Wellness Corner 30: Greco-Roman Meditation

Hey Falcons,

I have a mini history lesson for you this week. I promise I’ll keep it interesting. 

When we consider the origin of meditation, places that come to mind include India, Japan, and China, home to yoga, Shaolin meditation, and Zen meditation, respectively. But did you know meditation has a storied history in the West? In fact, the ancient Greeks and Romans practiced something similar to yoga. In Ancient Rome, a type of dynamic visualization meditation was taught to Caesar Gallienus, who ruled from 253 to 268 AD, and his wife Cornelia. The technique was recorded in the Enneads, a book written by prominent spiritual master Plotinus, who taught the emperor and empress and many senators. In southern Europe 2,000 years ago, many people strived for the deepest state of meditation, called henosis or “one-pointed awareness.” People learned how to achieve henosis at the Platonic Academy in Athens, or the great university in Alexandria, Egypt. In these same places, great scientific breakthroughs were happening alongside spiritual endeavors. The Greeks were seen as some of the most adept thinkers in this field, and many thinkers published their work on spirituality and earned great acclaim. For example, Empedocles believed it was key for humans to reclaim our divine awareness of our inner selves, lost when we grew too attached to the mortal world and our body. 
Didn’t know that, did you? You know what came from the Romans, too? The phrase “carpe diem.” So go seize the day, and “slay” the bout of pre-Thanksgiving break assessments this week!

Stay well,

Eshaan