As humans, we constantly think about the future, but rarely do we appreciate the present moment. The modern world has brought us closer together with technology, but this technology has also pushed us further apart. The world moves so fast these days that it seems that there is never any time to slow down and reflect. Countless cultures and religions around the globe promote the benefits of meditation to help us refocus our attention, a practice that can help with everything from anxiety to chronic pain.
Types of Meditation
If you are looking to begin this practice, you should first know about the different forms of mediation you can engage in.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a technique in which you focus on the present moment and treat each moment as if it were the only one in your life. Mindfulness is about being aware of and accepting your current feelings, thoughts, and external environment. Mindfulness helps relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.
Mantra
Mantra meditation refers to meditations in which you repeat sounds in mind to calm and focus. Indian yogis initially used it to calm the mind and still the thoughts thousands of years ago.
Tai Chi
The martial art of Tai Chi involves slow movements practiced in a relaxed manner. The actions are executed with very little strength, allowing the patient to focus on relaxation and a good posture.
Yoga
The practice of yoga helps its practitioners balance mind, body, and spirit. Yoga is a complicated practice that involves various asanas, breathing techniques, and meditation.
Once you have chosen a particular style, you can begin your meditation. If you want to start and see how it works out, the most common form is to sit in a quiet place. You can follow these steps:
- Find a quiet location where you won’t be distracted. This could be your bedroom, living room, or under a beautiful tree in a park.
- Sit down with your legs crossed, back straight, and face looking forwards. Place your hands in your lap. The key is not to force this posture but to ensure that you are not slouching. Your body must be alive but not straining.
- Close your eyes and breathe in deeply via your nose and into your stomach. Then breathe out slowly via your mouth. You will focus on counting each breath and that alone. After some time, you will find that you might have left this physical realm and entered into a state of extreme bliss.
- Don’t get disheartened if you are getting distracted. It takes practice every day to master, but once you get better, you will feel as though you have been reborn.
Benefits of Meditation
It has been well documented for years that meditation has numerous benefits for our bodies. While some of the physical benefits are yet to be proven scientifically, the mental benefits are vast. Moreover, some psychological benefits can carry over to the physical side of things. For example, by reducing your stress levels, you will also reduce cortisol in your body.
Emotional Well-Being
Emotional distress is not something new to the world, but it has become more prevalent in the past two decades. Whether it is caused by the stress of work, the financial problems of the family, or the struggles of our social lives, the world is always trying to tell us that something is wrong. However, once you have got to a stage where you can truly focus your mind, you will find all of the stresses and challenges of modern life melt away.
Reduce Anxiety
Anxiety can be a very distracting and sometimes debilitating issue. It can come in many forms. People can experience it alone or in groups; one of the most common and effective strategies for managing anxiety is to take positive, specific actions and use them to change the way you think and feel about yourself. Meditation is a wonderful exercise to handle this problem as it can help take your mind away from the things that affect your mind.
Improve Sleep
Do you often find yourself tossing and turning at night, unable to get to sleep? If you are one of the many experiencing insomnia, meditation could be a potential solution to your problem. Through meditation, you can reduce stress and help you relax more. The meditation process helps to reduce anxiety and help you achieve a deep, restful sleep, which can dramatically improve your sleep cycle. You can utilize existing methods to improve the quality of your sleep, such as body scan meditation – this method uses mindfulness to “scan” your body as you are lying down. It works so well because it allows your mind to think about only one thing and focus on it. We never spend time scanning our bodies in this manner, so we never truly know about the different parts. For example, you never think about our toes, or our pelvis, or any other part until there is a specific reason, usually when there is pain. You will gain a better understanding of the parts of your body by tensing and then releasing the tension to the various muscle groups.
Focus
Meditation is a technique of cultivating the power of the mind to achieve heightened focus, clarity, and inner peace. It is the act of quieting the busy mind and focusing on the present. By doing this, you will be better able to cut through the static noise of the world and concentrate on the essential aspects of life.
Manage Stress
There is no doubt that stress can harm your health and well-being. Stress can cause problems like sleeplessness, high blood pressure, and heart disease. There are several things you can do to reduce stress. Sitting quietly, going for a walk, listening to music, reading, or doing yoga are all beneficial stress-reducing activities. You can also learn to manage stress by practicing meditation. A meditation session can be as short as 15 minutes, with no results required. This practice helps you focus on breathing exercises, calming your mind, keeping you centered and balanced.
Mediation is a beautiful way to take us away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, away from the things that corrode our minds and body. It takes time to get good, and you should find at least 30 minutes of each day to practice.
Photo by Simon Rae on Unsplash
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