesterday I was approached by an 88 year old man. He said he was married for 66 years and his wife passed away a few months ago. He said his meditation practice has helped him deal with the loss of his wife.

These stories motivate TMI to continue our effort to provide meditation for free to the San Diego Community.

Meditation Lowers Blood Pressure - Story from Zev

The following is a letter received from Mr. Zev Marcovitz, a man in his sixties who attended a stress reduction workshop, led by The Meditation Initiative at Jewish Family Services in San Diego.

Hi Jeff,
I’d like to share with you an event that I experienced lately. About 2 weeks ago I went to donate blood at the Oceanside Blood Bank. One of the things that they check prior to donating blood is blood pressure, well, to my great disappointment and disbelief, not only that my blood pressure was very high, it actually exceeded the limit allowed to be able to donate blood. The nurse suggested that I sit in the lobby for 10-15 minutes, and than she would recheck my blood pressure to see if there was an improvement. While sitting in the lobby, trying to relax, I exercised some of the techniques you introduced in your workshop “Stress Reduction” at Jewish Family Services in San Diego. After about 15 minutes I was called back in to recheck my blood pressure. Well, I was surprised and delighted to find out that my blood pressure was significantly lower this time, (the nurse thought that the equipment malfunctioned), and I was allowed to proceed with donating blood. I continue to practice meditation almost on a daily basis, and I feel more relaxed and not stressed out as before. So thank you Jeff for the great workshop. Hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to continue leading meditation so other people will benefit as well.

Thanks,
Zev Marcovitz