Meditation is one of the best things we humans can do. We all have stressful lives in which everything seems to keep us busy somehow. We are worried and stressed about work, deadlines, family, kids and general day-to-day activities in one way or another. We may be thinking about all the steps behind getting a task done or our general duties that cause us stress. The answer we look for to relieve us of the stresses of daily life never seem to be the answer.
It’s the same for happiness. We think happiness comes from worldly possessions and we always say if only I could have this it would make me happy or if only I could have that it would make me happy. Does it ever make us happy? Do worldly things ever make us happy? We need to know that happiness does not come from the outside but the inside. This is what meditation is for, it is to show us real happiness and tell us that happiness comes from within us not from worldly possessions and the outside world.
Meditation takes all our focus away from our stressful daily life and any thoughts that trouble us. To be honest most of our troubling thoughts come from us worrying about the past or future too much. We can only learn from the past and leave the future to god, it’s not in our control. Yes you can work hard to make sure the future outcome is something you would want to expect but you cannot really control it. Think about it, anything can happen to change your expected outcome from external factors you have no control over.
Meditation is to bring us into the moment we are living in, that’s all we’ll ever have. We only have the current moment everything else is the past or the future. Thinking about now is all that matters and is all that is in our control. So lets take hold of it and make the most of it.
How to Meditate:
To meditate we need to focus on a certain point, that point can be any religious deity we worship, a figure in a religion or an empty mind. The idea for this is for us to take all our focus and concentrate it on one place leaving us to forget everything else. When we focus on the point we choose that’s all we will be focusing on and that will then take all those distracting thoughts and burdens off our mind for as long as we are focused on the point. That will bring us peace and happiness.
At the start focusing maybe hard and we can get distracted every few seconds and that’s normal. We have to go through those thoughts and distractions to get to a level where the distractions no longer affect us to the same extent anymore.
So everyday for 5 minuets or less to start with, we should try and go to a quite place where no one can distract us and spend that time focusing on one point and blocking out this world or any other thoughts that may be troubling us. We all have distracting thoughts and that’s ok, just let them come and move them out the way without dwelling on them. Over time we can increase our meditation time and have longer sessions. We get better over time providing we do this everyday. If we miss days we have to start all over again by that I mean the distractions will still be there like it’s our first session. Consistency is key.
When meditating we should make sure we are sitting comfortably and it doesn’t matter if we are sitting in a chair or with our legs crossed on the floor, just make sure your comfortable. Then close your eyes and makes sure your body is relaxed, rest your hands on your thighs and sit up straight.
Meditation will refresh us and make us more relaxed. This may give us a good start or end to our day and it will make us calmer and happier which will affect us and our behaviour in a way we cannot imagine. It teaches us that true happiness comes from the inside not the outside.
BENEFITS OF MEDITATION: –
• A calm mind
• Good concentration
• Better clarity
• Improved communication
• Relaxation and rejuvenation of the mind and body
• Lowers high blood pressure
• Improves mood and behaviour
• Improves the immune system
• Increases the energy level, as we gain an inner source of energy
• Anxiety decreases
• Emotional stability improves
• Creativity increases
• Happiness increases
• Intuition develops
• Problems become smaller
• Sharper mind
• Meditation can bring about a true personal transformation
• Greater confidence
• More focus and clarity
• Better health
• More mental strength and energy
Originally published at medium.com