Humans are distinguished from other animals only because of special qualities of brain. Human brain has the capability of thinking, analyzing, reasoning, speaking, etc. which cannot be seen in other animals except in a few where training is given by humans. Brain is engaged in all kinds of activities almost throughout the day. Some are multitasking and because of this, they can do two or more than two works simultaneously. Relaxation is a must to increase the efficiency of the brain. To attain this, one should practice meditation. Meditation is the act of concentrating on something.
Is Meditation Good for Health?
Meditation is an extremely beneficial technique to get relaxation amidst the daily routine. There are many other health benefits too. Apart from relaxation and keeping good health, meditation helps to cure some chronic diseases like hypertension and cardiac diseases. Following are some of the uses of meditation1:
- Improves one’s mental well being
- Reduces stress and anxiety
- Decreases the rate of respiration
- Controls blood pressure
- Gives mental and physical relaxation
- Indirectly influences the production of insulin
- Elevates calmness of mind
- Used as a technique in psychotherapy
- Influences the drugs and increases its action on the body
- Settles the mind
- Helps to have a contented sleep
- Increases the ability of controlling anger
- Supports to render best performance for singers, musicians etc.
- Helps the sportspersons to perform well
- Develops a generous, loving, kind, softer and broad mind
- Walking meditation helps to be in nature and appreciate it.
Types of Meditation
Meditation can be practiced in different ways. The purpose of all kinds and their benefits are also same. Here are some of the techniques of meditation followed by achievers:
- Mindfulness Meditation: In this kind of meditation, the person watches the way his/her brain behaves when different thoughts come to the mind. Here the person is not going to concentrate on a particular thing or thought. He/she does not judge any thought. It is just having awareness of the arising, moving and ending up of various thoughts. After practicing for some time, the person would be able to distinguish between good and bad thought processes.
- Concentration Meditation: Here the person is going to focus his/her thoughts on a single concept. This technique can be accompanied with chanting some words (manthras) or concentrating on light of a candle. Some people learn to concentrate on the rate of breathing and learn to decrease it to get relaxed. As the person practices, they improve and the duration of concentration increases and he/she is able to concentrate on any activity easily. Some people also use a beaded mala to count the number of times he/she has chanted.
- Chakra Meditation: Some people believe that in human body there are different chakras starting from brain to the down of the body along the spinal cord. Concentrating on these chakras gives relief to the practitioners.
- Color Meditation: This is one more kind of meditation where the person believes that there are as many as seven colours which occupy seven places in brain and run down spinal cord at regular intervals. Thinking about these colours heals many kinds of diseases.
- Transcendental Meditation: In this technique, the person chants specific mantras or words for fixed time silently both in the morning and in the evening sitting in a fixed place.
- Sound-based Meditation: In this method, there would be background music while meditating. Some researchers have found that decent music have the positive influence on the thought process and creates positive vibrations. In case the person is guided by some teacher or expert, he/she may record the guidance given by the teacher and use it for future practicing.
Steps to Practice Meditation
In case of meditation, usually, the time, posture and place is to be decided before practicing. Meditators believe that the meditation creates positive vibrations around them. It is essential to sit in a calm place for meditation where there would be no distraction. For enrichment of positive and good thoughts, the place and the time have to be fixed. Though it is not compulsory to sit in a specific posture in some kinds of meditations, people are comfortable in some postures commonly known as asanas. Hence they choose the particular style of sitting. While practicing transcendental or concentration method, the mala which has specific number of beads are also used for easy counting so that they can concentrate on the particular concept or energy instead of getting tensed of missing the count.
Conclusion
Meditation is a self relaxation technique where the mind stops logical thinking for a short fixed period of time. During this time, the brain suspends all other processes. Nowadays, every individual experiences stress. If stress is not dealt with on time, it can start affecting the entire health. To avoid such issues, one should learn meditating.
Also Read:
- What is Chakra Meditation? How Does It Work?
- Can Meditation Help Improve Athletic Performance?
- Can Meditation Regrow Hair?
- Relaxation by Meditation & Ways to Meditate
- 5 Benefits Of Meditation To Get A Fit Body
- Why is Meditation So Important, Its Benefits and Best Time For Meditating
- What Is Guided Meditation & What Are Its Health Benefits?
