Meditation is a mindfulness technique and practice aimed at helping you manage your thoughts and mind. The way we practice meditation can vary—from sitting in a comfortable position to physically walking while focusing on a specific object, thought, or activity—allowing our minds to calm down and become more aware of the present moment. The goal of meditation is to achieve clarity and quiet dominant thoughts through breathing, leading to a state of stillness and peace.
How to Get Started with Meditation
Before diving into different types of meditation and their benefits, we need to practice essential elements. If you’re new to meditation, it’s important to master calmness, detaching from thoughts, and approaching them correctly. When we practice meditation, it’s important to remember that we may not find peace and stillness on the first attempt—it comes with practice.
Dismantle and Disarm Thoughts
As we prepare for a session, thoughts may interrupt our flow into a state of presence. Thoughts influence our actions and emotions. If we feel resistance, either in the moment or before a session, we should acknowledge our thoughts and neutralize their impact. We can dismantle and disarm irrational and irrelevant thoughts by consciously accepting and recognizing their presence but choosing not to act on them. This way, we can set them aside while focusing on achieving clarity and mindfulness.
Be Open-Minded
Having an open mind—being willing to consider new ideas—helps us when facing resistant thoughts. If we resist doing something, our minds will try everything to avoid it. Distractions like social media, music, or television can occupy the mind when there’s no other engagement. Approaching meditation with the wrong intentions leads to unproductive results and negatively affects the mind. Experienced meditators can achieve better results by approaching meditation with an open mind.
Be Patient and Consistent
Starting meditation can be challenging. We often expect immediate results, which aren’t always delivered. It’s similar to training for martial arts or going to the gym. If we remain patient and consistent, our sessions will yield wonderful results, enhancing our mindfulness and presence. With this understanding, we can approach meditation by following the usual steps in a session.
Types of Meditation
All techniques share the same goal: to help individuals achieve clarity and awareness of the present moment. The key to good meditation is finding a practice that resonates with you and can be incorporated into your daily routine. Different methods cater to different needs, which is why there are various ways to practice meditation.
Guided Meditation
If you’re new to meditation, starting with a guided session is a great idea. Guided meditations cover various themes, from gratitude to envisioning your future self. These sessions help maintain focus, providing a guideline for the mind to follow.
When engaging in guided meditation, the most important things are to focus, listen, and be open-minded. Meditation requires a level of spiritual understanding, which we must accept and embrace to maximize our sessions. Being open-minded makes it easier to follow the guidance.
Guided meditation demands full concentration. Sometimes, we may drift in and out of focus, losing track of our thoughts. The more we practice focusing and listening, the better our guided meditation sessions will become.
Mindful Meditation
Mindful meditation sessions are practiced in peace, undisturbed, by sitting and focusing on breathing while dissolving or altering thoughts. Music, sounds, or mantras (repeated phrases we wish to manifest) can deepen our connection with the session. Beyond the mind, mindful meditation can also connect us with the body, allowing us to sense how the mind and body resonate together. Techniques include:
- Transcendental Meditation (TM): A practice focused on manifesting mantras.
- Chakra Meditation: Focuses on the body’s seven energy centers (chakras).
- Body Scan: Brings awareness to different parts of the body, moving from the toes to the head or vice versa.
Visualization is another technique in meditation, using mental images or scenarios to promote relaxation or achieve a specific goal, such as reducing anxiety or boosting confidence. This approach is beneficial for those struggling with traditional meditation methods.
The key steps in mindful meditation are:
- Find a quiet place without distractions.
- Sit in a comfortable position.
- Choose a meditation method that resonates with you.
- Start with a few minutes each day and gradually increase the duration as you become more comfortable.
Physical Meditation
Practicing this type of meditation helps increase bodily awareness (the conscious connection between body and mind) and sharpen the senses. Physical meditation can be practiced through:
- Yoga: Physical postures (asanas) combined with breathing techniques (pranayama).
- Vipassana: Self-observation of behavior and thoughts, reflected in movements like impulses and instinctive desires.
- Walking Meditation: Involves slow and mindful observation, paying attention to sensations in the feet and breath to enhance physical and mental well-being.
Physical activities can also be meditative. As long as we achieve mental peace through activities like running or weightlifting, we are already on the path to a peaceful state of mind. However, we must remain mindful of our thoughts during physical exercises to fully integrate meditation into the process.
Benefits of Meditation
Meditation offers numerous benefits. It helps calm the mind and body, allowing them to synchronize, which establishes a strong foundation for being aware of your thoughts in the present moment. This awareness enables us to interact with our subconscious mind. Thoughts will always arise; through meditation, we learn how to engage with them. Thoughts are just thoughts—you need to learn when to act on them and when to let them go. From the moment we become aware of our thoughts, we become conscious. The more attention we give them, the more we understand them and how to respond, as long as we remain in a calm state.
Reduces Anxiety, Stress, and Depression
Studies have shown that meditation can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. Thoughts influence us biologically, potentially leading to both mental and physical health issues. Thoughts can also play a role in hormonal balance. What we think affects our nervous system, sending signals that trigger the release of various chemicals and hormones, which can result in hormonal imbalances. Through meditation, we gain clarity over our thoughts and cultivate self-awareness, which can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression.
Enhances Emotional Intelligence
Meditation practices help us understand, manage, and connect with our emotions. By recognizing that our thoughts create our feelings, we can develop better skills to understand why, what, and how we feel. This allows us to manage our emotions more effectively in personal, professional, and social situations, using emotional intelligence tools that we learn through meditation.
Improves Well-Being
Well-being—the state of feeling good physically and mentally—is enhanced through meditation. By achieving mental clarity, we can improve our well-being by defining and discovering purpose, creating a strong and stable foundation for happiness and health.
Strengthens the Immune System
Meditation strengthens the immune system, helping protect against illness and disease. In addition to reducing symptoms of various conditions, it can also reinforce bodily systems, including immunity. Meditation supports a healthy balance of hormones and endorphins by aligning our thoughts with our perceptions and sensory experiences, fostering a state of peace and tranquility.