At its core, meditation, essentially, is an implementation that helps you declutter your mind, regroup your thoughts, re-center, and channel inner peace. This is done using a combination of mental and physical techniques. And clubbed with various other activities, sewn into a regimen, it can also be just as stimulating as it is soothing.
What is meditation:
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), USA, refers to it as a “variety of practices that focus on mind and body integration, and are used to calm the mind and enhance overall well-being.”
Meditation has been in existence for thousands of years. It was originally used for a deeper understanding of the sacred and mystical forces of life. Today, it is a “mind-body complementary medicine”, to aid relaxation, stress-reduction, and tranquility.
Benefits of meditation:
- Helps cope with stress, by shifting your attention to something calming. It also clears away ‘the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress’. Additionally, decreases symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Supports cognitive skills, improving memory and learning. Also increases imagination and creativity.
- Promotes self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. Also increases patience and tolerance, and ebbs negative emotions.
- Lowers resting heart rate and blood pressure, as well as betters sleep quality.
Types of meditation:
‘Meditation’ is a catchall term—and there can be many ways to achieve the end-result. As per NCCIH, some types of meditation entail maintaining mental focus on a particular sensation, like a sound or a visual. Others involve ‘mindfulness’—living in the present, with awakened awareness of self and the world around.
Either way, there’s no one correct way to go about it, as even Cleveland Clinic mentions. You can pick anything that resonates with you or works for your requirement.
Some kinds of meditation are:
- Mindfulness Meditation: You closely observe the thoughts or emotions you experience, without reacting to or judging them. You simply take note.
- Body Scan Meditation: Here, your self-scan your body, to intently feel all the physical sensations throughout.
- Guided meditation: Also known as guided imagery or visualization, this involves envisioning positive, peaceful snapshots—of places or situations you find relaxing. Lush green hills, a beautiful, breezy shore, anything.
- Movement Meditation: This one requires you to undertake gentle body movements, while being aware of your breathing and mindfully soaking in the surroundings. It may include activities like walking and gardening.
- Mantra Meditation: It comprises repeated sound—you chant a word or phrase, out loud or quietly in your head. Or you can focus on a sound, like Om.
Elements of meditation:
Each style of meditation boasts its own set of features. However, there are some that run common through all, like:
- Undivided attention
- Easy breathing
- Quiet location
- Comfortable posture
- Intention
Ways to incorporate meditation into your everyday life:
- Observe your breath flow—the inhaling and exhaling—while going about your daily activities. Breathe deep and slow.
- Be present in the moment. Immerse yourself entirely in the current experience/interaction.
- Take a few minutes off to become more cognizant of your body—feel all the tension, aches, pains you’re sensing. A body scan.
Go out for a walk, and absorb all that you see, hear, smell, feel. Note the effect it has on your mind, and the sensations it creates in your body. We also recommend walking slow, and being mindful of every step you take—‘repeating action words in your mind, like ‘lifting’, ‘moving’ and ‘placing’’.
