Words of Relaxation Trivia Quiz

Answer: Acceptance

In our everyday lives, to accept something often just means to take it on. You gain a position, win an election, or assume a new role, then you agree to do it. Or perhaps you are granted an award or prize, and you express your gratitude in accepting the accolade.

In the context of meditation, acceptance can be a broad, overarching spiritual state of being. It means coming to a place of enough peace with the reality of the present moment that you can act sensibly, with purpose, toward a positive end, knowing that change is constant and ongoing. Lack of acceptance can mean frustration and inner turmoil, the state from which unsound decisions and actions often arise.

Answer: Serenity

The prayer has achieved pervasive status, if not ubiquity, primarily from being recited at the conclusion of many meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 Step groups. The short version goes as follows: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." American theologian Reinhold Niehbuhr (1872-1971) composed it in the early 1930s. Around that time and in subsequent decades, he continued being a leading and respected authority on how religion and theology affect politics and public policy.

He taught at Princeton University, spoke often in public, and wrote several highly influential books on the subject, including "The Nature and Destiny of Man" and "The Irony of American History," works which have been referenced by both John McCain and Barack Obama as informing their ideas.

Answer: Calm

In meteorology, calm is scientifically defined as a wind force of zero on the Beaufort scale, which is less than one knot (nautical mile) per hour. When describing a calm sea or lake, it means one without noticeable waves. It's the opposite of agitation, and the route to it starts with stillness and quiet. "calm.com" (is the "L" silent?) defines itself as "the number one app for sleep and meditation." I usually don't need an app to get to sleep, but, all together now...whatever works for *you*!

Answer: Easy Does It

"Easy does it" is another phrase linked to the burgeoning recovery movement in the United States and other countries. The meaning is self-evident and the benefits obvious. Who hasn't mucked something up by jumping in too fast, or created some havoc by "coming out swinging?" How much better to pause and consider before acting, to think before opening one's mouth, to wait and count to ten before "shooting from the hip." Restraint of tongue and pen, and (especially in this day and age) rereading before hitting "send," can save us a lot of heartache. Of course, for procrastinators like me, wise counsel might often suggest as well the counter-balancing old Nike slogan- "Just Do It"

Answer: Balance

Ask any top gymnast about the mental aspect of their discipline. It clearly works in concert with the physical aspect. Or, think about when you learned to ride a bicycle. At some point, you get it- balance. You know you have it, because you are rolling along forward, and staying upright! It's an amazing feeling, and you will never forget it, although it can get rusty with disuse or age.

Much meditation starts with getting quiet and still, sitting in a balanced position, conducive to balancing the mind. Balance, and benefits, increase with regular practice.

Answer: Equanimity

The word comes to us through French (equanimite) from the Latin (aequus- even,level + animus- mind). The Buddha (enlightened one) spoke often of the four sublime attitudes or states of being: unconditional love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Equanimity in this sense is neither thought nor emotion.

It is more of a deep, conscious understanding that all things are transient and impermanent; change is the only constant. This is the true nature of reality, so relax and don't worry about it. Easy to say, harder to put into practice. Meditation can put one on the path. Equanimity supports wisdom and freedom, and protects compassion and love.

Answer: Tranquility

*Tranquility: the state of being quiet, peaceful and calm* There are, of course, no actual seas or water on the moon. The lunar "maria" (Latin word for seas) were so named because early astronomers mistakenly believed the dark areas they observed were oceans.

They are actually plains of dark basalt rock. The Sea of Tranquility has its forever place in history as the area where the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon July 20th, 1969. It was named in 1651 by Francesco Grimaldi, an Italian Jesuit priest.

Answer: Sobriety

Sobriety can mean different things to different people. Dictionary definitions usually focus on two main meanings. First, the state of a clear mind, free from effects of alcohol or other intoxicants; second, in a more general sense, serious or business like and without frivolity, as in a sober judge. For many, sobriety may not be a goal or may even be something to be avoided. Philosophies differ and the paths to enlightenment are many and varied. Positive meditation is without judgement of self or others. For those who have had serious brushes with addiction, sobriety means freedom from the bondage of self, and from the pain of dependence on something which ultimately takes life rather than giving it.

It does not mean the absence of fun or joy.

Answer: Peace

The quotation - "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way" - is attributed to Abraham Johannes Muste, a Calvinist intellectual preacher who became an activist labor leader, a Quaker minister, and eventually a radical prophet for Christian pacifism. A.J. Muste was born in Zierikzee, Zeeland, a small city in southwest Holland, in 1885.

His family emigrated to the US in 1891, landed at Ellis Island, and soon after moved to Grand Rapids Michigan. They became active members of the Dutch Reformed Church, a strict sect of working class Hollanders who frowned on secular music and dancing. Muste received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the progressive Union Theological Seminary. During the 1920s and early 1930s, he was chairman of Brookwood Labor College, became a recognizable leader of the American labor movement, and was associated with numerous socialist causes, trade unions and anti-war organizations. Later in the 1930s he moved away from socialist politics and rediscovered his Christian pacifist roots, taking pains to denounce Marxism and to proclaim Christianity as a revolutionary doctrine in its own right.

He mentored Bayard Rustin, one of Martin Luther King's closest advisors, on strategies of civil disobedience and non-violence.

Answer: Meditation

Meditation is an ancient tradition, probably as old as humanity itself. Since the first care giver retreated to the back of the cave to get away from the rowdy youngsters, or the first hunters got quiet before the coming struggle for food, people have no doubt been using their minds to increase their focus and better cope with their world. And it's still practiced today in every culture on earth.

A quick online search reveals an endless array of sites detailing and explaining the many forms of meditation.

Healthline.com lists these nine kinds of meditation: mindfulness; spiritual; focused; movement; mantra (chanting); transcendental; progressive relaxation; loving-kindness; visualization - enjoy.