HOW TO MEDITATE & THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
With the hectic pace and demands of modern life, many people feel stressed and over-worked. It often feels like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Our stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient and frustrated. It can even affect our health. We are often so busy we feel there is no time to stop and meditate! But meditation actually gives you more time by making your mind calmer and more focused. A simple ten or fifteen minute breathing meditation as explained below can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance.
Meditation can also help us to understand our own mind. We can learn how to transform our mind from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Overcoming negative minds and cultivating constructive thoughts is the purpose of the transforming meditations. This is a profound spiritual practice you can enjoy throughout the day, not just while seated in meditation.
Why Learn to Meditate
Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.
The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness; but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most difficult circumstances.
Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems as if our mind is like a balloon in the wind – blown here and there by external circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new possession or a new partner, we become excited and cling to them tightly. However, since we cannot have everything we want, and since we will inevitably be separated from the friends and possessions we currently enjoy, this mental stickiness, or attachment, serves only to cause us pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want, or if we lose something that we like, we become despondent or irritated. For example, if we are forced to work with a colleague whom we dislike, we will probably become irritated and feel aggrieved, with the result that we will be unable to work with him or her efficiently and our time at work will become stressful and unrewarding.
By training in meditation, we create an inner space and clarity that enables us to control our mind
Such fluctuations of mood arise because we are too closely involved in the external situation. By training in meditation, we create an inner space and clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Gradually we develop mental equilibrium, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unbalanced mind that oscillates between the extremes of excitement and despondency.
If we train in meditation systematically, eventually we will be able to eradicate from our mind the delusions that are the causes of all our problems and suffering. In this way, we will come to experience a permanent inner peace, known as “liberation” or “nirvana”. Then, day and night in life after life, we will experience mostly peace and happiness.
HOW TO MEDITATE: 4 STYLES BASED ON YOUR LIFESTYLE
Let us start with some advice for beginners: Go slow, and be compassionate and gentle with yourself. It's natural for your mind to wander as you try to focus, so when it does, don't distress. The practice will become easier over time as you continue the techniques.
Breathing Meditation 7 Methods to Try
First, find a comfortable, queit place to sit or lay down. You may also choose to sit in meditation style with legs crossed underneath you (also known as indian style). Please understand that the more peaceful your environment the less distrations are available to interrupt your focus.
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Breath meditation one. Start out with three or seven long in-and-out breaths, thinking bud- with the in-breath and dho with the out. Keep the meditation syllable as long as the breath.
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Breath meditation two : Be clearly aware of each in-and-out breath during this meditation.
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Breath meditation three : Observe the breath as it goes in and out, noticing whether it's comfortable or uncomfortable, broad or narrow, obstructed or free-flowing, fast or slow, short or long, warm or cool. If the breath doesn't feel comfortable, change it until it does. For instance, if breathing in long and out long is uncomfortable, try breathing in short and out short. As soon as you find that your breathing feels comfortable, let this comfortable breath sensation spread to the different parts of the body.
To begin with, inhale the breath sensation at the base of the skull and let it flow all the way down the spine. Then, if you are male, let it spread down your right leg to the sole of your foot, to the ends of your toes, and out into the air. Inhale the breath sensation at the
base of the skull again and let it spread down your spine, down your left leg to the ends of your toes and out into the air. (If you are female, begin with the left side first, because the male and female nervous systems are different.)
Then let the breath from the base of the skull spread down over both shoulders, past your elbows and wrists, to the tips of your fingers and out into the air.
Let the breath at the base of the throat spread down the central nerve at the front of the body, past the lungs and liver, all the way down to the bladder and colon.
Inhale the breath right at the middle of the chest and let it go all the way down to your intestines.
Let all these breath sensations spread so that they connect and flow together, and you'll feel a greatly improved sense of well-being. -
Breath meditation four : Learn four ways of adjusting the breath:
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a. in long and out long
b. in short and out short,
c. in short and out long,
d. in long and out short.
Breathe whichever way is most comfortable for you. Or, better yet, learn to breathe comfortably all four ways, because your physical condition and your breath are always changing.
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Breath meditation five : Become acquainted with the bases or focal points of the mind--the resting spots of the breath--and center your awareness on whichever one seems most comfortable. A few of these bases are:
a. the tip of the nose,
b. the middle of the head,
c. the palate,
d. the base of the throat,
e. the breastbone (the tip of the sternum),
f. the navel (or a point just above it).
If you suffer from frequent headaches or nervous problems, don't focus on any spot above the base of the throat. And don't try to force the breath or put yourself into a trance. Breathe freely and naturally. Let the mind be at ease with the breath--but not to the point where it slips away.
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Breath meditation six : Spread your awareness--your sense of conscious feeling--throughout the entire body.
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Breath meditation seven : Coordinate the breath sensations throughout the body, letting them flow together comfortably, keeping your awareness as broad as possible.
Walking Meditation
This practice is "very traditional, simple and well suited for stressed out people today," says Kerr, who used walking meditation to manage the overwhelming emotional energy she felt while grieving for her father. Find a space outside, and simply walk at a slow or medium pace, focusing on your feet. Try to distinguish when your toe touches down the ground, when your foot is flat on the ground and when your toe points back upward. Feel the roll of your foot. Observe sensory details: a tingle here, a pull of the sock there.
When your mind wanders, and it will, gently bring your attention back to your feet. You're building a skill of noticing when your attention drifts into default mode and bringing it back into focus. This ability can help you be more present and in control of your attention every day, especially in times of stress.
Plus, this practice is a mild form of exercise, which is always beneficial to overall health and balance. Start by dedicating a specific time and place to practice, and when you become comfortable with walking meditation, try it as you walk to the bus stop, office or just about anywhere.
Focused Meditation for Healing
I sit in a comfortable position
And I begin to feel my mind relaxing
I forget the past
And my imagined future
Now it is time to focus
On my own well being
And I visualize myself stepping out of my physical body
And feel my self being up above
And looking down on my physical body
And I begin to feel myself
Radiating a healing golden light
To myself
And I focus this golden light onto my heart
And I now feel this light radiating
And following the heart thru to all the veins and arteries
And I visualize this golden light
Going to the heart and filling Every vein with golden healing light
And I feel and see this golden healing light flowing through every part of my physical body
And everywhere that this light touches it is healing and rejuvenating
and it feels very positive
It is cleaning away toxins and injecting new life and energy
Into my physical body
Because I love my self
And I want to experience health and happiness
And now I focus in on the stomach
And I send a golden green light
To relax and heal the stomach
And I see the light being absorbed
Into the body
And becoming light energy
And filling the body with this golden green light
And it is transforming the light into energy
My body is filled with this golden energy
And healing every part of my being
And my body is filled with this golden healing light
And now I send blue light
To all the other organs
And I feel this blue light
Healing them and filling my body with this beautiful relaxing blue light
And I talk to this body filled wit blue golden light and I say
That I care for you, and I will heal you
Because I love you
Because you are the chariot for my soul
And with this blue golden light, it removes all
Toxins and any negative energies
And I see my body as being healthy
In the present and in the future
And I radiate out this blue golden healing light
To the whole world
And wish good health and happiness from me to every person in the world
Sound Meditation: 1 Hour Video with Relaxing Music & Light