How to sit with someone suicidal

How to sit with someone who is suicidal?

Understand that their longing for death is really their longing for Home. This is a spiritual crisis, not merely a medical one. They are trying to awaken from a nightmare.

Understand that they cannot kill the Self, the One that they are, they can only kill the 'self', the one they have imagined themselves to be. Their longing to 'kill the self' is their longing to destroy the false, and awaken to Truth. Their longing to die has intelligence and creativity to it, and is worthy of respect. It is not a mistake, aberration or enemy, it is a yearning for authenticity.

Hold them, embrace them, as the urge to die - which is the urge to live in disguise - burns fiercely in them. Validate the place where they are right now. Don't try to control them or stop them feeling what they are feeling. Don't try to cheer them up or tell them that everything is really okay, or give them pre-packaged answers as a way to escape your own discomfort. They are sick of second hand answers! Go to the depths with them. Meet them in their aloneness without trying to fix them, without even trying to convince them that their desire to die is wrong, sick or invalid. Hold their hand. Go where nobody else has dared to go. Remember, you are only meeting yourself, meeting your own fear of death.

Don't speak to them as healer to victim, or as teacher to student, or as expert to novice, but as friend to friend, as intelligence to itself. Meet them beyond the divisive roles.

They are going through a profound crisis of identity, an essential rite of passage. Healing always involves crisis - sudden and unexpected change. Something in them, some ancient pain, longs to be felt, touched, validated. This is a cry for love as old as humanity. Who will listen?

They long to live, but don't know how. They long for intimate connection but can't find it in 'this life'. They long for deep acceptance and profound rest. Even though right now they feel like leaving, touch them with life, show your willingness to stay. Remind them that deep human connection is possible here, in this life, in this moment, in this place. Show them that even in the depths of their despair, they are not alone.

Be present at their crisis. Your presence says more than words ever could. Your fear is not necessary here. You are witnessing something sacred and intimate. Offer all of yourself.

Perhaps you don't need to know how to fix or save them. Perhaps that is not your true calling. Whether they will live or die, meet them now in that strange place of not knowing. Spend a conscious moment with them. Offer your deep listening. Remember, whether they stay or go, they are healing in the only way they know how. 

All of them are beloved, all of them are worthy."

- Jeff Foster.

100 benefits of meditation

100 Benefits of Meditation

Physiological benefits: 1. It lowers oxygen consumption. 2. It decreases respiratory rate . 3. It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate. 4. Increases exercise tolerance. 5. Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation. 6. Good for people with high blood pressure . 7. Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate. 8. Decreases muscle tension 9. Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc. 10. Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms. 11. Helps in post-operative healing. 12. Enhances the immune system. 13. Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress 14. Enhances energy, strength and vigour. 15. Helps with weight loss 16. Reduction of free radicals , less tissue damage 17. Higher skin resistance 18. Drop in cholesterol levels , lowers risk of cardiovascular disease. 19. Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. 20. Decreases the aging process. 21. Higher levels of DHEAS ( Dehydroepiandrosterone ) 22. Prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases 23. Makes you sweat less 24. Cure headaches & migraines 25. Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning 26. Reduced Need for Medical Care 27. Less energy wasted 28. More inclined to sports, activities 29. Significant relief from asthma 30. Improved performance in athletic events 31. Normalizes to your ideal weight 32. Harmonizes our endocrine system 33. Relaxes our nervous system 34. Produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity 35. Helps cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation). Psychological benefits: 36. Builds self-confidence. 37. Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour. 38. Resolve phobias & fears 39. Helps control own thoughts 40. Helps with focus & concentration 41. Increase creativity 42. Increased brain wave coherence. 43. Improved learning ability and memory. 44. Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation. 45. Increased emotional stability. 46. improved relationships 47. Mind ages at slower rate 48. Easier to remove bad habits 49. Develops intuition 50. Increased Productivity 51. Improved relations at home & at work 52. Able to see the larger picture in a given situation 53. Helps ignore petty issues 54. Increased ability to solve complex problems 55. Purifies your character 56. Develop will power 57. Greater communication between the two brain hemispheres 58. Respond more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event. 59. increases ones perceptual ability and motor performance 60. Higher intelligence growth rate 61. Increased job satisfaction 62. Increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones 63. Decrease in potential mental illness 64. Better, more sociable behaviour 65. Less aggressiveness 66. Helps in quitting smoking , alcohol addiction 67. Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals 68. Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation 69. Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia 70. Increases sense of responsibility 71. Reduces road rage 72. Decrease in restless thinking 73. Decreased tendency to worry 74. Increases listening skills and empathy 75. Helps make more accurate judgments 76. Greater tolerance 77. Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways 78. Grows a stable, more balanced personality 79. Develops emotional maturity Spiritual benefits: 80. Helps keep things in perspective 81. Provides peace of mind, happiness 82. Helps you discover your purpose in life 83. Increased self-actualization. 84. Increased compassion 85. Growing wisdom 86. Deeper understanding of yourself and others 87. Brings body, mind, and spirit in harmony 88. Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation 89. Increased acceptance of one self 90. Helps learn forgiveness 91. Changes attitude toward life 92. Creates a deeper relationship with your God 93. Increases the synchronicity in your life 94. Greater inner-directedness 95. Helps living in the present moment 96. Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love 97. Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego 98. Experience an inner sense of Assurance or Knowingness 99. Experience a sense of Oneness 100. Leads to enlightenment