Meditation: Importance, Benefits and How to Begin

Introduction

Mental health is the most discussed topic in today’s world. Infact, only in the past few years, people have come to peace with the fact that mental health is important and it needs care too. One of the most followed techniques to combat stress, anxiety and help heal from depression, is meditation. Meditation is found to have profound benefits in areas of memory, learning, self-awareness, and attention.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation is a state of the mind where you just have to learn to be relaxed and sit still. Often, people think meditation is about concentrating on a particular object or thought. But it is not so. Meditation is an activity where you try to slow down the frequency of thoughts and gradually stop thinking about anything from the past or future and focus only on the present. Initially, when you start practicing meditation, your mind moves forward and backward like the pendulum of a clock. As you practice more and more, your mind will become still and for a moment reach the point of highest awareness, that is samadhi, the peak state of dhyana.

What Are the Different Types of Meditation?

• Mindfulness Meditation - It involves observing the thoughts without judging and this is the one for practicing meditation without a coach.

• Spiritual Meditation - This is for the ones seeking to attain a deeper connection with the almighty.

• Focused Meditation - It involves focusing with any of the five senses like counting beads, moon gazing, or staring at a candle. This helps develop focus and concentration.

• Movement Meditation - This type of meditation is meant for the ones who seek peace in actions. Gardening, tai chi, and walking are types of movement meditation.

• Mantra Meditation - This type includes chanting mantras in a form of sound or a phrase, most commonly ‘om.’ It causes vibration in the body and also helps attain deeper consciousness and awareness.

• Transcendental Meditation - This meditation is meant for attaining the maximum depth of consciousness a meditation can offer. It is advised to be done with the help of a certified trainer.

• Progressive Relaxation - As the name suggests, this meditation mediates relaxation and reduces tension in the body. It is done by working the muscles and sometimes assuming a wave flowing through the body.

• Loving-Kindness Meditation - This is ideal for those who have a fear to accept and give love, hold on to grudges always. It helps a person strengthen the feelings of love, kindness, and compassion.

• Visualization Meditation - This is a more optimistic type of practice because, this meditation involves visualizing a vivid memory of an image, or an event, and developing it to our capabilities. Visualizing themselves in a victorious situation is also included in this. It is done to reduce stress, and enhance the mood.

What Is the Importance of Meditation?

• Meditation is the state which makes the body calm, and the mind relaxed. It does to the mind what sports does to the body.

• It gives you the immense energy of Prana (breath).

• Being in 20 minutes of deep meditative state will provide you with energy equivalent to four hours of sleep. The working capacity of the individual can be increased.

• Some people think that if there are too many thoughts, then the meditation was not fruitful. That is just a myth. In fact, there are two types of meditations, one with thoughts and the other without any. So, experts say thoughts are alright. It will take a little practice to turn the thoughts from negative to positive.

• If you frequently feel bored, restless, or negative vibes surrounding you, you can make it a habit to practice meditation for 20 minutes every day.

What Are the Benefits of Meditation?

Even if relaxation is not your purpose for meditating, still it is an indirect result of it. Apart from this, there are various other health benefits which researchers are studying to be the result of long-term meditation habits.

• It helps to lower stress. A study concluded that meditating for ten days can reduce 14 % of the stress. The most beneficial type of meditation to ease stress is mindfulness meditation.

• Studies suggest daily meditation can lower blood pressure and even reduce dependency on pharmacotherapy.

• Incorporating meditation in our daily routine is found to reduce heart rate.

• Anxiety and depression can be managed with mindfulness meditation.

• Eases other mental health conditions.

• It helps to control our grieves.

• Concentration can be improved by meditation. Studies suggest meditation can change the structure and functioning of the brian, enabling concentration and focus.

• Meditation provides clarity of thoughts.

• Meditation tends to improve communication skills by enabling self-awareness and awareness about reality. Thus it improves insight and concentration.

• It helps for better healing.

• Meditation provides an overall sense of wellbeing.

• It helps to increase the sense of sympathy and social connectedness.

• Meditation is also found to make a person more creative.

• It also helps to quit certain addictions like alcohol, drugs, and smoking.

Although various benefits are listed, the goal of meditation is not to have any objective or expectations of the outcome. Just allow yourself to be in the present and calm down emotionally.

How to Begin Meditation?

• Select a calm and peaceful spot at home or work where there is least distraction.

• Choose an optimal time, preferably early morning, and stick to the same timings every day.

• Close your eyes and breathe naturally. Do not try to draw attention to any point or breath. Just be natural and leave your body still and free.

• Meditation is not about concentration. It is the generation of concentration (focus). Do not force yourself to pay attention to a single point. Just allow your mind to go wherever it wants to. In short, be kind to yourself and your wandering mind.

• Start with a single two to three-minute session a day and slowly try to increase it for more extended periods.

Conclusion:

We often give ourselves excuses like 'I do not know how to do it,' 'I do not have the time for it,' etc. But, in reality, investing a few minutes every day for this activity gives us more time by making us more focused and productive. So, let us resolve to start each day on a positive note. Choosing the right type of mediation will not take much time, but take time to practice all of it, to attain the maximum benefits of mediation.