Meditation
Meditation is about the mind.
Mind is a restless thing. It loves to chatter and makes our life miserable. This chatter sometimes is the cause of suffering to innumerable beings. Besides, in this current fast paced world we often face lot of stress, which again bothers our mind.
Meditation is a tool to manage the mind. It helps people who suffer through the mind and also those who want to grow spiritually.
All methods of meditation use various techniques but have the same outcome. Firstly, relax the body and second quiet the chattering of the mind. Once the mind is quiet it can then connect with its inner self or soul. Not all practitioners connect with the soul. Actually this happens rarely, however, it surely helps quiet the mind to some extent.
This connection of mind with the soul is very brief and is the essence of meditation. It needs a lot of preparation and practice to achieve this connection with the inner being.
Meditation can follow different styles. Each style has its own advantages and disadvantages. One style is guided meditation wherein a voice guides through the various steps. This method is easier to follow. But the mind is restless, once it gets used to the voice and becomes familiar with the steps, no curiosity remains. Attention can be easily held when mind is curious. However, in many cases when curiosity is over the mind wanders away again.
The second style of meditation is to learn the method and then follow it on your own. The mind focuses as long as it has to follow the steps of the process but as soon as the quiet part begins it gets lost.
In short meditation is tough.
Another problem is that some people fall asleep during meditation. It is often believed that they go very deep and not that they fall asleep. Maybe.
Very few people feel physical pain when trying to meditate. As I know this is a signal to the person that the time is not right for the person to meditate.
Irrespective of the method followed, meditation helps in stages.
- Initially meditation helps to quiet the mind and so reduces the stress and rejuvenates mentally.
- Later with practice as we connect with the inner self, it helps us in spiritual growth. It gives us the guidance to understand our life path. Meditation helps increase our Awareness and makes us intuitive.
- The ultimate aim of meditation is to be okay with life.
If we find it tough to meditate there is an easy alternative to it. In that situation we should just spend time with ourselves. Everyday sit with our self for about twenty minutes, with no disturbance, preferably in the company of nature.
If that is not possible then we can involve ourselves in any activity in which we lose ourselves with our senses. Like dancing and singing freely, walking, pottery, gardening. All these activities have to be done alone, freely. They will help us relax and connect with our inner selves. Losing ourselves in an activity is as good as meditation.
Health of the mind is of prime importance and it takes overall care of the Mind, Body and Soul.
