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Essay on benefits of meditation
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Essay on benefits of meditation
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Meditation
Relaxation lowers blood pressure, calms the nervous system, releases tension in muscles, enhances immune system function, and reverses the damage done by negative stress. For relaxation to work its magic on the body, both the body and mind need to be still, and calm. As left side activity of the brain decreases, the intuitive, creative, right side of the brain becomes more active. We need to quiet the rational side and draw on our inner-wisdom, capacity for empathy, ability to love, and faith that you would be given answers.
Meditation is a state of deep relaxation in which breathing slows, alpha and theta brainwaves increase, and the mind to become calm, yet alert. Meditation increases oxygen levels in the blood, stimulates the whole body and reverses feelings of tiredness. In meditation, the body must be calm and the breathing regular, and easy.
If you practicing meditation daily for six weeks, you will find it bring tranquility and joy into your life. Choose a time to meditate every day – perhaps wake up half an hour earlier than normal. Choose a place where you won’t be disturbed. Sit comfortably on the floor or in a chair, with your spine straight.
Meditating on the breath
The key to meditation is keeping the mind focused on one subject or object. In this meditation, we will focus on the breath with the purpose of connecting to our bodies and our feelings.
Meditation is done in three steps:
1. Relax – Unwind the muscles and become physically quiet
2. Center – focus on the breathing cycle and develop the capacity to witness the breath without getting lost in the process.
3. Release – Return to waking consciousness and reinforce the meditative experience.
Relax
Relaxi...
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...le to play. Not only that, but I am exploring something I always wanted to do and that feels really good.
Ideally, meditation should be a daily practice, like brushing your teeth. Starting out the day from a place of centered calm makes for an infinitely more pleasurable and efficient life – not to mention the general self-esteem and sense of personal power that comes from having your own safe port in the storm.
We will meditate for a few minutes. Simply sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight. Close your eyes and be aware of how your body feels from the top of your head to your toes.
Notice the rhythm of your breathing. Feel the air as it passes through your nose and throat. Be aware of the rise and fall of every breath, letting your breathing looks after itself. If your mind wanders, simply bring your awareness back to your breath.
However, meditation is not as common within Buddhism as most believe. There is a large assumption “that Buddhism and meditation go hand in hand”, but the majority of Buddhists have focused on “cultivating moral behavior, preserving the Buddha’s teachings (dharma), and acquiring good karma”(Braun 2014, p.1). Meditation and Buddhism are often assumed to be one and same, but this is also not true. As Buddhism has gained popularity among lay people it’s practices have changed Buddha’s teaching of the middle path has adapted to meditation being “possible in the city” rather than with monks in jungles and caves (p.4). As seen in Burma, in less than 75 years Buddhism and meditation were able to grow “from a pursuit of the barest sliver of the population to a duty of the ideal citizen” (p.5). While meditation is not the core of Buddhism it has encouraged the growth of Buddhism as it’s practice of mindfulness has been inspiring an approachable model (p.6). Meditation and mindfulness are easily manipulated to secularization, but still have significance in Buddhism and following the patterns of your
...practitioners to maintain a sense of the present while practicing. This breath will keep you self-aware and grounded in your practice. The sound that the breath makes will link your body and mind, and allow you to practice longer by minimizing distractions.
