Meditation for Emotional Stability

Q: "Can meditation be used to create a balance between being depressed and being frantic? There are times when I can't do anything, and then there are times when I must do everything. I'm looking for the time in between, but I can't seem to find it. When I'm depressed, it's hard to get myself to meditate, and when I'm frantic, I don't have the time to sit still. Yet I know these periods are of my own making, and I think I could make my time go better if I had some technique."

A: Recent research by Dr. Jack Pettigrew, a neuroscientist, on these emotional swings and the corresponding part of the brain shows a link to the brain's hemispheres. The right hemisphere is associated with depression, the left hemisphere with mania. Normally, the hemisphere dominance switches back and forth beween the two, and so each tempers and complements the other, producing a balanced life.

A simple visual test for which hemisphere is dominant is to place two grids of parallel lines on the table before you, with the lines going horizontally on the left side and vertically on the right. Then place a piece of cardboard between your eyes so that each eye can see only one grid, not both. If you could see both grids at once, the brain would mentally produce squares. But with the cardboard preventing binocular vision, you are going to see one grid predominately. If the grid on the left is dominating, that indicates right hemisphere dominance, and vice-versa. Normally, you will switch between left and right hemisphere dominance every few minutes.

In people who get depressed, or frantic, the hemisphere dominance is stuck; it doesn't switch. The researchers found they could force a switch by pouring icewater in the person's ear. Icewater in the left ear forced the brain to switch to right hemisphere dominance, and vice-versa.

 Meditators have reported a difference in the left and right sides for at least a thousand years. Just by their breath they could switch between left and right energy. An ancient Yoga practice called Pranayama does just that. The principle is that breathing through the left nostril makes the right hemisphere dominant; breathing through the right nostril makes the left hemisphere dominant. So the meditation practice for achieving balance is alternate-nostril breathing, which works by switching the hemisphere dominance back and forth, building up a facility that continues through the day to prevent hemisphere "stickiness."

Here's how you do this meditation: Hold your hand to your nose so that by pushing on the side of a nostril with your thumb or finger you can easily block one nostril or the other. Breathe all the way out. Then block the right nostril and breathe in only through the left for 6 counts. Hold the breath for 12 counts, then breathe out through the right nostril for 6 counts. Do that three times, then reverse: breathe in through your right nostril, hold the breath, and breathe out through the left, for the 6-12-6 count. Do that three times. Finally, breathe in and out through both nostrils three times, for the same 6-12-6 count. Do that every morning. After 30 days, your two extremes should be more integrated and your life more balanced.

A fine point on the instructions is to use two hands: place your right thumb under your chin, your right index finger on your right nostril. Place your left hand over your right hand, with your left thumb against your left nostril. Now the hands support each other, making it less strenuous, and you can easily block your nostrils using your left thumb or your right index.

By Puran Bair, author of "Living from the Heart" (Random House, 1998)
© 1998 by The Institute for Applied Meditation, Inc.
Send your questions about meditation to: Email IAM.