Dearest: My guest tonight, VICTOR DAVICH, has been a meditator for over 20 
years. He has studied with some of America's foremost meditation  teachers. 
His first book, "The Best Guide to Meditation" was a Book of the Month Club 
Main Selection and is published worldwide in  four languages.  Victor is the 
creator of "8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life," the 
revolutionary new program that  TIME Magazine calls "The most American form
of meditation yet."

His program is contained in his just published book and companion  "8 Minute 
Meditation Guided CD" which contains introductory  materials and timed guided 
meditations of the 8 techniques contained in your 8 Minute Meditation book.

Victor has worked both as a copywriter and attorney for major advertising 
agencies and motion picture studios. He has also written  many movie marketing 
campaigns, co-produced the feature film, The Brain, created the NBC primetime 
TV series, Nasty Boys, and  authored five screenplays. Victor teaches his 8 
Minute Meditation program to individuals, religious organizations, professional 
and  healthcare groups, and corporations. His Web site is: www.8minutes.org

Victor, it's a pleasure to welcome you to Power Surge :)


Victor Davich: Thanks Dearest. I feel like the first co-ed at Vassar!


Dearest: Victor, do you believe everyone should learn and spend time meditating 
every day?  


Victor Davich: It's good to have a meditation practice in your life.  And it's 
easy. What I tell people is to chose the same time everyday. Most people find 
early morning the best for them, others find the evening just before bed.  
Others do it during lunch breaks. I say "make a steady date with meditation",
I mean the same time every day.


Dearest: Victor, do you recommend using both the both the book and CD to 
properly learn your 8 minute meditation program?


Victor Davich: You can use just the book.  But the Cd makes it even easier.  
YOU just push the PLAY button on your CD player, and I take you through your
8 minute meditation.


Dearest: Why are some people resistant to meditation? 


Victor Davich: Everyone says they would love to meditate, but...
Those "buts" usually center around not having the time or thinking that 
meditation is too complicated, exotic, or religious.


MaryBeth: Hello, you answered my question I think - just wanted to ask if 
meditation or self hypnosis is easy to master or if it takes loads of 
practice,Thanks!


Victor Davich: I can't speak about hypnosis, so let me confine this to 
meditation.  Meditation the 8 Minute way is easy, simple, and enjoyable.
Time Magazine calls it "the most American form of meditation yet.."  

You need no prior experience. You don't need a guru, or even think you need
to be "spiritual".


MaryBeth: cant wait to try it, will be checking out your book and cd, Thank 
you, Victor!


LoOnEy-RiA: I find it very tough to meditate when I'm having a panic attack, 
any suggestions?


Victor Davich: Yes. Take some long deep breaths. This will help settle and 
connect you with your body. Once you feel that connection, begin to observe 
your breathing.  This is Week One of the 8MM program.


BronxBobby: Why did you start meditating and did someone give you the idea to 
start or did you start just on your own?


Victor Davich: I started meditating when I was in law school. The pressure
as intense and the tranquilizers didn't work.  By sheer accident, an alumni
of the law school came down one day and talked about meditation. I went down
to the local Transcendental Meditation center and was instructed in meditation.  

I began with 20 minutes, twice a day. Sounds like a lot and it is.  But being
a law student, you learn to sit on your tush.  I immediately found a feeling
of peace that I had never experienced.  That was in 1975.  and I've been 
meditating every day since then.


Dearest: Victor, I was wondering if we could try something. I realize all
we have in this chat room is the written word, but is there a way you can
walk us through the beginning of the meditation process - something we can
all participate in during the chat?  You know, TALK us through it?


Victor Davich: Sure, let me give you the instructions from my book.


Dearest: Course, I've listened to the CD already :)


Victor Davich: First, establish a level playing field for your 8 minute meditation.
Shut off the phone, TV, radio.  Find some privacy.
Sit straight on a regular chair.  Find a posture that is both relaxed
and alert.
Feel the connection between your feet and the floor.
Now, you begin to meditate.

There are 8 different techniques in the book.  You follow the simple 
instructions for each of them for one week, and then move on to the next one. 
Week One is called Just One Breath.

