Meditation
Meditation
Meditation has helped me to become more peaceful, more focused, less worried about discomfort, more appreciative and attentive to everything in my life.
Probably most importantly, it has helped me understand my own mind. Before I started meditating, I never thought about what was going on inside my head — it would just happen, and I would follow its commands like an automaton. These days, all of that still happens, but more and more, I am aware of what’s going on. I can make a choice about whether to follow the commands. I understand myself better (not completely, but better), and that has given me increased flexibility and freedom.
So … I highly recommend this habit.
And while I’m not saying it’s easy, you can start small and get better and better as you practice. Don’t expect to be good at first — that’s why it’s called “practice”!
These tips aren’t aimed at helping you to become an expert …
they should help you get started and keep going. You don’t have to implement them all at once — try a few, come back to this article, try one or two more.
Sit for just two minutes.
This will seem ridiculously easy, to just meditate for two minutes. That’s perfect. Start with just two minutes a day for a week. If that goes well, increase by another two minutes and do that for a week. If all goes well, by increasing just a little at a time, you’ll be meditating for 10 minutes a day in the 2nd month, which is amazing! But start small first.
Do it first thing each morning.
It’s easy to say, “I’ll meditate every day,” but then forget to do it. Instead, set a reminder for every morning when you get up, and put a note that says “meditate” somewhere where you’ll see it.
Don’t get caught up in the how — just do.
Most people worry about where to sit, how to sit, what cushion to use … this is all nice, but it’s not that important to get started. Start just by sitting on a chair, or on your couch. Or on your bed. If you’re comfortable on the ground, sit cross-legged. It’s just for two minutes at first anyway, so just sit. Later you can worry about optimizing it so you’ll be comfortable for longer, but in the beginning it doesn’t matter much, just sit somewhere quiet and comfortable.
Check in with how you’re feeling.
As you first settle into your meditation session, simply check to see how you’re feeling. How does your body feel? What is the quality of your mind? Busy? Tired? Anxious? See whatever you’re bringing to this meditation session as completely OK.
Count your breaths.
Now that you’re settled in, turn your attention to your breath. Just place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs. Try counting “one” as you take in the first breath, then “two” as you breathe out. Repeat this to the count of 10, then start again at one.
Come back when you wander.
Your mind will wander. This is an almost absolute certainty. There’s no problem with that. When you notice your mind wandering, smile, and simply gently return to your breath. Count “one” again, and start over. You might feel a little frustration, but it’s perfectly OK to not stay focused, we all do it. This is the practice, and you won’t be good at it for a little while.
Develop a loving attitude.
When you notice thoughts and feelings arising during meditation, as they will, look at them with a friendly attitude. See them as friends, not intruders or enemies. They are a part of you, though not all of you. Be friendly and not harsh.
Don’t worry too much that you’re doing it wrong.
You will worry you’re doing it wrong. That’s OK, we all do. You’re not doing it wrong. There’s no perfect way to do it, just be happy you’re doing it.
Don’t worry about clearing the mind.
Lots of people think meditation is about clearing your mind, or stopping all thoughts. It’s not. This can sometimes happen, but it’s not the “goal” of meditation. If you have thoughts, that’s normal. We all do. Our brains are thought factories, and we can’t just shut them down. Instead, just try to practice focusing your attention, and practice some more when your mind wanders.
Stay with whatever arises.
When thoughts or feelings arise, and they will, you might try staying with them awhile. Yes, I know I said to return to the breath, but after you practice that for a week, you might also try staying with a thought or feeling that arises. We tend to want to avoid feelings like frustration, anger, anxiety … but an amazingly useful meditation practice is to stay with the feeling for awhile. Just stay, and be curious.
Get to know yourself.
This practice isn’t just about focusing your attention, it’s about learning how your mind works. What’s going on inside there? It’s murky, but by watching your mind wander, get frustrated, avoid difficult feelings … you can start to understand yourself.
