How To Meditate- Become More In Tune With Yourself!
Hello everyone!
Today we are talking about how to meditate and how to become more in tune with yourself. Meditation dates back centuries to 1500 BCE in India and Taoist China. Although the specific origins are heavily debated, the purpose has always remained the same! Meditation as a form of enlightenment or introspection has always been the main goal of this practice. Many notable benefits of meditation can help you with your personal life, relationships, careers, and goals! When we meditate we must also acknowledge that we are engaging in a practice connected to a long and important history in India and China. On the other hand, meditation is a tool that can be used by anyone needing more clarity and understanding about life. It may seem like a difficult practice to start but it is easier than you think!
So let’s get into it!
1. What is Meditation?
Although there are many different forms of meditation, most practices involve the same principles. Preferably, meditation will be performed in a place of solitude with an open mind combined with a place, object, word, or sensation of focus.
2. Types of Meditation
There are many forms of meditation created with specific goals! Try out different forms and find the one that you enjoy the most. Here are 6 different forms that can be great for beginners!
Mindfulness Meditation
This type of meditation is focused on being attentive to your thoughts as they come and go. You are simply an observer of your thoughts
Spiritual Meditation
This form of meditation is found in countless religions across the world. This can be done from the comfort of your home or in your place of worship. An example of this practice can be a Christian doing a contemplative prayer.
Focused Meditation
This type of meditation involves focusing on something with one of your senses. This can include your breath, a song, a candle flame, or anything you find peaceful and meditative.
Movement Meditation
Movement meditation is great for beginners! Any gentle form of movement like walking, gardening, or tai chi can be used to be more mindful of your environment and your body.
Mantra Meditation
Mantra meditation is usually the first thing that pops up in your mind when you think of meditation. The famous “om” meditation is used in Buddhist and Hindu traditions. You chant a phrase, loudly or quietly, to experience a deeper level of awareness and mindfulness.
Visualization Meditation
Visualization meditation is a great tool in manifestation! It is pretty much daydreaming! You pick a scenario and you try to visualize it in as much detail as much (including all 5 senses). You can pick a peaceful scenario or a scenario of you achieving your goals and living your dream life.
(src: Healthline)
3. How to Meditate
A simple way to begin meditation begin is to take a few moments right after you wake and before you go to sleep and do some visualization or mindfulness meditation. Meditating for 10 minutes twice a day could radically improve your mental health and your outlook.
4. Benefits of Meditation
Meditation, when used consistently, can have many therapeutic effects!
It can be used for:
- Anxiety
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Sleep problems
- Tension headaches
It helps you with:
- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
- Building skills to manage your stress
- Increasing self-awareness
- Focusing on the present
- Reducing negative emotions
- Increasing imagination and creativity
- Increasing patience and tolerance
(src: Mayo Clinic)
5. Celebrities and Meditation
Many people can attest to the many therapeutic, healing, and calming effects of meditation. Here are some quotes of celebrities sharing their experience with meditation.
Lady Gaga (Singer, songwriter)
“Meditation helps me to calm down,” she told the teens at New York’s Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youths before she led a brief meditation. “I don’t have the same kind of issues that you have, but I have a mental illness [PTSD] and I struggle with that every day so I need my mantra to keep me relaxed.”
Kobe Bryant (NBA player)
“I meditate every day. It’s like having an anchor. If I don’t do it, I feel like I’m constantly chasing the day as opposed to being in control and dictating my day. I have a calmness about whatever comes my way, a poise, and that comes from starting my morning off with meditation.”
Oprah (Talk-show host, producer)
“I give myself a healthy dose of quiet time at least once (and when I’m on point, twice) a day: twenty minutes in the morning, twenty in the evening. Knowing that stillness is the space where all creative expression, peace, light, and love come to be is a powerfully energizing, yet calming experience. Knowing for sure that even in the daily craziness that bombards us from every direction, there is—still—the constancy of stillness. Only from that space can you create your best work and your best life.”
Madonna (Singer, songwriter)
“Meditation showed me how much energy silence has.”
Do you enjoy meditation? Let us know in the comments below!
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