Can Meditation Help New Yorkers Deal With Crazy People?

Feb. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- When Dr. Antonia Martinez was answering questions about the meditation class she’ll be teaching at City College starting March 15, she was asked, “Can meditation help me deal with crazy people?”  The question was no joke.

“Crazy” people are part of the human experience, and apparently, they’re really getting on New Yorkers’ nerves, who are finding it hard to cope through willpower or attitude changes. According to a “Stress in America: Mind/Body Health” report published by the American Psychological Association (APA), New Yorkers struggle more than other Americans (32 percent vs. 27 percent nationally) to make the lifestyle and behavior changes that they feel they most need.  Their #1 goal was better relationships; #2 was managing stress.  What better parameters define the challenges of dealing with crazy people in your life?  So it didn’t surprise Dr. M that this was the theme of the day from prospective students.

“They may be crazy,” she replied to one lady who was getting fed up with some of her business clients’ attitudes “but that doesn’t mean you have to be.” One of the benefits of meditation is the ability to stay centered, in your peace and on your focus, even though people around you are doing things that make no sense, says Dr. M. “When you meditate, you can get a much clearer idea of how to interact with those people effectively without becoming negatively affected by their behavior yourself.”

Two days later, she had a similar conversation with a couple asking if meditation would help their rocky relationship. “Definitely,” she said. “Meditation can not only evolve the way a couple interacts, but it can help each person to gain a deeper understanding of who and how they are in the relationship, how this affects the quality and direction of the relationship, and what to do to organically grow the relationship.”  Relationship skills, she points out, require as much understanding of oneself as of the other person.  Meditation can be a powerful tool for gaining better self-understanding and transforming a relationship over time.

There’s a growing wave of interest in meditation among New Yorkers, as reflected by an explosion of meditation Meetups in NYC to a count of nearly 500, an influx of mass meditation events like the “I Meditate NY” launch event attended by 2,700, and an increase in corporate meditation programs at companies like Google, Yahoo!, and Martha Stewart as reported recently in the New York Post.

In response to this growing hunger for meditation programs, the City College of New York will offer its first-ever meditation course on Thursdays from March 15 through May 17, from 6:30 pm to 9:00pm. But participants can expect to go beyond the usually touted benefits of stress management, relaxation, and mental focus, and look forward to also achieving personal breakthroughs in their relationships, their degree of will power, and in other life areas.  

The course will be instructed by transformational author and meditation expert, Dr. Antonia Martinez, PhD, a NYC resident and Director of Healing Spirit, http://www.healingspirit.com/, who also created the Meditation Instructors Training program for the Inner Life Society. Prospective students can register for the meditation program by calling The City College of New York Continuing and Professional Studies office at 212-650-7312 or by visiting the Web site at http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/prospective/ace/courses/Persona....

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Antonia “Dr. M” Martinez, PhD—The Inner Power Doctor—has a way of provoking the kinds of conversations, interactions, and internal insights that open people up to an undiscovered path of personal evolution. Known for her innovative approaches to conscious life and relationship transformation for professionals, managers and entrepreneurs, Dr. M’s work in the field of achieving breakthroughs has been described as ground breaking. She empowers people to heal, grow and transform from the inside out in areas where they have been chronically challenged, stuck, stagnant or stifled. The author of several transformational books, games, and educational programs, including the Inner Power Workbook and the Next Step Deck for alchemical goal achievement, Dr. M teaches the Meditation program at the City College of New York.