Become friends with yourself. As you get to know yourself, do it with a friendly attitude instead of one of criticism. You’re getting to know a friend. Smile and give yourself love.
Do a body scan.
Another thing you can do, once you become a little better at following your breath, is focus your attention on one body part at a time. Start at the soles of your feet — how do those feel? Slowly move to your toes, the tops of your feet, your ankles, all the way to the top of your head.
Notice the light, sounds, energy. Another place to put your attention, again, after you’ve practice with your breath for at least a week, is the light all around you. Just keep your eyes on one spot, and notice the light in the room you’re in. Another day, just focus on noticing sounds. Another day, try to notice the energy in the room all around you (including light and sounds).
Really commit yourself. Don’t just say, “Sure, I’ll try this for a couple days.” Really commit yourself to this. In your mind, be locked in, for at least a month.
You can do it anywhere.
If you’re traveling or something comes up in the morning, you can do meditation in your office. In the park. During your commute. As you walk somewhere. Sitting meditation is the best place to start, but in truth, you’re practicing for this kind of mindfulness in your entire life.
Check in with friends.
While I like meditating alone, you can do it with your spouse or child or a friend. Or just make a commitment with a friend to check in every morning after meditation. It might help you stick with it for longer.
Find a community.
Even better, find a community of people who are meditating and join them. This might be a Zen or Tibetan community near you (for example), where you go and meditate with them. Or find an online group and check in with them and ask questions, get support, encourage others. My Sea Change Program has a community like that.
Smile when you’re done.
When you’re finished with your two minutes, smile. Be grateful that you had this time to yourself, that you stuck with your commitment, that you showed yourself that you’re trustworthy, where you took the time to get to know yourself and make friends with yourself. That’s an amazing two minutes of your life.
Probably most importantly, it has helped me understand my own mind. Before I started meditating, I never thought about what was going on inside my head — it would just happen, and I would follow its commands like an automaton. These days, all of that still happens, but more and more, I am aware of what’s going on. I can make a choice about whether to follow the commands. I understand myself better (not completely, but better), and that has given me increased flexibility and freedom.
So … I highly recommend this habit.
And while I’m not saying it’s easy, you can start small and get better and better as you practice. Don’t expect to be good at first — that’s why it’s called “practice”!
These tips aren’t aimed at helping you to become an expert …
they should help you get started and keep going. You don’t have to implement them all at once — try a few, come back to this article, try one or two more.
Sit for just two minutes.
This will seem ridiculously easy, to just meditate for two minutes. That’s perfect. Start with just two minutes a day for a week. If that goes well, increase by another two minutes and do that for a week. If all goes well, by increasing just a little at a time, you’ll be meditating for 10 minutes a day in the 2nd month, which is amazing! But start small first.
Do it first thing each morning.
It’s easy to say, “I’ll meditate every day,” but then forget to do it. Instead, set a reminder for every morning when you get up, and put a note that says “meditate” somewhere where you’ll see it.
Don’t get caught up in the how — just do.
Most people worry about where to sit, how to sit, what cushion to use … this is all nice, but it’s not that important to get started. Start just by sitting on a chair, or on your couch. Or on your bed. If you’re comfortable on the ground, sit cross-legged. It’s just for two minutes at first anyway, so just sit. Later you can worry about optimizing it so you’ll be comfortable for longer, but in the beginning it doesn’t matter much, just sit somewhere quiet and comfortable.
Check in with how you’re feeling.
As you first settle into your meditation session, simply check to see how you’re feeling. How does your body feel? What is the quality of your mind? Busy? Tired? Anxious? See whatever you’re bringing to this meditation session as completely OK.
Count your breaths.
Now that you’re settled in, turn your attention to your breath. Just place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs. Try counting “one” as you take in the first breath, then “two” as you breathe out. Repeat this to the count of 10, then start again at one.
Come back when you wander.
