MIND EXPLORERS
Meditation
What is meditation? There are different ways to describe meditation. Meditation for some is a way to slow down, chill out and get in touch with the inner self. An ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer, but it is not so. Meditation means “awareness”. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. Watching the sunset peacefully is meditation, sitting by the ocean and just listening to the waves is meditation, as long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind is effective meditation.Meditation means “to join together or to yoke”. It is a state of consciousness when the mind is free from scattered thoughts and various patterns. It is not a technique but a way of life, the height of meditation which is called Samadhi is where the mind is completely merged with worlds of perfect light. The observer, one who is doing the meditation, realizes that all activity of the mind is reduced to one.
Today, when people refer to meditation, it can mean any one of these stages. Some of the yoga teaching schools would only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. With regular practice of a balance series of yoga techniques, the quality of consciousness can be expanded, where the energy of the body and the mind can be liberated.
How Meditation Helps?
Meditation helps you get in touch with your inner self and recharges you. It makes you happy and also empowers you to accomplish things in the daily world. Meditation practice leads to enlightenment, and the beauty about it is you experience its benefits right away, beginning with your first meditation session.Meditation is merely conscious relaxation. It is a process which involves the mind to achieve a state of serenity or bliss. This may sound like someone being sedated. Actually it does. Meditation is a deeper form of concentration. If we are to give a concrete way to illustrate it, let’s use water as the example. If you start pouring water from the pitcher to a glass, the first few drops would be considered “concentration”, however a steady flow is obtained after that which is likened to “meditation”. The unsteady first drops and the small splash they make are considered the distractions in concentration. A deeper state, which is the steady flow in the example, characterizes meditation. Thus, it clearly frees the mind from any “clutter” and distractions.
The Role of Stress in Meditation
Stress has always been one of the reasons that people are resorting to meditation. A lot of unpleasant consequences have resulted in one’s inability to cope up with stress. Some have found solace in taking “calming” medications or pills to temporarily get rid of these thought s and feelings. But unfortunately, these only provide fleeting relief. After the medicines wear off, it is back to the pit again. Unless you try to overcome these negative thoughts and feelings with your mind, it will always succeed in getting the better of you.So how do you go about meditation? It is simpler than people thought it to be. You only find a quiet spot, sit comfortably, relax your emotions and concentrate on an object to meditate on. It is important to just think of a single object and concentrate on it. Some distractions like other objects will come into focus. Drive your mind away from those. They will only break your concentration. You can still hear the sound around you, but when you’re deep in thought about your object of meditation, even those will not disturb you.
Daily meditation is advisable. If you have a strong commitment and conviction for it, you will achieve a very unique feeling of being able to “leave the moment”. People who have been through this will tell you that it is a feeling of utter bliss where the mind is clear and clean.