Meditation Benefits & Tips
Meditation Benefits
How can meditation help depression, boredom, rage, stress?
Meditation promotes a deep sense of inner peace and relaxation. When you are relaxed your breathing and heart rate slows, blood pressure normalizes, and all the symptoms of stress such as rage and depression dissipate. Research shows that meditation can reduce stress hormones in the blood, while relaxation alone doesn’t have this same effect.
What are easy ways to get started?
Take at least five minutes to meditate without distractions. Step One. - Meditate in the morning, sitting upright in a comfortable position. Step Two. Close your eyes. This will help you journey inward. Step Three. Breathe deeply. Deep breathing can help you relax and go deeper into meditation. Step Four. Focus on a sound or on your breath or on nothing at all. You will eventually find that your breath normalizes as you begin to feel a sense of peace.
If you don’t have much time, how can you fit it into a busy schedule?
One complete breath is a meditation, provided your focus stays centered on your breath. Start by emptying your lungs, close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose and into your belly. Hold this breath for a few seconds and then breath out through the mouth. This technique works toward relaxing the body, a major component of meditation.
Do you have to have special training?
Not at all! We all meditate, we just don’t realize we are doing it. You probably meditate while you are ironing or driving. If you are in the present moment, relaxed, and focused on what you are doing, then you are on some level meditating. Training will just introduce you to more options and give you the space to practice regularly.
Are there any health benefits to meditation?
Yes, there are plenty of health benefits to regular meditation practice. Meditation calms the mind, stimulates the immune system, increases concentration, and makes you younger. Much research has been undertaken with positive results, which is probably why meditation is gaining momentum in the medical world. Some of the benefits include:
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol
• Increased concentration
• Reduced pain
• Improved sleep
• Relief for depression
• Anti-aging
• Enhances Immunity to infection
How can mediation help with rage?
Practiced regularly meditation can change the way you react in stressful situations. Rage stimulates adrenaline in the body fueling the “fight or flight” response. Meditation and meditative breathing calms the emotions, negates fear, and reduces the internal chatter that surfaces during a stressful event.
How can forgiving grievances help increase happiness?
When you forgive you let go of the stress and conflict that can contribute to disharmony and unhappiness. Imagine holding your breath. This is what you do when you hold onto your grievances. As soon as you let that breath go your body can relax and go back to its natural state.
Can meditation help people be more content with life?
Meditation can help you access a natural state of being, that of inner peace and happiness. It brings you into the present moment and links you with that part of yourself that is all knowing or as some mystics call it - Nirvana. This state of consciousness seeps into your everyday life and gives you a greater sense of meaning and purpose. When you have achieved you will feel at peace.
Is meditation compatible with traditional religion?
Meditation is compatible with all religions, it will not affect your beliefs, and it does not require faith. Some people think it is solely a religious practice as some cultures and religions use it as a means to attain higher consciousness.
Meditation Tips
Meditate at the same time each day
Regular practice sets up a routine that conditions the mind to slow down and if your intention is to use meditation to develop psychically then it will help your spirit guides to prepare for your practice.
Create a meditation space
Everytime you meditate you generate a wonderful energy and vibration within and around you. By meditating in the same place you take advantage of the energy that you built up previously, enhancing your experience and taking you back to the place you attained with little effort.
Sit, Breathe, Stay Present
If you meditate lying down you might tend to drift off, whereas sitting requires a level of consciousness to keep you upright. Focus on your breath – if your mind wanders just allow the thoughts to drift away as you come back to the breath. Keep the breathing rhythmic, inhale for three seconds and exhale for three seconds. Regulation of breath also regulates the flow of Prana, the vital energy. PRA=First, NA=Unit. Meditation means to go into the center, so make an intention to do just this and to stay in the present moment
Using Mantras
When I was very young I learned Transcendental Meditation, which involves repeating a two syllable phrase such as I AM. Repetition leads to pure thought or the source of thought and eventually to a state of bliss.
Focus on Your Chakras
You can use a focal point such as one of the chakras to bring your mind and attention to such as your heart or third eye, or focus on the eighth chakra just above your head.
Focus Beyond Your Physical
One of the purposes of meditation is to reach a state of bliss and enlightenment that is beyond the conscious, a state of being known as Samadhi where there is no duality like our world of illusion. In Samadhi we know all there is andwe become one with everything. And beyond this is Nirvana a state of mergence with the Divine.