Meditation is an approach to training the mind,
similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. But many
meditation techniques exist. So how do you learn how to meditate?
“In Buddhist
tradition, the word ‘meditation’ is equivalent to a word like ‘sports’ in the
U.S. It’s a family of activity, not a single thing,” It’s extremely difficult
for a beginner to sit for hours and think of nothing or have an “empty mind.”
But in general, the easiest way to begin
meditating is by focusing on the
breath — an example of one of the most common approaches to meditation:
concentration.
Concentration
meditation
Concentrative meditation techniques
involves focusing on a single point. This could entail watching the breath,
repeating a single word or mantra,
staring at a candle flame, listening to a repetitive gong or counting beads on
a rosary. Since focusing the mind is challenging, a beginner might meditate for
only a few minutes and then work up to longer durations.
In this form of meditation, you simply
refocus your awareness on the chosen object of attention each time you notice
your mind wandering. Rather than pursuing random thoughts, you simply let them
go. Through this process, your ability to concentrate improves.
Mindfulness
meditation
Mindfulness meditation technique
encourages the practitioner to observe
wandering thoughts as they drift
through the mind. The intention is not to get involved with the thoughts or to
judge them, but simply to be aware of each mental note as it arises.
Through mindfulness meditation, you
can see how your thoughts and feelings tend to move in particular patterns.
Over time, you can become more aware of the human tendency to quickly judge
experience as “good” or “bad” (“pleasant” or “unpleasant”). With practice, an
inner balance develops.
In some schools of meditation,
students practice a combination of concentration and mindfulness. Many
disciplines call for stillness — to a greater or lesser degree, depending on
the teacher.
Other
meditation techniques
There are various other meditation
techniques. For example, a daily
meditation practice among
Buddhist monks focuses directly on the cultivation
of compassion. This involves envisioning negative events and recasting them in
a positive light by transforming them through compassion. There are also moving
meditations techniques, such as tai chi, chi kung and walking meditation.
Benefits
of meditation
If relaxation is
not the goal of meditation, it is often one result of it. Back in the 1970s,
Herbert Benson, MD, a researcher at Harvard University Medical School, coined
the term the relaxation response after conducting research on people who
practiced transcendental meditation. The relaxation response, in Benson’s
words, is “an opposite, involuntary response that causes a reduction in the
activity of the sympathetic nervous system.”
Since
then, studies on the relaxation response have documented the following
short-term benefits to the nervous system:
·
lower
blood pressure
·
improved
blood circulation
·
lower
heart rate
·
less
perspiration
·
slower
respiratory rate
·
less
anxiety
·
lower
blood cortisol levels
·
more
feelings of well-being
·
less
stress
·
deeper
relaxation
[source= http://life.gaiam.com/article/meditation-101-techniques-benefits-beginner-s-how]