All that you have to do is to find the place in your body where you feel
your breath the most. Then you just pay attention to that place.  If you
become distracted by thoughts and body sensations, and everyone does, you 
simply return your awareness to your breath. At the end of 8 minutes, your 
timer rings, or you hear the gong on the CD.

And that's it. your done for the day.  Unless of course you want to do more.


Dearest: That's great. Thank you. I must tell everyone, though, that the book 
and the tape go into much more detail. I was so relaxed after listening to the 
tape, I fell asleep (is that okay?)


Victor Davich: Sure. When you meditate, everything that happens is perfectly 
fine. And when you wake up from your snooze, you just set your timer for 8 
minutes and meditate.


MissSuzy0928: Has meditation been proven to reduce stress levels for those, 
like me, who are addicted to adrenaline and can't seem to let go of stress?  
Anti depressants AREN'T WORKING. Thank You!


Victor Davich: There is much evidence that mediation has physiological 
influences on the boy in a positive way. One of those is a decrease in
cortisol secretion, which is one of the stress hormones. So yes, meditation 
will definitely help your stress level.  

As far as anti-depressants go, some people who meditate need to take them
as well. What I would love you to do is to just try and meditate. The best
way you can find out about how meditation lowers stress is to do it.


Dearest: As one who overproduces adrenalin and lives with a LOT of stress,
I can honestly tell you that meditation is incredible - providing you let
it work. I can't tell you how relaxing the 8 Minute Meditation Guided CD
is that goes with Victor's book.

Thanks for writing the book Victor, and for making the CD. They're wonderful.


IsabellaMacpherson: Hi Victor.  How do I shut off the chatter in my head long 
enough to meditate.  Meditation scares me somewhat! It makes me more nervous 
just to listen to my body. 


Victor Davich: Yes, this is a great question and it's the most frequent 
question that people ask.

Let's look at both parts of it.  The good news with meditation is that you 
don't have to shut off the chatter in your head.  When you meditate, you build 
the ability to go "upstream from thought".  What I mean by that is that you can 
watch your wild mind chatter without being involved in it.  It's a skill that 
you develop, just like baking or skiing.  And it comes slowly--and surely.  
This is one of the reasons that meditation offers peace to so many people.
You hear the same old thoughts over and over again and then one day, you hear 
them, and you just let them roll by--like clouds in an open sky.


Dearest: Also, if I might add something, when you start to meditate you're 
going to become more aware of your body's sensations, but if you go with the 
flow, those sensations will be replaced with relaxation. Do you agree, Victor?


Victor Davich: Absolutely Dearest.  One of the weeks in 8 Minute Meditation
is called Noting Body Sensations.  I liken it to that old Raquel Welsh movie, 
Fantastic Voyage.  You get to take a journey through your own body and when
you do this skillfully with meditation.  You begin to see that a lot of things 
that you thought scary about your sensations and emotions have no power at all.


Dearest: I think you have to resign yourself to allowing yourself to feel 
whatever you're going to feel and you'll be successful. If you keep fighting 
it, like a panic attack, it will only become more prevalent and sabotage what 
you're trying to do.


Candies123: What does meditation encompass and can it reduce palps?


Victor Davich: I say that meditation is "allowing what is".  The good, the bad, 
and the ugly. Funnily enough, when you allow everything even the bad and the 
ugly lose their "charge".


Dearest: Exactly.


Victor Davich: I'm not sure what those are.


Dearest: Heart palpitations


Victor Davich: Like in a panic attack?


Dearest: It's when the heart beats very rapidly. You can have them without
a panic attack.


Victor Davich: Meditation can help you be more aware of what exactly is 
happening. Once you begin to observe a physical sensation, you can let go
of a lot of ideas that surround it. You can also let go of thoughts that 
surround it.  Sometimes, the sensation then "releases'" itself.  Try it
next time it happens. Bring awareness to your heart.  Observe exactly what
is going on.  Try and allow the sensation to do it's dance.  You might be 
surprised.


Kates: How can meditation help during menopause, specifically? Hope this isn't 
too broad a question!


Victor Davich: This is a wonderful question and I've been thinking about it 
ever since Dearest asked me to join you. As a man, I of course, will not 
experience the same physical changes that you do. But as a human being, I will.

