Meditation meaning, techniques & benefits | Mindfulness | Meditation how to

Meditation - Meaning and Definition

Meditation is the process of calming the mind for relaxation purposes. Meditation meaning is to achieve an inner state of awareness. Meditation benefits are to speed up personal and spiritual growth. There are so many meditation techniques such as focusing on music, image, or emotion, etc...

We are living life in a fast lane, everyone is in haste, and life becomes a race. In this race, sometimes we forget about our real recognition. When we talk about wellness there are many things that come in our mind. We think about fitness, about our social wellbeing.

Meditation - Meaning and Definition

Have we ever think about our Inner Wellness?

Today we will discuss Inner Wellness. Meditation is one of the methods to achieve Inner Wellness. A long-tail history of meditation is there. The benefits of meditation are also described in historical scripts.

We will also discuss the correct age of meditation. Points like different meditation techniques and bedtime meditation will also be covered. This is an effort to bring holistic wellness in your life.

History of Meditation

No doubt, it is ancient. The roots of meditation found in India. The oldest evidence of the same is wall arts found in the Indian subcontinent. They are approximately 5,000 to 3,500 BCE. People are being shown in meditation posture with half-close eyes over there.

Types of Meditation

1. Concentration Meditation

This is a practice of focusing on a single point. In this type of meditation, people concentrate on their breath. They repeat a word or mantra, staring at a candle flame, hear a repetitive gong, or count a pearl on a garland. Since it is not an easy task to concentrate like this for a long.

To pursue this, you need to find out a quiet place. Remove all distracting things near you. Comfort yourself and relax your eyelids and concentrate on your breath. Do it for 5-10 minutes and increase the duration.

This will increase your ability to concentrate.

2. Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness is the first form of meditation. This meditation encourages the practitioner to observe wandering thoughts as they flow through their minds. The intention is not to connect with or assess thoughts. But it is to make aware of every mental information as it arises. By practicing this Meditation process, you can see how your thoughts and feelings move in and out.

Over time, you'll become more alert to human tendencies. You will be able to scale the things on good or dangerous, pleasant or unpleasant.

With practice, an internal balance develops. In some schools of meditation, students practice a combination of concentration and temperament.

Benefits of Meditation

Benefits of Meditation

  

Let us discuss every point in detail.

Lower Heart Disease Risk

American Heart Association says that one can lower the risk of heart disease with the help of meditation. By adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle and meditation, one can live a good life.

Reduce Stress

Today’s life is stressful. Even a small child also feels anxiety during the nursery examination. Meditation is a way helps reduce stress.

According to research, meditation helps to change the thought process and bring positivity.

Reduce Anxiety at the workplace

Different organizations adopted meditation. They found it reduces the stress level of employees and gave fabulous results.

Meditation also helps in reducing anxiety. One can overcome social anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors by practicing meditation.

Boost Emotional Health

When perception changes, one feels more connected, empathic and realistic in this virtual world. You have a happy feeling and that makes you emotionally healthy.

Reduce Memory Loss issues

As the age increase, the memory gets decreases. We can’t control it. If a person practices meditation on a regular basis the symptom of memory loss gets inferior. Regular meditation may increase memory and mental clarity. 

These benefits can help out struggle age-related memory loss and dementia.

Improve Sleep

Regular practice of meditation reduces restlessness. This will help you calm your mind and get a peaceful sleep.

Improve Concentration

Regular practice improves concentration power. It is beneficial for everyone. Meditation has the power to change brain patterns. It increases focus can improve cognitive performance.

Help Reduce Addiction

Mindfulness meditation can be helpful for those who want to overcome addiction. Meditation gives them the correct path and helps develop positive thoughts in life.

Help Reduce Depression

The feeling of sadness, hopelessness, guilt, lack of energy and fatigue are common depression issues. The consequent issues like sleeping and concentration difficulty, and even suicidal thoughts.

Mindfulness meditation could help stop major depression issues. Mindfulness meditation helps reduce the symptoms of depression.

Help become Calm

Aggressiveness is the main problem for every age group. Today, our life is full of facilities, we have no patience for anything. This fastness is the main cause of stress and aggression.

Meditation is a technique having the best result deal with aggression in every age group. Mindfulness meditation is the way of having aggression free life.

Maintain Blood Pressure

Meditation is a tremendous and natural way to help reduce high blood pressure. When we meditate, our stress levels drop, and all systems within the body begin to return normal. As a result, you will get rid of hypertension.

Boost Immunity

Mindfulness meditation may have benefits for health and performance. It improves immune function decreased blood pressure and increased cognitive function.

Meditation for Kids

As per experts, one can start practicing meditation at any age. Even in the age of kindergarten, meditation can start. If you do meditation from an early age, the results reflect on the personality. Kids become aggressive these days and it reflects in their behavior. 

Life is becoming more and more stressful for them. Meditation will help them cope up with these issues.

Below are easy methods, you should try to teach kids, the art of meditation.

1. Chanting the OM

"OM is the primordial sound born with the universe." Ask kid breathe in as much as he can and say "OOOOOOO" and without breaking the rhythm say "MMMMMMM". It will go like "OOOOOOO" - "U" - "MMMMMMM". 

Chanting the OM

Half the time he will say "OOOOOOO" and in another half "MMMMMMM". Repeat this 10 times and increase the count further.

2. Watch the Breath

Another gamified and simple method to teach kids about meditation. follow the below process to do this: Play a piece of meditation music in the background. While lying down on a mattress, put a toy on the kid’s belly. 

Ask the kid to concentrate and watch the toy move up and down while breathing in and breathing out.

The next step is to ask the kid to make the toy move up and down as slow as possible. This is by controlling the inhale and exhale process. Ask them to repeat this 10 times and increase the count further. 

Meditation for Beginners

Sitting for an hour in the initial stage is not easy for anyone. Start it for 2 minutes and try and be regular and do practice daily. After 2-3 days increase the time up to 5 minutes. Do not try and control thoughts. Let them free.

Feel you are gaining positive energy with every breath.

Practice it daily, you will find the mind will get relaxed and thoughts will come lesser this time. This process gives you mental peace and relaxation condition. This is the way of starting.

A peaceful environment is necessary while doing meditation. The early morning time is best suitable for meditation and concentration. You should be regular if you want to achieve a good result.

Meditation for Bedtime

Meditation is not only for those who are well and can sit in Padmasan. An unfit person can practice Meditation in bed as well. The process is the same as described for beginners.