Your mind will wander. This is an almost absolute certainty. There’s no problem with that. When you notice your mind wandering, smile, and simply gently return to your breath. Count “one” again, and start over. You might feel a little frustration, but it’s perfectly OK to not stay focused, we all do it. This is the practice, and you won’t be good at it for a little while.
Develop a loving attitude.
When you notice thoughts and feelings arising during meditation, as they will, look at them with a friendly attitude. See them as friends, not intruders or enemies. They are a part of you, though not all of you. Be friendly and not harsh.
Don’t worry too much that you’re doing it wrong.
You will worry you’re doing it wrong. That’s OK, we all do. You’re not doing it wrong. There’s no perfect way to do it, just be happy you’re doing it.
Don’t worry about clearing the mind.
Lots of people think meditation is about clearing your mind, or stopping all thoughts. It’s not. This can sometimes happen, but it’s not the “goal” of meditation. If you have thoughts, that’s normal. We all do. Our brains are thought factories, and we can’t just shut them down. Instead, just try to practice focusing your attention, and practice some more when your mind wanders.
Stay with whatever arises.
When thoughts or feelings arise, and they will, you might try staying with them awhile. Yes, I know I said to return to the breath, but after you practice that for a week, you might also try staying with a thought or feeling that arises. We tend to want to avoid feelings like frustration, anger, anxiety … but an amazingly useful meditation practice is to stay with the feeling for awhile. Just stay, and be curious.
Get to know yourself.
This practice isn’t just about focusing your attention, it’s about learning how your mind works. What’s going on inside there? It’s murky, but by watching your mind wander, get frustrated, avoid difficult feelings … you can start to understand yourself.
Become friends with yourself. As you get to know yourself, do it with a friendly attitude instead of one of criticism. You’re getting to know a friend. Smile and give yourself love.
Do a body scan.
Another thing you can do, once you become a little better at following your breath, is focus your attention on one body part at a time. Start at the soles of your feet — how do those feel? Slowly move to your toes, the tops of your feet, your ankles, all the way to the top of your head.
Notice the light, sounds, energy. Another place to put your attention, again, after you’ve practice with your breath for at least a week, is the light all around you. Just keep your eyes on one spot, and notice the light in the room you’re in. Another day, just focus on noticing sounds. Another day, try to notice the energy in the room all around you (including light and sounds).
Really commit yourself. Don’t just say, “Sure, I’ll try this for a couple days.” Really commit yourself to this. In your mind, be locked in, for at least a month.
You can do it anywhere.
If you’re traveling or something comes up in the morning, you can do meditation in your office. In the park. During your commute. As you walk somewhere. Sitting meditation is the best place to start, but in truth, you’re practicing for this kind of mindfulness in your entire life.
Check in with friends.
While I like meditating alone, you can do it with your spouse or child or a friend. Or just make a commitment with a friend to check in every morning after meditation. It might help you stick with it for longer.
Find a community.
Even better, find a community of people who are meditating and join them. This might be a Zen or Tibetan community near you (for example), where you go and meditate with them. Or find an online group and check in with them and ask questions, get support, encourage others. My Sea Change Program has a community like that.
Smile when you’re done.
When you’re finished with your two minutes, smile. Be grateful that you had this time to yourself, that you stuck with your commitment, that you showed yourself that you’re trustworthy, where you took the time to get to know yourself and make friends with yourself. That’s an amazing two minutes of your life.
It's more than just a stress-buster
Meditation really is the ultimate stress-buster . . . and we all know that stress is one of the biggest killers in the world today, so it’s a fair claim to make that meditation saves lives.
But meditation is so much more than that.
Let's face it, most of us are NOT motivated to meditate because we are trying to avoid a heart attack, we just want to live better lives . . . lives with more happiness, more love, more peace, better health and more fun. Meditation is the answer.
More than just mental benefits
It would be easy to assume that meditation is just a mental exercise and that the benefits of meditation are limited to the mind only, but stop for a moment and consider the fact that your mind and your thoughts are connected to every other aspect of your life.