I look at it this way. Menopause is a transition.  A major life transition.
It is challenging, it can be painful, and it can also be empowering.  One of 
the fundamental underpinnings of the meditative tradition is the concept of 
impermanence, that nothing ever stays the same.  That the world, and everyone 
and everything in it is in a state of constant flux. 

So in a way, meditation might be thought of as the perfect tool for menopause.  
It is a tool that is designed to enable and empower someone to deal with change 
and to transmute that change into freedom. Perhaps we might posit that you all 
may have an advantage in that you seem highly conscious and aware of the change 
that is happening in your bodies and minds.

Perhaps the gentle yet powerful practice of meditation can provide you with 
tool to enhance an understanding of this very human fact of life--and convert 
it into peace.


Dearest: If I can be more specific about the menopause issue -- meditation can 
lower your blood pressure, reduce or eliminate anxiety, stress, depression, 
ease your hot flashes, panic attacks, palpitations - and many of the symptoms 
associated with menopause - except, perhaps, for vaginal dryness (that's 
another chat).

Thanks for your beautiful answer, Victor.


EtherBunny: I've tried repeatedly to meditate, but my mind wanders all over the 
place.  I wind up thinking about things I have to do, not at all relaxing!  Any 
helpful hints?


Victor Davich: Yes. Allow all those thoughts to arise and for just 8 minutes 
decide you will do nothing but watch them arise.


Smbjmc: I find the music on some meditation CDs to be distracting.  Do you use 
music on your CD, and if so, what kind? Thank you.  


Victor Davich: No music.  I say "make yourself the most level playing field".  
That means make your environment as quiet and peaceful as possible.


Smbjmc: Thank you.


TCB: Hello Victor, please forgive if this has been asked earlier. If meditation 
also works to be more aware of body sensations, is it safe to assume that this 
would also be a viable way to overcome anxiety in sexual dysfunction issues, 
and if so, do you specifically address ways in which to do this in your book? 


Victor Davich: Excellent question.  I don't specifically address sexual 
dysfunction in my book.  But I definitely talk about anxiety.  And meditation, 
for me, and countless others. Helps reduce fear and anxiety.  Again, I urge 
everyone to just try it.  It's only 8 minutes.  It could be the beginning of 
significant change in your life.


Dearest: Would you then recommend meditating before sex for someone who has 
anxiety issues with sex?


Victor Davich: Sure.  As my grandmother used to say about chicken soup  "It 
couldn't hurt." And it might help.


Dearest: Reminds me of the days we used to excuse ourselves to put in our 
diaphragm - now we can excuse ourselves to meditate before having sex. LOL.


Victor Davich: But don't take too long.


Dearest: Sorry. The devil made me do it. No, of course not. I'll hurry. LOL 8 
minutes!


Victor Davich: Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder.


IsabellaMacpherson: Don't tease, how do I know I am actually meditating?


Victor Davich: How do you know if you're meditating?  Great question.  You know 
you are meditating when you are doing your best to follow your current 
meditation technique when you are being as present, as relaxed and as alert
as you can be in this moment.


AverageWoman: Can fear or paranoia enter your mind during mediation?  And,
if so, what do you do?


Victor Davich: These are all superb questions and indicate a good 
understanding.  When we meditate, all kinds of things can arise and some
of them can be ugly and scary.  This is only natural, because these thoughts 
arise all the time, even when you're not meditating. 

The good news is that if you are meditating you can really take a look at that 
paranoid or fearful thought.  You can begin to look at it as "just a thought".  
What then happens, is that the thought loses it's "charge".  It's like you've 
defused a time bomb.  You see that fear is really being afraid.  

And what is afraid?  It's a set of images, body sensations, and thoughts.  
Usually a pattern you've been using for decades.  Once you see this, it
can open you to your own ability to change it.


Dearest: Victor, let's say a menopausal woman is suffering with severe anxiety, 
really severe,should she take a different approach to your meditation?


Victor Davich: I'm not quite sure of the question but let me say this.  
Everyone brings him or her self into whatever they do.  We are all different 
creatures with different conditioning, genetics, and life experience.  

