Bharat SainiLast Updated on January 24, 2018 by Bharat Saini
Meditation can change the physical structure of the brain, can alter your brain matter by reducing your stress levels, which consequently leads to better mental health and improved decision making. According to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living – “Meditation is not concentration. It is de-concentration”. Meditation is that which gives you deep rest and is an activity in which the practitioner just sits and allows the mind to dissolve. When the mind becomes free from agitation, is calm and serene and at peace, meditation happens. The rest in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep that you can ever have. Meditation training improves cognition, leading to a better mood, increased verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and improved capability for manipulating mental information. Meditation isn’t just for yogis. Vastly successful politicians, persons in administrative services and business are all advocates for the practice, and swear by its effectiveness in calming the mind and improving focus.
Meditation can:
- Reduce stress
- Alleviate anxiety and depression
- Increase your attention span
- Deepen your compassion for others
- Bring clarity of perception
- Improve communication
- Improve your ability to connect to an inner source of energy
- Help in blossoming of skills and talents
- Bring in a healing touch
- Improve concentration
There are other greater potential benefits of regularly meditating such as an unshakeable inner strength, relaxation, rejuvenation, and good luck. Meditation might make your brain better at cognitive functions such as processing information and forming memories.
To Meditate:
- Choose a convenient time and meditateat the same time every day so that it becomes a sustainable routine. Early morning is an optimal time
- Choose a clean, distraction-free spot or room in your home, though you can also do it sitting in your chair at the office during lunch-hour.
- Ensure the lighting is soothing and the ventilation sufficient, and the noise-levels under control.
- Sit comfortably with a light stomach
- Start with some warm-up exercises,
- Take a few deep breaths
- Keep a gentle smile on your face
- Start by meditating for 10-15 minutes. May keep a timer
- Allow yourself access a sense of tranquillity and peace no matter what’s going on around you.
- The goal of meditation is to focus and quiet your mind, eventually reaching a higher level of awareness and inner calm.
- Open your eyes slowly and gently
Meditation is food for the soul; it nourishes the universal values of compassion, caring and sharing, responsibility, non-violence and peacefulness. It helps us bond with others. It fulfils innate tendency of humankind to look for a joy. It gives us the sense of comfort and stability that every human being craves. It helps us meet life’s ups and downs with centeredness, confidence and resourcefulness. It gives us resilience so that we can remain unshaken by storms of emotions that come in everyone’s lives, and also get back on track sooner. Meditation is the greatest grief-counsellor
Meditation helps us achieve that all-important work-life balance, enhances mental clarity and decision-making skills and nurtures trust, creativity, innovation and intuition. It improves our relationships. We develop a pleasant, sociable personality, and are able to accept people as they are. It gives a deep sense of health and well-being as, regularly practiced, the mind, body and spirit benefit immensely. The deep rest it offers makes us more dynamic in activity.
