People have got so much involved in their career path forming, mending disrupted relationships, fulfilling all aspirations & being social that their peace of mind has lost somewhere amid such much grey matters in the brain. This results in deteriorating concentration, rather than improving all the huddles. Lifestyles have become more stressful than ever which if exceeds a certain level may lead to depression. Stress gives birth to many diseases as well such as high pressure, diabetes, hormonal distance. The only way out to calm down the growing upheavals in life is to meditate. But to add more dismay to the fact, people simply hate meditating or they think it’s irrelevant.
Meditation is not the modern act of diagnosis, but age-old practices of synchronising mind, soul & body. Nowadays, individuals, and medical practitioners, use this method to diagnose certain ailments, but in the bygone days, munis & monks used to spend most of their hours in meditation & very simple where motives were to connect their soul with the almighty. So we can safely infer that meditation does not cure an individual or works effectively on stress but a very divine method of establishing a connection with the Almighty.
Meditation is a relaxed state of body, mind & soul where an individual’s conscience becomes more aware of their inner senses & their inner power strength. Several definitions have been composed by several philanthropists.
Though those who still don’t understand the benefits of meditation, there are some ways by which an individual can at least try it.
- Include the act of meditation in daily regimen- no matter how busy a person may be, if it’s included in a daily chart schedule as a sort of task to be accomplished, then any individual will make time to accomplish meditating.
- Meditate for a short while: all at once, one should not jump on to meditate for half an hour. Rather, they must start with 10 mins, then proceed to 15 mins, then 20 & then stop at 30 mins. In this way, they may attain proficiency in meditation & sooner they would realize how effective this method is in relaxing mind, body & soul.
- Sit in a comfortable posture- If an individual is not at an ease with the sitting posture, then one might find it difficult to concentrate, rather his mind would be distracted continuously in improving his posture or finding comfort while sitting. That’s why it’s advisable to first learn to sit correctly while meditating to attain proficiency.
- Boost up the environment soothing music & divine chants – Chanting ‘Aum’ & soothing music works wonders. It even encourages those to meditate who are not into meditation.
- Choose the way which suits an individual: there are innumerable modes of meditating. One has to explore which works for them the best. This includes chanting ‘Aum’, listening to soothing music, sitting quietly, trying to visualize the ‘Aum’ symbol in their mind or shiva, many more.
- No goal forming- an individual must keep in their mind that one must not raise any expectations while meditating like meditating for an hour or finding peace later, or becoming a more composed person & becoming stress-free. The reason resides is expectations are pictured in the mind setup. If the mind is tangled up with fulfilling aims, then the motive of getting peace of mind is not attained.
Various types of meditation
- Guided v/s unguided meditation: In guided meditation, an individual has an instruction to guide how to meditate while in unguided an individual meditates alone with no provided instruction.
- Calming v/s insight meditation: calming meditations involve focusing on breath, mantra, other senses while insight meditation involves controlling the internal all senses & attaining wisdom & compassion.
- Focussed meditation: as the name suggests, it comprises a complete focus on the almighty & visualizing the ‘aum’ symbol at the centre of the forehead.
- Body scan: in this type, an individual visualizes all the limbs involved in meditation in a line.
- Noting: this involves somewhere understanding what’s going on in and around.
- Visualization: in this type, one imagines something or the other in their mind.
- Loving-kindness: it involves developing kind emotions within oneself. It impels an individual to spread love, no matter how others treat an individual.
- Skillful compassion: it’s the emotion of helping others beyond one’s comfort zone.
- Resting awareness- as the name suggests, all the organs are relaxed & calm in this type.
Different modes of meditating
- Walking meditation: it’s not necessary to meditate formally every time. Meditation can be done even when one is working, walking, cooking. It’s simply as easy as just focussing on the sound around us, feel around us. Meditation is nothing but just activating beyond six senses.
- Breathing Meditation: It’s one of the easiest methods as one can do it at any time & in any posture.
- Red light meditation: this mode involves meditating in the dark with just red light flashing. No sound around, no music, just the breathing sound. One must focus on one’s breathing sound & get deep into it.
- Running or cycling meditation: many are habituated to put on their headphones while walking, running, cycling, riding. But in this type of meditation, it’s advisable to remove the headphone & just take the experience of the very moment & make the feel of all the senses & nerves, breathing sound, if one listens attentively then one listens to the calm wind blowing. That itself calms down the mind & opens all the senses.
- Eating & drinking meditation- while having any sort of intake, whether, in the form of solid or liquid, one must try to get the ecstasy & aesthetic flavour, aroma of the food using nostrils, tongue, mouth & even appreciating the colour, texture of the food with the eyes sense. An individual ignores the very fact that whatever we employ our senses is directly linked to the nerve of the brain, heart, soul & body. When all the organs connect, meditation is already attained successfully.
- Waiting meditation: When an individual is in a queue or waiting, then that person must get into their deeper whole to unite all senses.
- Task-related meditation: it’s a common human tendency that when one is working or doing any task then one is mechanically involved in that task, but in one’s thought an individual is not relaxed. There are some thousands of thoughts running through their mind. This type of meditation involved complete attention in that particular task itself. If one finds salvage in that task, then at the very moment meditation is attained.
Reasons why individuals avoid or simply hate meditation
- Many don’t find any essence in meditating.
- Many find it hard to concentrate & calm down their mind while meditation
- Many find it really slow in extracting fruitful results from it. They think it takes years of practice to attain its result.
- It’s the case with most of the people. Today’s lifestyle is so hectic that they cannot pave time to meditate amid so much workload.
- Many don’t know how to meditate.
- Many find meditation boring
- Many don’t believe in God. They believe they can’t be religious & spiritual just to meditate.
Benefits of meditation, which haters are unaware of
- Meditation reduces stress & relieves depression
- Subsiding negativity.
- Inbuilt patience, compromise, tolerance.
- Treats many diseases such as hormonal imbalance, asthma, anxiety, depression, blood pressure, sleep disorders, bowel movements.
Sources of meditation guide
- Nowadays there are lots of books & CDs available in the market from where one can learn about meditation.
- There are lots of shows & videos available in the T.V. & mobile & computers from where one can learn meditation
- There are many apps available which serve as tutorials to the beginners.
- There are many ashrams & yoga, meditation centres where one can go & meditate in a peaceful environment. There’s one more in the meditation centre. There are so many meditators all around which create the environment & even indulges the haters to join the flow.
Meditation & religion
In Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity & many more religions, prayer beads are considered very sacred & used as an important tool to meditate with. In ancient days, yogis & munis used to do ‘Dhyan’ to connect with supernatural powers. They used to pronounce or chants mantras for hours & days & months without having anything. That’s considered the most divine form of meditation, where one attains the spirituality at its ultimate level. The munis could then attain supernatural powers to foresee the future. It has its essence in Vedas & Puranas.
After several pieces of research & findings, it has proved medication beneficial to both mental & physical health. There are in numeral forms & types of meditation, practised all over the globe by all races & creeds.