Meditation is the inward journey of our pure consciousness. According to Hindu mythology, Rishis (sages) used to meditate by chanting the name of gods or simply reciting the first sound of creation ‘Om’ to acquire inner peace, enlightenment and knowledge. In recent days, when someone is found under tremendous pressure or stress, they are usually advised to meditate because meditation helps one to focus on righteous things and inculcate concentration to the core. It helps us to grow spiritually and know ourselves better and is essential nutrition for cultivating a healthy and strong mind.
To know more about meditation first we have to ask ourselves these questions. What? Why? and How?
What is Meditation?
Meditation, according to Patanjali is the “restriction (or stilling) of the fluctuations of the mind”. In meditation, we’re comprehending how to control our breath as we inhale and exhale and observe when the mind deviates from this job. This method of retracing the breath improves the muscle’s attention and concentration. While we pay heed to our breath, we will learn how to come back and endure in the current moment—to hold ourselves and manage our minds. There are nine popular types of meditation practice:
- Mindfulness Meditation
- Spiritual Meditation
- Focused Meditation
- Movement Meditation
- Mantra Meditation
- Transcendental Meditation
- Progressive Relaxation
- Loving-Kindness Meditation
- Visualization Meditation
How To Practice Meditation?
Meditation is an easy technique that encompasses paying attention to your breathing and returning to it if your mind is detracted. This practice may not evacuate all the thoughts in our minds but it helps us become more conscious.
Following are basic steps to the beginner’s guide to meditation
- When you are beginning to Meditate, make it a habit to get up and meditate every morning and every evening for 15-30 minutes.
- You feel light when your stomach is empty so It is ideal to meditate before you eat. Try to meditate in a peaceful place.
- Make your seating position comfortably and close your eyes to start the mindful meditation and do absolutely nothing for a minute or so if thoughts occur in your mind don’t give up. It is quite natural to have thoughts during meditation. The brain is an unpredictable organ so however thoughts may try to interfere, don’t get distracted and start murmuring mantras without reading them out quietly.
- Recite your mantra till your meditation is complete. When you realize that thoughts take over again, start to refocus. When you finish meditating, after meditation, lie down and sleep (Yoga Nidra) for 5-6 minutes.
- If occasionally your mantra may sound unclear and that is okay. At times you may not be saying your mantra at all, just try to refocus and continue to meditate.
Why Should One Learn Meditation?
Though people today are much aware of meditation and its plethora of benefits, we know that this practice has been there for ages. In recent years, the scientific uses of meditation have been researched by several clinical and research associations around the world and to some extent, it is said the researchers also found some physiological changes.
Lowers Stress and Anxiety levels
Many People from various parts of the world are seeking interest to learn meditation to lessen stress. This research has also reported that utilizing frequent and precise time in meditation can diminish stress and anxiety which leads to fixing other bigger problems which are caused due to stress such as high blood pressure, chronic aches, insomnia and fatigue and also lowering the risk of diseases exacerbated by stress like heart disease, digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances and headaches
Improves Immunity
Surprisingly, a simple process like Meditation can also increase our body’s natural defence mechanism against disease and takes less recovery time post-surgery and illness but the root lying cause of the enormous health benefits of meditation is associated with the brain waves that are in a state of relaxation which enables the body to also become soothing and calmer.
Relieves Pain
Lots of evolution took place in medical and pharmaceutical fields over the decades but Meditation is the only process which relieves physical pain without involving foreign materials in the body. Meditation can heal and rejuvenate our bodies by restoring our minds and rehabilitating our emotional state. By entangling ourselves in our own self, we reduce attention from suffering the impacts of illness. There is a divine healing power that we can acquire while we switch our consciousness from the physical body to our spiritual being. Meditation helps our minds to connect with the supreme power that helps to heal the pain.
Calms the Body
Do you know that We obtain more rest in meditation than in a similar quantity of time spent in sleep because we dream while we sleep? We may experience both pleasant dreams and disturbing dreams. The sleeping body may sometimes show reflexes in the dreams as if awake. We may move our still bodies in our sleep but In meditation, there is no occurrence of dreams and therefore the body is in a static state except for the breathing process. Due to this, the body and mind develop much relaxation.
At Niraa Wellness, Sakleshpur, the peaceful surrounding and greenery give the best opportunity to learn, practice meditation and detox our minds.