In this blog, we will learn what meditation is. How to meditate at home & simple ways to meditate with steps to meditate for beginners.
What are the psychological benefits of meditation?
Meditation or mindfulness has gained a lot of attention due to multiple reasons. It is very important to control your thoughts, and meditation helps you relieve stress to a large extent.
Your spiritual journey is an indispensable part of your life and knowing where to start from is the first step you can take towards self-care.
Learning how to meditate correctly is very important. We often come across this question: How to meditate at home OR Is there any meditation guide that I can follow OR What is Meditation?
The idea of meditation is to practice to develop our minds and train our brains to concentrate or focus on a thought or an object. We channelize our thought process towards only that object to train our mind or increase awareness & focus.
Tips: How to Meditate at Home (Steps to meditate for beginners)
1. Find a comfortable place to sit – Find a comfortable seat, cross your legs, and try to sit straight. You need to relax and place your hands either on your lap or on your Knee. You can also put one on top of the other.
2. Pay attention to the Breath – Close your eyes and take your time to adjust to your natural breathing. Breathing is the most essential part of this process.
We don’t need longer or shorter inhales. Just try to breathe as you normally do and try to send each breath to your belly.
Concentrate and feel how the air fills your nostrils and then your abdomen region. By sending breaths into your belly, you’ll feel more relaxed.
You can feel your abdomen rising with each inhale and it’ll drop back to normal with each exhale.
3. Observe the sensations – Now you have become aware of your breath. You might hear some sounds or smell of food, or suddenly you feel something, or you might see a picture of a beach or a mountain.
Label all these sensations as listening, smelling, sensing, and seeing.
Acknowledge all these sensations & become aware of your surroundings but don’t let your mind escape into deeper thought. Pull back your concentration to your breathing.
Meaning: If you smell something, don’t overthink about what is being cooked or what are the ingredients used.
Just label that sensation as smelling and don’t let your thoughts wander mindlessly. Just say smelling, smelling, smelling, and so on.
After a while, this sensation will pass and you can again focus on your breath. Observe the sensations and let it go & again focus on your breath.
4. Observe the thoughts – When you’re focused on breath, thoughts will come and go. Let them pass, don’t dwell on them. Like what happened in the past, or maybe thoughts about the future or just an imaginary world.
Label that thought as “remembering” and don’t try to make sense out of it. After a while, these thoughts will pass and you can again focus on meditation and your breath.
With continuous practice, you’ll be able to develop more and more focus on your breath.
What is an ideal time for meditation?
Although hours before sunrise is considered to be an ideal time, but many experts suggest that any time of the day is good enough to restore inner peace.
Why mornings?
This is mainly because of the following factors:
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The mind is least disturbed by thoughts
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You are less likely to doze off during the process
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The metabolism rate of the body is low and because of this, it becomes easier to channelize the brain
Psychological benefits of Meditation
With meditation, we try to achieve a calmer and stable emotional state of mind.
And there are many psychological benefits of meditation that is why it is often considered as a path towards self-actualization, self-realization, and enlightenment.
Meditation is used for centuries and is derived from Vedantism, a Hindu tradition. Its applications are also used in improving health.
Mental health benefits of Meditation
People who meditate daily find that there are long & short term mental health benefits of meditation.
In the short term, Meditation can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. And the long term mental health benefits of Meditation, include improved sleep and better overall health.
In early times, meditators used to practice in Ashram or Monastery. But due to rapid change in our lifestyles, people are searching for ways to include meditation in their daily routine at their own homes.
Scientific benefits of Meditation:
Though Medications and psychiatrists can help many. But sometimes antidepressants are not enough to cure depression or anxiety or stress. And we need an alternate approach to medications.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.
To book a session click here.
What are the benefits of Meditation?
A study on meditation benefits says that there are proven benefits of meditation, as it helps in reducing negative thoughts about the self
Studies have also proven meditation to have significant effects on curing depression, anxiety, and chronic pain
An increase in cortisol levels (a hormone in the brain, commonly known as the stress hormone) leads to inflammation-promoting chemicals. This can result in stress and anxiety, lack of sleep, and other issues
A meditation style called “mindfulness meditation” reduced the inflammatory response caused by stress, as observed in a study
According to a meta-analysis including almost 1,300 individuals, meditation may reduce anxiety. Notably, individuals with the highest levels of anxiety experienced this impact the most.
Meditation also helps in increasing focus and hence enhances productivity.
Meditation also impacts sleep. Those who meditate sleep sooner and stay asleep longer, compared to those who do not meditate.
Key Takeaway:
A few minutes change in your routine to include meditation can impact your mental well-being significantly. You can follow the aforementioned steps to change your life little by little.
If you practice meditation on your own, do let us know about how it energizes you!