Whether you are a woman in menopause or a man with ED, meditation can help.  
The techniques I have learned over 20 years and convey to you in my book are 
tried and true.  They have been "field tested" by  millions of people over 
thousands of year.  

So I say, just follow the program.  It works.


Darlene23: Do you offer any kind of meditation workshops or training?


Victor Davich: Thanks Darlene.  I have given 8 minute meditation workshops out 
here in Los Angeles.  And when I do a book signing event, I make sure 8 Minute 
Meditation instruction is included.  I am currently exploring several venues 
for 8MM.  These include working with some large research hospitals and private 
corporations.


TlsJws2: Victor, what is the basic difference between meditation and hypnosis?


Victor Davich: Good question.  I don't know that much about hypnosis, but I can 
tell you this.  Meditation is about being relaxed and alert, at the same time.  
Whereas hypnosis, usually leans heavily on the relaxed part.  

Also, without getting too scientific about it, the brain wave patterns of 
subjects under hypnosis and meditating are different.  Actually, the mediator's 
brain produces more theta waves which are regarded by some as the most powerful 
brain waves vis a vis relaxation.


MissSuzy0928: I have suffered with Panic attacks my entire life, which they 
call Anxiety Disorder now a days.  I believe my body has sort of become 
accustomed & dependant to this feeling of panic and adrenaline.   Do you
think it would be more helpful to meditate more than once a day? Is 8 minutes 
enough to make a difference?  Thank you!


Victor Davich: Another great question.  I think it's true that the body becomes 
accustomed to anything that we "feed" it.  With meditation, you stop feeding 
this "pain-body".  While you are only meditating 8 minutes a day your 
meditation starts to "build up".  Not only when you're meditating, but when
you are just going about your life.  To really experience the benefits of 
meditation, just start where you are.  

I chose 8 minutes a day because it's doable.  It's the space between 2 TV 
commercials.  If you can watch 8 Minutes of CSI, you can meditate.  Part 3 of 
my book is called The Upgrade. It gives you a "training schedule" for adding on 
minutes and additional meditation periods.

But I say, start easy.  Be kind too yourself.  Don't expect miracles.  You 
didn't get to where you were overnight.  Don't expect meditation to instantly 
change things.


Dearest: MissSuzy, I'm very familiar with anxiety - I live with it every day. 
The 8 minute tape has helped me tremendously.


Kathy46MO: I have a very high stress job that definitely has taken it's toll on 
my both physically and mentally. Although I'm doing much better now at handling 
the stress with exercise and eating right, I still feel like there are days I'm 
going to explode like the Marshmallow Man in Ghost Busters. Do you have a tape 
that I can listen to while working that will relax me?


Victor Davich: We all live with anxiety every day.


Dearest: Yes, we do.  Some more than others, though.


Victor Davich: The 8MM Guided CD is designed to guide you through your daily 
mediation.  As far as listening at work.  You might just go off to a quiet spot 
and use the CD to meditate.


IsabellaMacpherson: What can I hope to achieve by meditating.


Victor Davich: This is a wonderful question to end on.  Speaking for myself,
I can truthfully say. That the practice of meditation changed my life, for the 
better.  And maybe "achieve" is not the way to think of it.  What meditation 
can do is allow you to see, once and for all, who you really are.  Not the 
person you think you are.  But who you truly are. And this clear seeing is 
nothing short of a miracle.  The real deal.  Not some mystical-shymistical 
thing you read about or saw on TV.  And the amazing part is that all you have 
to do is have the willingness to sit still for a little while. 

In meditation we say: Don't just do something.  Sit there.  And that inversion 
of the way we usually run our lives is the seed for change, freedom, and peace.  
'Nuf said.


Dearest: Victor, thank you for joining us in Power Surge tonight to discuss 
your 8 minute meditation program.  I've read Victor's book, "8 Minute  
Meditation:  Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life" and listened to the companion 
tape and highly recommend them to anyone who needs to de-stress. You can 
purchase the book and tape on Victor's Web site at: www.8minutes.org.  




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Dearest
aka Alice Stamm
Power Surge
Founder, Facilitator, Host


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