Your thinking effects your emotions, and your emotions affect your physical body. You are a connected being . . . your mind, your physical body, your emotions and the spiritual dimension of your life are all intertwined.
Psychological Benefits of Meditation
Meditation can assist in many areas that are related to your state of mind, such as:
• Increasing your intelligence
• Improving your memory
• Enhancing your creativity
• Drastically improving your ability to think clearly
• Improved problem solving abilities
• Decreasing & eliminating depression
• Decreasing anxiety
• Helping to resolve addictions
• Reducing irritability and moodiness
• Enjoying a more positive outlook
• More smiles!
Physical Benefits of Meditation
One of the major benefits of meditation is that it affects your entire nervous system in a positive way. Many of the physical benefits that result from this include:
• Reduced muscular tension
• Strengthened immune system
• Accelerated ability to recover from strenuous exercise
• Decreased high blood pressure
• Lowered cholesterol levels
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduced strain related pain, such as headaches
• Ability to sleep more deeply and restfully
• Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing
• Reduction of free radicals - organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage and possibly some diseases
• Reduced levels of stress hormones such as cortisol
• Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
Emotional Benefits of Meditation
Often overlooked are the many benefits of meditation that relate to your emotional wellbeing. People who meditate not only experience a reduction in stress, they also report emotional improvements such as:
• Improved sense of positivity
• Increased confidence
• Greater ability to give and receive love
• Elimination of panic attacks
• Greater sense of warmth and openness towards others
Spiritual Benefits of Meditation
Last but certainly not least are the benefits of meditation that relate to spirituality. People that meditate often experience:
• A greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives
• A feeling of connectedness to others
• An openness to love and to higher guidance
• Improved intuition
• A tendency to "let go" and go with the flow of life
Meditation does not have to be a spiritual experience for you, but if you so choose, then the spiritual dimension of your life may blossom through meditation.
Experienced meditators often describe feeling a blissful wholeness and a deep inner connection to all life.
Incredible depths of inner peace - peace that is beyond all understanding and description - lies within us all, and meditation is the key to awakening this unfathomable dimension of freedom.
Your life as a whole - The biggest benefit of them all!As you can see, meditation benefits every aspect of your being . . . mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
Now there is a profound insight to be had at this point. . . .
How you feel and what you think determine almost every decision you make in life. Who you are in this world, and how you respond to the experiences that come your way are all influenced by the content of your mind. Therefore any activity (such as meditation) that improves the quality of your thinking and feeling will have a positive effect on your entire life path.
If you really stop to think about it for a moment, you begin to realise just how much of a difference meditation can make to how your life will turn out!
Sometimes, the line between a great success and a monumental disaster is a seemingly insignificant little moment in which you give birth to a thought and make a decision . . . the moment when you decide to turn left or turn right . . . the moment where you choose between a peaceful response to a situation, or an angry one . . . the moment when you notice the attractive smile of the person across the room, or the moment when you miss that smile, that chance meeting, that new love.
All of life is filled with these "opportunities to choose". Some are more significant than others, but all of them add up to the path that you will one day call "my life story".
So this, to me, is the ultimate gift that we stand to receive from meditation. Meditation transforms the very essence of who you are in this world. It transforms your thoughts, your feelings, your choices and also your experiences. Your success, your health, your relationships . . . every aspect of your life will be enhanced when you start to experience life through a clearer and more positive lens . . . once you start to meditate.
credits.. please visit
http://www.the-guided-meditation-site.com/benefits-of-meditation.html
So now you know a little bit about the benefits of meditation, click here to find out more about the benefits of guided meditation, or click here to step into meditation now.
Meditation really is the ultimate stress-buster . . . and we all know that stress is one of the biggest killers in the world today, so it’s a fair claim to make that meditation saves lives.
But meditation is so much more than that.
Let's face it, most of us are NOT motivated to meditate because we are trying to avoid a heart attack, we just want to live better lives . . . lives with more happiness, more love, more peace, better health and more fun. Meditation is the answer.
