People who don’t know much about meditation relate it to religion, worship or prayers. Meditation is not also closing eyes and sitting for hours. Truly speaking meditation is none of them. It is going beyond them. It means awareness, being conscious. Whatever a person does with awareness is meditation. If you are free from distractions and watching your breath, chanting a Mantra or just being a part of nature it is meditation. It is living life with awareness when mind is free from scattered thoughts and in sync with the existence. It is the state of consciousness when the observer realises that all activities of mind are reduced to one.
The best part of meditation is that it is an absolutely FREE mode of healing oneself, requires no special equipment or external interference and can be practised at all times or places. Down through the ages people have devised various techniques or meditating. Wait, don’t consider these techniques are not meditation.
Meditation just happens on its own. All these techniques are just a medium to reach that state of consciousness. Remembering or chanting a name, breathing exercises, exercises involving the chakras, concentrating on an object or watching the thoughts are all mediums to reach the state of meditation. All these mediums will lead you to a moment when everything disappears and nothing remains. That nothing is meditation. An egoless state where there is no I, everything has merged into one.
This state of oneness brings innumerable benefits for the body, mind and soul. Deeper you rest, higher is your life energy. It is just like a person who gets up rejuvenated after a sound sleep. I have already stated benefits of meditation in my earlier articles. Just to remind you…
Physiological benefits: Lowered oxygen consumption and decreased respiratory rate, decreased heart rate, increased blood flow and immunity, relaxed body and mind, checks blood pressure, relaxes anxiety, tension of muscles and nervous system, enhances post operative healing, enhances energy, strength and vigour, decreases aging process, improved performance, apart from curing physical diseases it produces lasting beneficial changes in the brain’s electrical activity.
Psychological benefits : Meditation increases serotonin level that influences mood and behaviour, builds self-confidence and will power by removing fears, increases focus and concentration as there is more control over thoughts coming to mind, increased emotional stability, productivity and vitality, develops intuition and creativity, helps to get rid of bad habits and addictions, helps ignore petty issues, enhances communication skills, higher intelligence, less aggressiveness, increases tolerance, sense of responsibility and judgement power.
Spiritual benefits : Peace of mind, sense of happiness, clarity of vision/purpose of life, enhanced compassion and wisdom, synchronisation of body, mind and soul, deeper spiritual insight of self and the world, attain enlightenment, helps in changing attitude towards life, living naturally – in present, understanding and overcoming the ego and experience oneness.
There are various types of meditation techniques and goals for the pursuit. A few popular ones include:
Guided Meditation : As it is evident from the name, in this meditation the observer is guided by some external source. It may be a Master in a group session or an audio recording in the privacy of a home. This is the first step towards higher experiences. It can also be called relaxation meditation. It is a powerful and proven stress relieving technique. Mind piles up a huge mountain of unwanted thoughts that create stress. These stress level can be lowered by throwing away some unwanted thoughts.
Chakra Meditation : Chakras are considered to be the vast pools of energy in our body. They govern psychological qualities. Though there are numerous chakras in the body, seven of them are considered to be important. Four in the upper body that govern mental properties and three in the lower body that govern instinctual properties. These chakras or energy vortexes are the focal point in this type of meditation.
Healing Meditation : As body is made from a seed and seed from the resolve of the supreme self, through this meditation one tries to heal self or the other person through his resolve. It can be related to chakra meditation or a standalone form of meditation. It seeks to heal body and the soul.
Self awareness Meditation : Who am I? Body, Mind or Soul? This is the question asked to oneself in this type of meditation. The purpose is to gain a deeper insight into existence. It also leads to spiritual healing where positive thoughts are directed to overcome physical or psychological illness.
Though there are different types of meditations designed for varied purposes, enlightenment is the last word, the last end. The state of supreme peace or bliss, in which a person acquires great understanding and wisdom about existence. After that meditation happens automatically.
Positive effects of meditation cannot be counted, but can be experienced by those who practice it. Important is to take the first step towards meditation. It will definitely lower your stress levels, heal you, increase creativity, productivity and give you a deeper insight and enlightenment.
Still thinking about meditation?
Stop thinking. Start meditating…