“Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment” ~ Alan Watts
What does exercise mean to you? Well you may immediately answer gym, yoga, Pilates, zumba and more. However while all this is to do with your physical body, it is important to also focus on mind wellness and the single best way to do this is well, meditate.
Do it Right
Meditation is the most natural form of being. You can practice this art through a teacher, a spiritual course or even online videos. However, it is always recommended to start with guided meditations with a teacher so that you can learn the basics and channelize your energy effectively. The benefits are spiritual, physical, mental and emotional. In Japan, some companies have made meditation compulsory. “The practice is done by sitting with eyes closed, crossed legs, the back straight, and attention placed on breathing in and out. For the period of meditation, the individual focuses on his or her breathing, and when wandering thoughts emerge, one returns to focusing on the object of meditation, breathing. It reduces anxiety, depression, and perceived distress,” says Captain VSN, Growth Guru and Founder, Eternal Yogi. “Start with warm up exercise, few deep breaths and concentrate on your breath. Relax your mind and body before starting with meditation. Make no effort to control the breath, simply breathe naturally, focusing your attention on your breath and how your body reacts to it,” opines Khevna Joshi, Holistic health and alternative sciences expert.
Relax & Rejuvenate
Meditation is an experience of relaxing the body, quieting the mind, and awakening the spirit. With the fastened pace and increased demands of modern life, we usually feel stressed and over-worked. The time often seems short to complete our daily chores. This stress and tiredness leads to an impatient behaviour and gradually transforms into a permanent unhappiness. “Overcoming these negative thoughts and enhancing a cultivating outlook is the purpose of meditation practices. A few minutes of meditation can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance. If the mind is peaceful, one will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience happiness,” says Dr Maneesha Mohan, Consultant physiotherapist, La Femme, Bangalore. Meditation improves the immune system and thereby helps in controlling blood pressure and lowering blood cholesterol. It is so powerful that anyone can perform meditation anywhere at any time. “The Cosmic Meditation technique is natural procedure for allowing the mind to gain a state of maximum strength and clarity while the body settles into deep rest. The physiological changes which accompany this state of restful alertness account for the wide range of immediate and cumulative benefits of Cosmic Meditation program,” says Vinayak Bhatt, Cosmic Astrologer, Vedic Grace Foundation.
Mind over Matter
Meditation brings you closer to your soul. In order to clear your mind and soul meditation is very important. “Meditation is the tool to train our mind. Patience is very important to learn the art of this spiritual healing. For a beginner it is always easy to start practicing object meditations or simply following breath awareness. One requires a lot of perseverance and focus to learn meditation. It helps one to be less worried about discomfort, more appreciative and attentive to everything in their life,” says Dr Manoj Kutteri, Wellness Director, Atmantan Wellness Centre. “I think the most important factor is not to discuss the experience that you have gained while meditation, and even not listen to anyone else’s. As meditation is different for everyone, everyone feels and gains different insights from it. When we do discuss, we again wrap ourselves in the vials of ignorance, from which we are actually running,” says Hansraj Budhiraja, CMD, AB Sea Container Pvt. Ltd.
Varied Hues
Meditation was introduced to the human race by the supreme God head of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) Shiva. There are various kinds of meditation in different schools of thought. “On a broad level, there is active and passive meditation. Active meditation is the one where you are participating actively by dancing, laughing, talking, jumping or other ways and it is followed by sitting in silence which is a form of passive meditation. Active meditation is mostly cathartic in nature and is advisable to be practiced with a trained teacher initially till you get a hang of it yourself,” says Prashant Chawla, Founder, Actcelerate. Smitha Shetty, Nutrition, Fitness & Y og a Expert avers, “different schools of thought direct us to just one kind of meditation – meditating with the focus on the highest object / reality / truth which is achieved through sound / holy name / mantra. These sounds create a vibration that helps us connect with deeper realities.” Meditation is so powerful and requires much more knowledge in understanding the basic philosophy. Also there are many different types of meditations which are designed to treat various psychosomatic illnesses. So take a deep breath and relax.
Do’s & Don’t‘s
- Choose a comfortable posture that you can hold for a while.
- Minimize internal and external noise.
- It is always better to do a physical stretching before the practice of meditation.
- Focus on breathing and do not make any effort.
- Avoid any external distractions, tight clothes and powerful lighting.
This story appeared in Kotak Select’s e-magazine here:
