Ainslie Meares - Method

Method

Meares' method included learning physical relaxation, which progressed on to emptying the mind and mental stillness: "This type of meditation is characterized by extreme simplicity and stillness of the mind, and so differs from other forms of relaxation, meditation, or auto-hypnosis that employ the use of a mantra, awareness of breathing or visualization of the healing process".

This approach to meditation reduced it to the most simple essence, which was termed both atavistic regression and mental ataraxis by Meares; that is, in contrast with the far more conventional approaches to meditation involving mechanics such as watching objects, using mantras, reflecting on spiritual concepts or other thought frameworks involving willpower.

In essence the principal difference between Meares' approach and others was his stress on initially attaining deep physical relaxation whilst enduring minor discomfort, such as lying on the floor with a small object under one's back, or sitting upright on a wooden stool with one's back unsupported. The transcendence of this discomfort would then allow a much deeper mental relaxation and mental stillness to develop as the practice progressed, rather than if one just relaxes lying on a soft bed or lying back on a comfortable armchair. One of the unusual features of his teaching process was that he often demanded that those learning his techniques would sit in uncomfortable configurations and, at the same time, he would usually have the windows of his Spring Street rooms open so that the noise of the busy city, and especially the sound of the trams passing by, would emphasize that the student's goal was to gain an inner stillness despite the external tensions.

Meares described his method as follows:

"Our sensory input derives from sources in the environment, in our body and in the mind itself. When the sensory input reaches a critical level it is incompletely integrated, and anxiety results. A logical understanding of the cause of anxiety has no therapeutic effect. But the mind itself has the ability to reduce anxiety if suitable circumstances are provided. This can be quite easily achieved in the stillness of mind induced in a simple meditative experience known as Mental Ataraxis. The patient is first shown complete physical relaxation in global fashion. He is then brought to experience the relaxation as part of his whole being so that his mind fully participates in the process. He practises this, starting in a position of slight discomfort which eases as the meditative experience develops. The approach does not involve the patient in doing less work. The lessening of anxiety reduces nervous tension, psychosomatic disorders and defensive distortions of the personality."

Meares' method was radical in its non-aligned and non-religious reductive approach. As well, it was a pioneering drug-free alternative to health and as well as being non-chemical it was non-mechanical. For Meares, "The key to our management of stress lies in those moments when our brain runs quietly in a way that restores harmony of function..." (Life Without Stress).

In Life Without Stress he describes it this way, "In the meditation that I would advise you to practise there is no striving, no activity of brain function, just quietness, a stillness of effortless tranquility." For him, brain function meant the brain was engaged even when using classical ways of attention to the breath, visualisation or counting.

The letting-go approach encourages achieving stillness by simply letting go thoughts when they arise. By inviting stillness, at first in fragments, stillness increases until it becomes a continuous flow. He stressed the importance of being uncritical of oneself, and of not assessing the process. Meares used the term "just being" rather than being about something or otherwise engaging the mind, "We are seeking a form of relaxation which arises in the brain itself..."

In an undramatic way, he encouraged the meditator to just let the mind be still for anything from a mere ten minutes a day. By allowing the mind to "rest" the meditation would affect the flow in other areas of the body, the mind and in functioning in the outer world.