Many articles, books and readings have been written about meditation. However, there are still many people who do not know how to get to this state of mind.
Here I am going to talk first about Meditation, types and benefits and then about the main steps involved in meditation, along with some tips that will help you in the process.
There are different aspects which need to be discussed such as how to position oneself, control the senses, concentration, mental process, how our habits affect meditation and vice versa, where to meditate, when, how long, what type of meditation to choose and the preparation and steps to follow for beginners.
One of the myths is to believe that when you sit down you should be able to quiet your mind immediately. We have thousands of thoughts. When you focus inward, you can become aware of the background mental noise in your mind. Getting distracted is the norm. The mind never stops, but through meditation one can create silence and calm something that can help you throughout your life. At first you may only be able to get only a few minutes total focused on meditation. Be patient with yourself. Patience pays off.
Unfortunately many people identify themselves with the mind. By practicing meditation you will allow yourself to act as a witness to your mind, separating yourself from the mental process and achieving calm. I hope the suggestions and information are useful to you and I would be delighted to receive your feedback.
Various types of meditation
There are many schools of meditation and ways to meditate, it is often about finding the one with which you resonate the most. Apart from the ones I name below, there are guided meditations in which the beginner learns to stop his mind by listening to another person. To start and stop mental chatter is very useful. Some prefer this system, others the more traditional one in silence, others opt for a mantra, but whatever the technique, they all have one thing in common, keeping the mind totally focused on the present, your body, your emotions, observing what happens without judge him. I hope it helps and informs you.
Buddhist meditation, also called whole mind meditation, is about keeping the mind fully focused on the present moment. Not in the past, not in the future, not in mental connotations, right in the present, here and now. Our mind is one of the best tools we have but the lack of knowledge of how to use it makes us slaves of our mind. Most people unfortunately do not know how to differentiate themselves from the things of the mind. Buddha said our mind is like a chain of reactions and desires and this is because we trap ourselves in this bane of reactions, failing to experience the true meaning of life. Ex.-When you eat an apple, our mind can say “I would feel better if I ate a banana”, then you change and instead of an apple you eat a banana and when you are eating the banana, your mind says “I would feel better”. if I ate pineapple” because pineapple is supposed to be more expensive, and harder to get. Once you get the pineapple this will continue unabated.
Another way to explain this technique of feeling fully in the present time would be when you do an activity like cooking or driving. Normally the unconscious mind will be somewhere else thinking about the past or the future. Things we shouldn’t have said in our last conversation or all the things we have to do once we get the place we have in mind or imagine conversations that make our mind spin. For the mind there is no difference between reality and our mental dialogue, both produce feelings, emotions and finally actions. Then those actions create reactions also known as the cycle of karma.
Whole-mind meditation is about keeping your mind in the here and now, enjoying the present moment with your full attention. The technique is simple, just keep your attention on your breathing. This may be very easy to say, but for an untrained mind it can be difficult to maintain one focus of attention for more than 3 minutes. Another common disturbance of the mind is “mental overtones.” In some situations the mind always searches the memory bank for situations where we had the same experience or similar feelings. This happens so quickly that instead of seeing or feeling that particular moment as unique, the mind immediately jumps to seeing what it was like in past situations. Therefore you are not really seeing what it is because you are connecting with experiences that happened to you in the past.
Zazen meditation in Zen Buddhism. In Japan it means sitting in Zen or sitting in concentration. It is about the experience of emptiness, of nothingness. The way to do it is by counting your breaths. For example, one, two… The focus on breathing is total and if any distraction arises you must start the count again. This is why some beginners go faster than others. The challenge of keeping the mind totally focused on the breath is to come to experience emptiness. The act of expelling any mental disturbance outside prevents you from reaching the experience of emptiness. Therefore a firm and total determination to be fully present focused on the breath will be necessary before beginning. Transcendental meditation got its fame in the 60s and 70s because the Beatles began meditating with the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Today the organization has been growing and they have 1,200 centers in 108 cities.
This technique involves repeating a sacred mantra. It is recommended to do it twice a day in the morning and afternoon, 20 minutes each session.
