Basic Meditation

Why Meditate?

Meditation is a state where your mind gets rids of the clutter of thoughts and is able to shed its predetermined notions and beliefs. The ego gets dissolved and it becomes easier for one to see the world in a larger perspective – one gets closer to the supreme guiding force of this universe, that most people call God. Some religions believe that with correct practice of meditation or Samadhi one can be able to ‘see’ God; one attains the divine bliss or Nirvana.

Physiologically it has been established that through meditation the body attains a better restful state than the rest that even sleep provides. The stress and anxiety get reduced because during meditation body releases less of such stress inducing hormones. That is because the mind is clear and devoid of the worldly thoughts and worries. This regulates the blood pressure and therefore also helps to control so many common diseases related to the blood pressure and the heart.

Stress as we also know causes aging…therefore it turns out that meditation gives you longevity. Not only that, it has been well established that the people who are regular meditators improve their sensory powers like sights and sounds. With regular practice the mind becomes so attuned to the external world that some individuals develop psychic and extra sensory perceptions (ESP).

Two simple exercises for starters

The Calming Exercise.

Switch off your phones for 15 – 20 minutes.
Find a quiet peaceful location.
Sit comfortably with eyes closed.
Keep breathing regularly through your nose. Pay attention to the air passing through your nostrils.
Let the breathing continue and keep concentrating on the air going in and out of your nose.

This exercise causes you to stop your thoughts and observe the perpetually rhythmic pattern of your life force i.e. the breath. This causes you to become tuned with the present, and would result in calming your body and the mind.

Stop the mind.

Switch off your phones for 15 – 20 minutes.
Find a quiet peaceful location – try to be in a place where there are sounds but not noise. Therefore it is Ok if there are dull sounds like the humming of the traffic on the road, chirping of the birds, distant sound of music etc., because in modern life a certain degree of sound would always be around anywhere one is.
Sit comfortably with eyes closed.
Take a few deep breaths and try to stop your mind. Don’t worry if you can’t…because we know that is not easy!! And that is what this exercise is meant to be for, isn’t it?
Keep breathing regularly and try to leave your mind free. Be prepared to let the mind wander off. However the trick in this exercise is to consciously divert your mind to the sounds that you can hear.
Keep diverting your mind from one sound to the other but do not let the mind stop long enough to start trying to find the meanings behind those sounds. The idea is to get the mind clear of the clutter of thoughts and patterns from your life, and instead get the mind running after the various sounds.

The beginners to meditation might find that the mind still wanders off into thoughts after 1 or 2 minutes only. But that should not be a cause for worry. The time interval where the mind is clean of all the day to day thoughts keeps improving with regular practice. After some time one might not even require concentrating on the sounds to keep the mind from wandering off.

As the above exercises indicate that to calm the mind and to clear it of all the thoughts one might need to divert the attention to something else. That is why different people propose different tools of meditation like looking into a burning candle, listening to soft music, looking at a crystal ball and so on. The exercises we have described above utilize the same principle but do not require any tool or prop other than your own will to meditate. These exercises can be practiced at home, at work, while traveling in a train or bus, or even when sitting in the loo!!. However we strongly request that you do not try these exercises while you are yourself driving any vehicle!!!

Next time we would show you the use of crystals and colors, in the next stage of meditation. Until then, happy meditating……

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