Creative Guidance-IASbaba, Inspirational & Educative Articles
Science of Meditation:
Meditation is probably the simplest of daily routines we can pick up that can increase our physical and mental wellbeing tremendously. At the most basic level, meditation is a process of consciously watching our thoughts, emotions, feelings and desires to understand them better. This is why sitting quiet is a very important component of meditation.
Although meditation is one of the most ancient of sciences, it is more relevant to our modern lifestyles today than ever before. Our lifestyle has become so mechanistic and stressful that finding a way to relax our mind and body is very important. Meditation helps us to reduce our stress levels significantly. It also helps us to handle our emotions better.
Stress is a direct consequence of uncontrolled thought processes. When certain thoughts take over us fully, and we are not able to find our inner silence, stress is a natural consequence. Meditation works directly to help us overcome stress by illuminating the understanding of our thought processes better. The more we understand our thought processes, the easier it becomes to be in control of them.
Meditation has absolutely nothing to do with sitting cross legged, chanting some mantras or holding your breath. Meditation is a very natural process of sitting in a comfortable posture and allowing your mind and body to relax. Relaxation is the key to meditation. You can choose any posture that is comfortable for your meditation. You can sit on a chair or go underwater, it simply doesn’t matter; although, it might be a little difficult to stay relaxed under water!
Pick a comfortable posture, but not so comfortable that it puts you to sleep. A posture that can help you to relax and at the same time stay alert is the best posture. You can lighten up the mood with some pleasant instrumental music. Assigning a designated place for meditation will work wonders in setting your biological clock to remember your daily meditations. The place itself will remind you of your meditation.
Choose a quiet place and set an alarm for the duration of your choice. 15 to 30 min is good meditation duration. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and begin to watch your breath. Keep your focus on the flowing in and out breath throughout the practice. With every breath, try and relax your mind a body a little more. It is amazing how much we can relax if we consciously try. That’s it. That is all meditation is – sitting quiet and keeping your focus on the breath.
The magic of meditation is actually not in the technique, it is in what happens to your mind while you are practicing a technique. The constantly noisy and chaotic mind will begin to settle down after few days of regular practice of meditation. This will significantly improve your clarity of perception, your ability to stay relaxed and your ability to handle difficult life situations.
Meditation impacts many dimensions of our lives positively. It helps us to understand ourselves better, hence increases our self-confidence. It helps us to stay calm and relaxed during certain stressful situations. It increases our ability to recollect things, which drastically improves our memory. It also helps us to function in a more conscious way, helping us to avoid unnecessary daily repetitions and mistakes.
Meditation has absolutely nothing to do with religion. It is purely a scientific process. Science is all about observation and understanding what is happening around us. Similarly meditation is all about observing and understanding what is happening within us. If external science has created such wonders, just imagine what this inner science can do to your life.
“This article is a part of the creative endeavor of Inner Revolution and IASBABA.”
