Wellness
oi-Amritha K
on January 19, 2021
Lord Buddha once said, “Meditation brings wisdom, lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
What is meditation? It is defined as a practice where one uses techniques by focusing their mind on a particular object to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. Since ancient times, meditation has been practised in several cultures all over the world.
The practise of meditation involves various stages and types and subtypes. While sometimes you might be asked to sit and think on all the events of the day, at other times you might have just to shut your mind and think nothing. Sometimes you have just to let the thoughts flow freely.
The Benefits Of Meditation For Your Mind And Body
Meditation relaxes the mind. According to science, the benefits of meditation are as follows:
- Reduces stress [1]
- Manages anxiety
- Improves sleep [2]
- Helps control pain [3]
- Helps decrease blood pressure [4]
- Promotes self-awareness and emotional well-being
- Improves concentration and attention span [5]
- May help fight addictions [6]
- May help reduce age-related memory loss [7]
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Meditation calms your mind. The relaxed feeling that you get after meditating helps increase metabolism, improves heart rate, lowers blood pressure and improves breathing and cognitive functions.
Considered as a type of complementary mind-body medicine, meditation may enhance physical and emotional well-being [8]. However, many find it difficult to genuinely meditate because let’s be honest, finding some peaceful time in our everyday busy life is almost impossible.
But worry not because we’ve got you. We will help you meditate better and easier by guiding you through a list of tips. Take a look.
Tips To Make Meditation Easier
Meditation is not a magical trip of the world of ‘nothingness,’ instead, it aims for mindfulness which helps manage and process our thoughts and actions [9].
(1) Take it slow: You cannot expect your mind to be free and devoid of all thoughts when you sit down to meditate. It is important to teach your mind to settle down slowly, one thought after the other.
(2) Get comfortable: Choose to sit in a comfortable position and prepare to sit still for a few minutes. You can sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, you can sit loosely cross-legged, or any position that feels is comfortable for you.
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(3) Focus on your breath: A simple yet important part of meditation is focusing on your breathing. Focus on where you feel your breath the most; it may be your mouth, stomach, or nose.
(4) Follow your breath for 2 minutes: Take a deep inhale, expanding your belly, and then exhale slowly, contracting your belly.
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(5) Set a time limit: For a beginner, it is always helpful to have a short time limit, such as 5 or 10 minutes. As you practice more, you can increase the time limit gradually.
(6) Keep your mind in check: If your mind wanders off during the meditation, do not fret. It is natural and normal for your attention to leave the breath and wander to other places. When you notice that your attention has wandered off, slowly return the focus on your breath. Do not hurry, return to your breathing with awareness.
(7) Visualise it: This can be helpful for people with an active imagination, that is, visualising help improve your meditation quality and attention, reaping more benefits. There are no specific visualisation techniques, go with your head and visualise a colour, a person, space or yourself.
(8) Use your voice: Chanting during mediation has been proven to help people meditate better. The most well-known chant associated with meditation is ‘om’ or ‘aum.’ Chanting also helps in tuning your breath. The vibration caused by chanting om gives a feeling similar to an ‘internal massage.’
(9) End with ease: As you finish your meditation session (when your mind is ready), slowly open your eyes and take a moment to observe everything around you. Notice your emotions, your body and your thoughts.
Other tips to make meditation easier are as follows:
- You can count each breath from 1 to 10, and once you reach 10, start over.
- You do not always have to sit down and meditate, lying down or yoga nidra can help you meditate, and it is quite natural for you to fall asleep with this technique.
- Focus on your body (posture, energy etc.)
- Do not strain to meditate, if you have to force it, take a break and get back to it when your mind and body is ready to sit down in one place [10].
Experts suggest that it is best to choose your free time and meditate every day for 5-10 minutes, instead of meditating once a week for 45 minutes.
On A Final Note…
You can meditate anywhere and everywhere. Regular meditation has been proven to help improve the quality of life. These days, meditation is being promoted in schools and workplaces to relieve stress and energise the mind and body.
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