More than just mental benefits
It would be easy to assume that meditation is just a mental exercise and that the benefits of meditation are limited to the mind only, but stop for a moment and consider the fact that your mind and your thoughts are connected to every other aspect of your life.
Your thinking effects your emotions, and your emotions affect your physical body. You are a connected being . . . your mind, your physical body, your emotions and the spiritual dimension of your life are all intertwined.
Psychological Benefits of Meditation
Meditation can assist in many areas that are related to your state of mind, such as:
• Increasing your intelligence
• Improving your memory
• Enhancing your creativity
• Drastically improving your ability to think clearly
• Improved problem solving abilities
• Decreasing & eliminating depression
• Decreasing anxiety
• Helping to resolve addictions
• Reducing irritability and moodiness
• Enjoying a more positive outlook
• More smiles!
Physical Benefits of Meditation
One of the major benefits of meditation is that it affects your entire nervous system in a positive way. Many of the physical benefits that result from this include:
• Reduced muscular tension
• Strengthened immune system
• Accelerated ability to recover from strenuous exercise
• Decreased high blood pressure
• Lowered cholesterol levels
• Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduced strain related pain, such as headaches
• Ability to sleep more deeply and restfully
• Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing
• Reduction of free radicals - organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage and possibly some diseases
• Reduced levels of stress hormones such as cortisol
• Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
Emotional Benefits of Meditation
Often overlooked are the many benefits of meditation that relate to your emotional wellbeing. People who meditate not only experience a reduction in stress, they also report emotional improvements such as:
• Improved sense of positivity
• Increased confidence
• Greater ability to give and receive love
• Elimination of panic attacks
• Greater sense of warmth and openness towards others
Spiritual Benefits of Meditation
Last but certainly not least are the benefits of meditation that relate to spirituality. People that meditate often experience:
• A greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives
• A feeling of connectedness to others
• An openness to love and to higher guidance
• Improved intuition
• A tendency to "let go" and go with the flow of life
Meditation does not have to be a spiritual experience for you, but if you so choose, then the spiritual dimension of your life may blossom through meditation.
Experienced meditators often describe feeling a blissful wholeness and a deep inner connection to all life.
Incredible depths of inner peace - peace that is beyond all understanding and description - lies within us all, and meditation is the key to awakening this unfathomable dimension of freedom.
Your life as a whole - The biggest benefit of them all!As you can see, meditation benefits every aspect of your being . . . mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
Now there is a profound insight to be had at this point. . . .
How you feel and what you think determine almost every decision you make in life. Who you are in this world, and how you respond to the experiences that come your way are all influenced by the content of your mind. Therefore any activity (such as meditation) that improves the quality of your thinking and feeling will have a positive effect on your entire life path.
If you really stop to think about it for a moment, you begin to realise just how much of a difference meditation can make to how your life will turn out!
Sometimes, the line between a great success and a monumental disaster is a seemingly insignificant little moment in which you give birth to a thought and make a decision . . . the moment when you decide to turn left or turn right . . . the moment where you choose between a peaceful response to a situation, or an angry one . . . the moment when you notice the attractive smile of the person across the room, or the moment when you miss that smile, that chance meeting, that new love.
All of life is filled with these "opportunities to choose". Some are more significant than others, but all of them add up to the path that you will one day call "my life story".
So this, to me, is the ultimate gift that we stand to receive from meditation. Meditation transforms the very essence of who you are in this world. It transforms your thoughts, your feelings, your choices and also your experiences. Your success, your health, your relationships . . . every aspect of your life will be enhanced when you start to experience life through a clearer and more positive lens . . . once you start to meditate.
credits.. please visit
http://www.the-guided-meditation-site.com/benefits-of-meditation.html
So now you know a little bit about the benefits of meditation, click here to find out more about the benefits of guided meditation, or click here to step into meditation now.