Beginner Meditation Technique
If the first thing that comes to mind by listening to the word “meditation” is old men with shaved heads and orange robes or hippies wrapped in foggy aroma smoke clouds, you probably have not seen beyond these cliché pictures. Meditation is not per se associated with either religion or spirituality.
Meditation is a kind of mental education that focuses on bringing your thoughts and feelings to the surface and full consciousness. It has to do with who you are and what your position is in the world and teaches you to appreciate every minute, that’s exactly what it is, as it is. Just as you exercise your muscles to stimulate them, so is meditation, it exercises the most mysterious and unrecognizable body of your body: the brain, namely the mind.
The Buddhist philosophy is indissolubly linked to meditation, as they have known for centuries its benefits to the body, mind, and soul, but in recent years scientific studies have decided to analyze a little bit more about the consequences of daily meditation on the life of individuals. Some of these are: reducing stress, improving attention and productivity, exacerbating memory and creativity as well as enhancing positive emotions of the individual towards himself and the world that surrounds it.
What happens in the mind at the time of meditation?
Research base has found that meditation increases the brain’s gray matter, especially in areas related to muscle control, sensory perception, memory, emotions, and speech. In a study carried out at the Massachusetts General Hospital, people who meditated at least 30 minutes a day for 8 weeks increased the density of their hippocampal gray matter (that portion of the brain related to learning and memory) Magnetic resonance imaging showed a remarkable reduction in the tonsil substance (an area associated with anxiety and stress).
At the same time, systematic empathy, the situation we find during meditation, may, according to studies, reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Getting Started
To be able to meditate properly find a quiet room with few aesthetic distractions. If you want to put an alarm clock 5 (10 or 15) minutes later and sit in a comfortable position on the floor or a chair. Buddhist monks are accustomed to saying: “Sit with the peaceful dignity of a king or a queen.” Just remember to keep your body upright without killing it. Gently held your hands on your knees, relaxed your shoulders, enlarged your chest and softened your belly.
Close your eyes and turn your attention to your breath without trying to direct it. Just observe it. Breathing is your anchor in now, and it will guide you back to it, from the fleeting wandering of your mind. As a beginner, you can also measure your breathing. Measures every inhalation and exhalation, and when you get to 10, you have recovered from the beginning. This process will help to connect the mind with your breath, especially at the beginning where the fleeting thoughts can distract your concentration. Every time you catch yourself working on one of them, it starts to count from 1. At the end, you will be able to follow your breath without having to count.
There are many different types of meditation. You can choose to sit, lie down, or even walk or run. You can watch the flickering of a candle flame or say the popular mantra “ohm”. Experiment and see which practice suits you best.
What to Expect:
During meditation, you can experience a wide range of emotions, from frustration, sleep, and boredom, to fear, anxiety, pain or even anger, but remember that they are normal and expected. Recognize them and then they will not overtake you. You may also catch yourself being distracted by the expectations it has about this experience and how you think it should be. What you have to do is just to understand them and let them overtake you. Your purpose is not to react, but to observe.
You can imagine being a pebble in a stream of thoughts. You will slowly be so steadfast in your core that these thoughts will slide from you like the water above the pebble. In order to do this, you need to gradually get rid of self-criticism throughout meditation and in the beginning, it will not be as easy as it sounds.
You will catch your mind wandering and going too many times. Your purpose is not to prevent your mind from wandering but to bring it back to the present when you realize it. When you hear the alarm, slowly open your eyes and continue your day normally. In the meantime, however, you will notice some “magic” changes in your everyday life and how you perceive it.
Behind the breaths
As you practice meditation systematically, you will focus more easily on breaths and bring yourself to the state of rest and empathy much faster. This will help bring this state of being into your everyday life. You will begin to perceive your body more closely, the tensions it brings, the pain, the energy, things that until then your busy life did not allow you to perceive. This will make it easier for you to get rid of anything negative that damages your soul and body. The benefits of meditation are not so obvious during the exercise, but rather how they affect globally the rest of our everyday life, such as how you choose to talk and to feel yourself, how you can start from the beginning if you have It erases somewhere and most importantly, the things that are essential to your own happiness and tranquility.
Remember that no matter what level you are, but especially when you are a beginner, the important thing is to make meditation a part of your daily life, even if it is only for 2 minutes a day. In the same way that you commit to pursuing a systematic exercise program, so in meditation, if you want to see results you have to commit yourself to your program. Just think that happiness and peace can only be a matter of two minutes from your life. Will you turn your back?
is it adviseable to count to 4 when breathing in , then 4 seconds when you breath out…??
of course! whatever works better for you!