My meditation experience.
Benefits of Meditation
*Mind is always peaceful
*Mind is in a joyful state.
*You have better health
*You can work more efficiently
*Memory power is increased
*You understand the purpose of your life better.
*You become spiritually aware.
Meditation is a state of mind where you are not thinking of past or future but are in the present, just breathing. Your mind is empty of all other thoughts.
I knew all about meditation except how to really achieve it. I tried but didn't really get it, till I made it simple.
I always wanted to do meditation. It was kind of fashionable to meditate or to say 'I meditate'.. I used to think it is easy. Just close your eyes and there, you are meditating.
When I actually tried to do it, I realized how difficult it was. For one, sitting in one place without moving for 20-30 minutes was a big problem. I would want to scratch my head, ear, nose, hand one after another. Sitting cross legged for sometime was ok but not for long. So I stopped trying for sometime.
I couldn't tame my chattering monkey mind. The more I tried to quieten it, the louder it made noise. It jumped from one topic to another without my being aware of it.
How I started to settle down.
My monkey mind.
Finely I stopped trying and looked for other methods. I also came across the 'Art of Living' foundation. It is founded by "Sri Sri Ravishankar'. The main ashram is in Bangalore, India. Their website is http://www.artofliving.org
I did a basic course there and that changed things for better for me. My mind and life both benefitated from that. During the course we were introduced to Sudarshan Kriya. It helps to calm the mind. We also did some meditation.
First thing I realised that trying to force the mind to be quiet had just the opposite effect. More thoughts rushed to mind. Trying to concentrate on an object made me think only of that object. And then the mind wandered whereever it was taken by the particular thought.
Meditation help for you.
Ways to meditate.
A few props are used to calm the mind.
* Slow music : Slow, peaceful music, mostly instrumental, is used before starting to meditate. But do not use songs as the lyrics may distract you.
** Candle light : some people light a candle and watch the flame to concentrate.
*** You can also count numbers to settle your mind. Counting backwards can help too.
**** You can close your eyes and think of a place where you were happy, peaceful to experience the peace again. Your mind will be more willing to be steady.
***** You can also observe your breath to steady your mind. That is what I do.
You do not need any outtside thing to help you. You are always breathing anyway.
So I learnt to use breathing for calming my mind. We are breathing all the time. I learnt to breath calmly, steadily, deeply. It did not happen immedietly but over a period of time. I learnt to be aware of the breath. That helped.
You can fine more Meditation information here.
Meditation Photos
11,734 Foot Yoga Mom...
saludo al sol
Moon Meditation
shadows on the wall
me&myself
meditation
Street meditation
garden smoke
garden smoke
night smoke
Meditation on Video
What do you think of this info? Comments are welcome.
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Nayana
Thanks jacquelinestone for visiting and commenting. I too love to find out ways that make me better as a person, both physically, mentally and spiritually. Posted August 31, 2008 |
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jacquelinestone
Nice job! The benefits of meditation are too numerous to mention. I love lenses that contribute to our wellbeing. Posted May 01, 2008 |
