Many people meditate for many different reasons, mine was to help with migraines, which I suffered with for over forty years—and eventually I was able to stop them altogether, and come off my medication.
Whatever the reason for meditating, there are no denying the benefits, some of these include:
- Reduce stress & anxiety
- Self awareness
- Calm the mind
- Pain relief
- Improve concentration
- Good health
As each person has a varying mind condition, it will invariably lead each person to meditate slightly differently in one of many different ways. This course will introduce you to just a few of the different ways you can meditate, following a similar path in which I learned. This is not to say this is the best way, but it will give you a flavour of what is available, and in the end you can choose what suits you best, or you can go on to learn even more ways, having gained some experience.
The first five weeks will focus purely on meditation techniques with a brief history of how each method came about.
There is no real need to meditate for any long periods, this course is solely to introduce you to the method, and to give you a chance to learn as much as you can about the technique.
The ultimate goal will be to enable you to free your mind from the constant chatter that is inside your head, which you may not even be fully aware of. My own realisation came after walking my dog one day, and when the walk was finished I realised I hadn’t taken any notice of my surroundings, or what was happening around me as I walked. I used to suffer badly with migraines, and it was only after researching stress that I realised that this was exactly what I was suffering from; my brain was constantly going over and over past events or possible future occurrences, I was never really fully at rest. It was at this stage I decided to try Mindfulness.
Mindfulness
This is one of the easiest ways of calming the mind, especially if you take time to go somewhere peaceful, like a forest walk, or somewhere equally pleasant. If you stop and slowly look about you, at the same time listening to what is around you, and you do this for a few minutes, focusing on something specific like a tree or a leaf as you turn. Once you are satisfied that you have taken everything into consideration, then slowly move on, keeping your awareness for as long as possible; this will become easier the more you practice, and you will find that this can also be done anywhere: while walking, doing your chores, or while waiting in a queue.
Because you are so focused on the present moment, you can pretty much do it anywhere at any time.
In this youtube clip from a TED talk, Dr. Shauna Shapiro draws on modern neuroscience and ancient wisdom to demonstrate how mindfulness can help us make positive changes in our brains and our lives.
Meditation can be done at any time and anywhere, it can be as long or short as you want it to be, but it has the most benefit if you can find somewhere pleasant, or better still somewhere made specifically for meditation, although the only real requirement is somewhere you are not going to be disturbed for as long as you need it. There are many tools and implements that you can buy, but these are not crucial—to be left undisturbed is all you need, even if you only have one minute, as this is enough to gain great benefit, and help centre yourself throughout the day.
You can find many guided meditations on YouTube, some of which are geared towards a certain activity or inactivity, such as the one below. You can find meditations for just about any condition, some work better than others, but this is all down to your particular preference, and how you interact with the video or audio. My advice would be to keep trying various different sources until you have one that works for you as there are thousands to choose from.
This is a guided meditation that is similar to a self hypnosis session.
I found this video very good at sending me to sleep, you don't have to watch it, just listen to the audio and relax while you are guided into sleep. You are eventually left with the sound of the ocean as his voice slowly fades away, I am usually aware of how tired I suddenly feel, and turn off the video somewhere between half and three quarters of the way through the recording, I would definitely recommend this one.
Some spiritual masters, like Mooji, can help you clear the mind and centre yourself, this video is good for this purpose.
There are many other spiritual masters that can also help in this regard such as:
- Eckhart Tolle
- David Hoffmeister
- Rupert Spira
- Burt Harding
Using Apps
There are also plenty of applications that can help you meditate, so if you have your mobile or tablet, you can use one of these, here are just two of my suggestions below. There are many other apps you can use such as CALM, HEADSPACE, and OMVANA, but these are the two I use most, they are free and you have the option to purchase an add-on or two if you so desire, but they aren't specifically necessary.
Insight Timer App
This app gives you options to have a timed or guided meditation.
Relaxing Melodies App
With this app you can piece together a number of sounds to create the best background audio.
About the Creator
GARY DEAN
Started writing in 2009, after getting made redundant from my job. Now it is a hobby, something I can enjoy and play about with.
https://twitter.com/Gaznt?s=09
https://sites.google.com/site/gdeanscreativewritingspot/Home
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