What is meditation?
Meditation is the art of relaxing and silencing the mind. When the mind is relaxed, concentration is increased and we experience inner peace. This elusive inner peace is what attracts so many people to meditation and is a quality everyone can benefit from.
The benefits of meditation.
- Improved concentration – A clear mind makes you more productive.
- Less bothered by little things – It is the nature of the mind to magnify small things into serious problems. Meditation helps us detach. We learn to live in the here and now, rather than worrying about the past or future. We do not worry about meaningless things, but see the bigger picture.
- Better Health – There have been numerous studies pointing to the health benefits of meditation. The reason is that meditation reduces stress levels and alleviates anxiety. If we can reduce stress, many health benefits follow.
- Knowledge of Self – Meditation enables us to have a deeper understanding of our inner self. Through meditation we can gain a better understanding of our life’s purpose.
How do you meditate?
Meditation requires practice so to get the most from meditation you need to do it every day. You would need a place and time where you will not be disturbed.
- Sit with your back straight. Don’t meditate lying down because this can make you fall asleep. Meditation brings relaxation and peace but at the same time this is a dynamic peace. Meditation is quite different from the relaxation of sleep. When we really meditate, we are fully alert and conscious. Our sense of awareness is heightened. Afterwards you’ll have a positive feeling for the world and a renewed sense of dynamism.
- Don’t eat before meditating. After a heavy meal your body will be lethargic with digestion.
- It is not necessary to mediate in the lotus posture. It is fine to meditate in a chair, as long as your back is straight.
- It is helpful to take a shower before meditating.
- Burning incense and having a candle are not necessary, but they can add a little extra inspiration.
- It is good to meditate early in the morning. It is said the best time is 3am, although, I feel it is more important to be awake and not sleepy, so perhaps after you wake up and shower.
- However you learn to meditate, you must learn to concentrate on one thing at a time. Usually, the mind tries to hold several different thoughts and ideas at once. When you sit down to meditate for the first time, you realize how cluttered the mind is. One helpful technique is concentrating on a candle flame. Narrow your gaze to the small tip and block out all other thoughts. When you get distracted, go back to focusing on the candle flame. You can also use other objects like a small dot or flower. The important thing is that you concentrate only on one thing at a time.
- Another way to learn concentration is through the use of mantra. A mantra is the repetition of a sacred word. For example, you might repeat the mantra AUM a certain number of times. Repeating a mantra forces the mind to focus on a single thought.
Tips on meditating.
Meditation is not easy if you have not done it before but when you persevere it gets easier and easier. It takes practice and there is no question that patience is key to mastering inner peace.
I have listed some tips below from www.freemeditation.com that will help:
- Establish a regular practice.
- Begin your day with a short morning meditation.
- Open up during meditation – allow yourself to be an open system.
- Establish the quality of forgiveness within.
- Use a candle and meditation music.
- Just let go and surrender to the inner silence.
- Have a foot soak before your evening meditation.
- Stop thinking.
- Meditate with others.
Types of meditation.
- Mindfulness Meditation: The most well-known type of meditation, mindfulness meditation, is about being aware of the sounds and activities happening around you. It’s almost a flow-like type of meditation, because you literally just let your mind be fluid and flow from one thought to the next, not really focusing on one particular thing. For instance, if you live in a noisy city, you don’t have to block out the outside sirens and screaming children, you let your mind be aware of the sounds without becoming too focused.
- Spiritual Meditation: This type of meditation is for those who regularly participate in prayer, as it’s based on communicating with God. Just like the other styles, you must become calm and quiet and then begin to focus on a question or problem you might have. This style of meditation can feel not only relaxing, but rewarding as well.
- Focused Meditation: If the idea of clearing your mind of all thoughts stresses you out, focused meditation is great because you can focus on a sound, object, mantra, or thought. The key here is to just focus on one of these things and stay committed to that one thought or object. This is when relaxation music comes in handy. Even though you’re essentially using your mind, you’ll be amazed at how rejuvenated you feel afterwards. In our day-to-day lives, our minds really are in 10 different places at once!
- Movement Meditation: Movement meditation may seem intimidating, but if you’re by yourself and you really get into it, it can be extremely uplifting and relaxing at the same time. Sitting with your eyes closed, simply focus on your breath and try out different gentle, repetitive flowing movements. Rather than focus on a sound, object, or thought, just turn your attention to your movement.
- Mantra Meditation: Mantras are words that are chanted loudly during meditation. It may seem odd to be making loud noises during a meditation session, but it’s actually the sounds that become the object being focused on. In yoga, the mantra Om is regularly used since it delivers a deep vibration that makes it easy for the mind to concentrate on that particular sound.