Vipassana meditation means seeing things as they really are. It is original from India. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2,500 years ago and was used as a remedy for some diseases. The technique is based on observation. By observing the things of the mind the person can take control over the mind. The chain of actions and reactions comes from consciousness and sufferings and negativity go outside. Of course this doesn’t happen in one night. Practice is required.
Kabbalah meditation was first taught by Jewish spiritual leaders. They believe that meditation will bring them closeness to God. One of these techniques is visualizing the name of God. There are different meditations. Beginners can start with a so-called Shema meditation. Shema means to hear in Hebrew. Meditation is done by inhaling and exhaling and producing the “sh” sound. Then inhale and exhale making the “mm” sound until you feel yourself deepening into the meditative state of mind. In mantra meditation, we use chants of sacred sounds that have always been a pleasant way to focus the mind. This type of meditation is very powerful and effective due to the effect of the vibration of its sounds. Sound is produced when the vibration reaches the eardrum, and is carried to the mind. This explains that sound is vibration. Specific vibrations can stimulate the endocrine system, especially the pituitary gland “the master gland” and the pineal gland located in the head.
Chanting a mantra keeps the mind occupied while you breathe in a specific pattern. It’s like when you sing a song, your breathing pattern becomes the same as the singer’s breathing patterns. Mantras are made of “basic sounds.” Vibrating sounds are specific sounds that when triggered produce a frequency. There are 84 meridian points on the palate and when we stimulate them with the “vibrating sound” we produce a specific frequency. This frequency passes from the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland. Then the release of hormones takes place and a change in mood and emotions occurs and healing begins.
Through a PET scanner, used as a mechanism to observe and study the brain, it was possible to study the changes in the brain while chanting the SA TA NA MA mantra. After chanting the mantra there was a strong shift in brain activity in the right frontal and paretal regions. These changes indicate an improvement in mood and alertness. Sound vibrations also stimulate the vagus nerve (this nerve affects the neck, jaw, heart, lungs, intestinal trachea and back muscles), the nadis and the chakras.
Sufi meditation. Sufism is the path of the heart. They believe that pure devotion comes from the subjugation of the lower self, or ego. Through this love for God comes the union of the lover with the beloved. Sufism uses different meditation techniques. The Naqshbandi order uses the energy of love to go beyond the mind. The first step was to focus on the feeling of love, activating the heart chakra. For this purpose you can think of God or a friend or relative, something that is easy for you to start with. They believe that the feeling of love will overcome the thinking process, leading the person to the state of empty mind. The meditations are silent. Through meditation they cultivate silence, listening, attention and emptiness.
Dzogchen meditation, pronounced Zog-chen, is known as the natural path in Tibetan Buddhism. This type of meditation is practiced by the Dalai Lama. Dzogchen meditation does not use any special breathing, mantra or levels of concentration. It is considered the most natural type of concentration. Sometimes it is practiced with eyes open. This meditation works with the factor that everything you need is within you. The three bases of Dzogchen meditation are “just sitting,” “just breathing,” “just being.” Meditation for Chakras works with the energy centers or chakras. The chakras are visualized as vortices-spirals of energy. There are several Chakras throughout our body, but the best known are seven. Each Chakra is associated with a color and different characteristics. The meditation is guided and is done with the concentration of the mind on these vortex energies and their qualities.
Benefits of MeditationThere are many benefits associated with the practice of meditation. Here are some of them:
· Meditation creates a deep metabolic state that occurs during sleep.
· Meditation reduces milky blood, a symptom of stress.
· Meditation increases calming hormones such as melatonin and serotonin, while reducing cortisol.
· Meditation improves close-range vision, hearing, and blood pressure, which are all impacted with age.
· In the long term, meditators have less than 80% less heart disease and 50% less cancer.
· Meditators release DHEA, a hormone associated with youth. In fact, 45-year-old meditating men have 23% more of this hormone. This hormone increases sexual function and memory and reduces weight and stress.
· 75% of people who suffer from insomnia are able to sleep normally when they practice meditation and 25% are improved.
· 34% of chronic pain is reduced in patients when they practice meditation.
· PRE-menstrual symptoms decrease by 57%.
· There is a notable decrease in migraines.
· Anxiety and depression are significantly reduced.
