Moving towards a happy life with meditation

Meditation is the need of the hour. We are always in a rush to reach office on time. We are in a hurry to reach school on time. We are running to go back home to do our household work on time. Everybody wants to wear the no.1 crown. Do you know what all this running in a hustle bustle causes us? It takes a toll on our mental health. Why is our mind never calm and at peace? It keeps on thinking and thinking.

Eventually, mind and soul will never align. Hence, results in mood swings, severe lethargy, low energy levels, irritation and early signs of aging.

History of meditation

As per Hinduism, meditation is the act of engaging mind into breathing pattern and repetition of mantra. The ultimate purpose is to reach the higher level of spiritual awareness. Meditation is a very old practice all throughout the world. Meditation is a small part of big picture called Spirituality. In Hindu culture, devotional meditation is part of life of every Hindu. Devotional meditation involves devotee to chant mantra on mala (garland of 108 beads) to connect to the deity.

And, our ancestors and sages got enlightenment through meditation. This art of living has changed many faces since its inception. It is mentioned in Upanishads as Dhyana. Upnishads have mentioned the meditation as a way to become calm and concetrated.To percieve the Atman (self) to Brahamn (supreme one).

Dhyana comes from Sanskrit word Dhyana, which means to put focus or concentration at one point. Dhyana is the state where you are neither sleeping nor your brain is actively involved in any matter.

Moreover, meditation involves many techniques to get into the state where one can understand the meaning of divinity and sacred forces in life. Although with advent of time and technology people have shifted its purpose towards mindfulness and relaxation.

Exploring different techniques

In fact, there are various types of meditation; mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, spiritual meditation, movement meditation, progressive meditation and kindness meditation. Different schools of thought have different meaning and formation. With passage of time and different geographical beliefs have devised different techniques of meditation.

Yoga and meditation are two side of one coin. So-ham meditation, walking meditation, group meditation, mantra meditation, lying down meditation (shavasana position), sitting meditation (padmasana position) and standing meditation (vrikshasana) are some of them. We are going to discuss all these types in our upcoming blogs.

Momentarily, one of the most ‘in’ meditation techniques is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the state where the mind is fully aware of its present form.

Mindfulness makes your mind to pay attention to the present moment. It lets our emotions, our thoughts and feelings be managed by mind.

Revealing the magical benefits of meditation

• It increases self awareness.
• One gets free of negative thoughts, anxiety and stress.
• Meditation lowers the stress level. Thus, it results in improvement of memory and cognition.
• It helps one to get rid of Insomnia.
• It changes our mind structure. It controls the muscles and sensory perceptions.
• It helps in improving creativity as the mind approach is more clear and vivid.
• It is recommended for curing many diseases like parkinson, alzheimer, schizophrenia etc.
• And, it is recommended to control emotions and memory, speech, seeing, hearing and decision making.
• It also heals anger issues.
• It is recommended to students to improve their concentration levels.
• Meditation can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. It also lowers blood pressure.
• It helps in pain management. As mind is conditioned to increase the level of tolerance of chronic pain.

Step by step guideline for practicing Dhyana

• Choose a specific time to practice meditation. Try to slot it in early morning hours.
• Choose a comfortable place to practice meditation.
• Always wear comfortable clothes so that any kind of adjustment or uneasiness doesn’t disturb you in reaching towards your higher self.
• Pick a comfortable place. A corner or place of your house or premises to practice.
• Start with deep breathing.
• Be kind to yourself. No one is going to judge on your failures and success. So, act wisely and gradually raise your timing of practicing dhyana.
• Control your monkey mind. You know what, our mind is like a monkey. It keeps on wandering from one thought to another just like monkey jumping from one tree to another. Mind is always thinking and over thinking.
• Let the thoughts come and go. Never indulge in it. You will find peace with it.
• Count your blessings. Always show gratitude to the almighty for blessing you with love and many things that others dream of. Practicing gratitude calms one’s mind and boosts one’s mind too.
• Scanning the whole body. In every meditation, one need to focus on each and every body part. You need to relax the part and release the tension. For example, while practicing Shavasana meditation one need to scan the feet first and release the body part into relaxed state. Further move to knees and then to thighs to do the same. Likewise, move up to stomach and to the back then to shoulders. From then move up to neck and facial points. One need to focus on the areas and if find any tension. Breath into that space and visualize that tension. Practice relaxing that part of body.
• Acknowledging your feelings to the self and others.
• During meditation we feel many positive and negative thoughts in our mind. They could be from past or can be about future. One need to be kind to the self and start accepting them without being harsh to your own self.
• When mind is calm all the hidden and unspoken feelings and emotions try to come out.

Finally, we can conclude by saying that putting your time in to meditation will surely yield good benefits for the betterment of your spiritual, mental and physical well being. Keep counting on us. Have great time ahead.

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