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Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoga. Show all posts

Friday, March 2, 2012

Meditation

Reduce Your Stress - Learn To Meditate

Learning to meditate is an amazing way to transform your stress and your life! Also, did you know that many of the great success & personal development gurus strongly advocate meditation as a way to help us improve, grow & achieve the life of our dreams?

The reason is, because regular meditation can be completely transformative in terms of your emotional health & well-being and the best way to reduce stress!

Regular meditation helps us to step out of our mind and away from the constant chatter which can often be tiring, negative and even self destructive. Through meditation we are able to connect with our body, and through doing so, experience the wonders of being present, thus helping us to spend more time living in the now.

Meditation also provides a safe place for us to reconnect with our emotions, which are often suppressed. It gives emotions space to come up and for us to develop an awareness of them without having to act on or follow them. This can have huge benefits for us in our normal life. We become more adept at recognising when, for example, we feel anger, and this helps us to realise we have a choice about how we behave or respond as a consequence of experiencing that emotion. We can then verbalise and dilute the emotion by saying to someone "I feel angry!", without having to let that anger take control of us. In this way we do not end up acting out the anger so strongly with possible negative consequences for all parties involved.

Meditation can help us achieve a wonderful sense of calmness and peace. It is one of the best ways to reduce stress. It helps us to become more aware of what is really "going on" in our internal world. So many of us identify so strongly with our emotions that we think our emotions are "us". We say "I am sad" or "I am angry". This can often turn into repeated patterns of negative behaviour which can cause stress, anxiety and sometimes illness. Once we realise that we are so much more than our emotions, we then empower ourselves to be able to choose our response to any given situation. This is not always easy in the beginning, but with practise we can really transform ourselves and gain freedom from destructive and stressful responses which are often the cause of our stress and anxiety.
Meditations which focus on the breath, different parts of the body or sensations which are experienced throughout the body during a session of meditation, can be very strengthening for our immune system. Eckhart Tolle (1997) in his world famous book "The Power Of Now" states that "the more consciousness you bring into the body, the stronger the immune system becomes. It is as if every cell awakens and rejoices. The body loves your attention. It is also a potent form of self healing". Meditation is a wonderful way of giving yourself the opportunity to experience this strengthening and healing of the body and therefore a great way to release stress.

Deepak Chopra (1996), in "The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success", describes meditation as a way of helping us discover who we really are. Here, we connect with "the power of the Self, or real power. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power." In addition, "it draws people to you, and it also draws things that you want to you. It magnetizes people, situations, and circumstances to support your desires".

There are a whole host of other benefits which can be attributed to meditation. These benefits can affect us emotionally, physiologically, spiritually & mentally. All you need is 5 minutes to start off with and those 5 minutes can make all the difference to your stress and anxiety levels and how well you manage your busy schedule!

Yoga Is a Form of Meditation

There are five different principles to yoga, with meditation being one of them. This is where there is awareness of your mind constantly. In order to perceive one's own self in a clear manner, the mind is made to focus on one particular thing so the mind will become still. If practiced regularly, meditation will let you achieve a better sense of will along with sense of purpose. It will help your mind become clear, drastically improve concentration, while discovering the tranquility and wisdom inside yourself.

What Meditation Means
When you are brought to the present - the here and the now... and kept there, you are in state of meditation. This means meditation can easily be used in your life. Meditation does not mean writing down a grocery list of things you can focus on. You just need to be acutely aware of your being and keep your mind focus and away from random thoughts. When meditating, keep in mind about living in the present or NOW.

  1. For concentration we need to focus on one object or thing: The focus could be how you breath, repeating a word out loud or in your mind, or even a sensation that is being felt inside your body. To live in the present it will involve the senses of listening, smelling, and feeling.
  2. Wandering thoughts should always come back to the object being focused on: The mind will tend to wander around when you are trying to focus on one object. This is normal so do not get discouraged with practice your mind will become quiet. The mind can be stubborn so other thoughts might creep in so instead of fighting the thoughts take a minute and acknowledge them and let them go. There is no for suppressing or trying to hide your thoughts when doing mediation. There will be times when you get distracted it is okay just go back to the original focus.
  3. When doing meditation try ignoring all sensations and thoughts that are irrelevant: You will not be taking to a new place of existence with mediation. If there are people around when you are meditating you will hear them still. The object with Meditation is to stay focused. Focusing will keep you in the NOW.
Meditation and the Benefits
The art of looking deep in your self is called Meditation and means having your mind focus while restraining from other thoughts. With practice you will learn your purpose in life and understand it better while benefiting in your mental health and physically.
As you get better with mediation you will start experiencing better mental and physical health. Some studies claim this is accomplished because of the reduction in biochemical markers and physiological. This means the heart rate will decrease, respiration rate will decrease, the stress hormone plasma cortisol is decreased, pulse rate will decrease, while the EEG for relaxation will increase. Meditation will have you in a deep relaxation state, while our mind is increased for the awareness level. This means your reactions are faster, creativity is greater, and your comprehension is improved.
More benefits:

  • Capacity in the lungs is increased
  • Immune system becomes improved
  • Nervous system is recharged
  • Stress is reduced
  • Memory becomes improved
  • Helps in aiding with asthma treatment
  • The mind becomes open
  • Compassion and patience become amplified
  • Sin, guilt, and temptation you become aware of
  • Faith in your religion becomes increased
Patience, determination, and discipline are all required with meditation. Practice makes perfect so do not think you will have all this the first time you try.