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
Without practicing meditation, we do not reflect on or pay attention to our everyday actions, mostly acting on habit. The world is full of defilements and everyday we are infatuated by them, sensual desires, and delusion, although we often do not know it. Meditation weakens these unwholesome temptations and desires by making us aware that they are arising, and by revealing that they are truly unwholesome. The temptation only ceases when the concentration we obtain from meditation results in greater happiness than sensual pleasures can ever provide. While the satisfaction gained from sensual pleasures is fleeting, the clarified, focused state of mind of the meditator accumulates into a constant tranquil state. Only when we have stilled the mind’s incessant wandering and momentarily abandon the attraction to sensory experiences can we become truly aware of our hidden motivations and unconscious feelings that shape our thoughts and behavior. It is also necessary for changing our views of the world and ourselves. Through confronting these delusions, desires, and feelings we are able to renounce them. “During meditation we learn to drop from the mind what we don’t want to keep. We only want to keep in mind the meditation subject. As we get more and more skilled at it, we start to use the same faculty in our daily lives to help us drop thoughts that are
Meditation is a way to open up all areas of the body and release anything that may be toxic to the spirit. Channeling the spirit through meditation is another familiar practice due to the fact that is believed that the spirit is never dead, only the shell. Through meditation, people believe that they are able to channel their minds so that they might have a more intimate experience with God. People who practice the religion believe that there are more ways to reach God than through Jesus alone. Yes, Jesus is the central avenue but when a soul sees God in all things then they are able to experience the euphoria that comes with being one with
Concentration and mindfulness are also considered fundamental components in mindfulness meditation. Concentration is the ability to focus on an object be it external or internal, without interruptions. In simple terms, this can be achieved by literally forcing our minds from attaching to any one thought or sensation. Mindfulness is more of a gentle awareness of what is occurring in the present moment. In union, these two techniques allow the self to center in on the true nature of reality. Of course this is no simple task and requires a lot of patience, persistence, consistence, and mental
The purpose of meditation, and mindfulness meditation as mentioned in this course, is to increase awareness while calming the normal thought processes that often overcrowd the mind with ideas that are deemed not-true by Buddhism. These brain scans clearly show that the purpose of meditation is achieved in doing so.
OK. So you’ve heard, that meditation is beneficial for you, maybe you’ve read lists about the advantages of meditation. A ton of different kind of meditations are on-line, and you found several resources, articles, blog posts about the theme to select from. These articles state, that the meditation has countless benefits, which are also proven by scientific research. You can believe them, since eminent scientists carried out extensive research on this subject. And they suggest, you should try them, and of course you should practice it each day. Every day - or you won’t have those benefits.
Meditation aims to develop and master mindfulness, insight, and equilibrium. It allows its followers to obtain indifference to worldly attachments, experience the mind as it is and its original nature. The mind continuously engages with internal and external stimuli, constantly at work. Meditation is a way in which one can gain control over this constant flow of stimuli, by focusing the mind. Within the practice of Theravada Buddhism, meditation is seen as the most crucial way of reaching enlightenment, escaping samsara, and gaining the full understanding of what nature is. Whereas Mahayana buddhism utilizes mantras and incantation as a form of buddhism that also allows its practitioners to use this form of meditation to reach enlightenment. Despite its origination in religious practice, it has been loosely defined as a self regulating technique of having control over one's physical and mental
Steps for concentrative meditation, (1) find a quiet place, (2) sit in a comfortable position upright, (3) find an object to dwell on, for example your breathing, or on a particular word that is repeated, (4) a passive attitude, meaning do not get upset when distracting thoughts
Hence, what is mindfulness meditation? Mindfulness refers to the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present with no judgment. Whereby, meditation is a spiritual and introspective practice involving components of both analysis and concentration as a part of a process of becoming aware of the present surroundings and the mind (Gordon et al., 2013). Meditation can also be defined as the practice of revolving your attention to a single phenomenon, which include focusing on the breathing,
It is well known and proven that over time the benefits of meditating on a regular basis promotes the development of inner calmness, connectedness, focus, flow, a clear clarity of mind, a focused and more stable grounded concentration, along with coherency of thought, increased creativity, being more open and receptive to receive insights, solutions to problems and new ideas, a balanced and harmonious centred inner equilibrium, a relaxed happy body, mind and spirit, which in turn assists as a preventative tool that creates and maintains positive overall vibrant health and wellbeing.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (2010). Health info. Meditation: An introduction. Retrieved from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm
Meditation is not a time devoted to thinking or reflecting about oneself, but a time to redirect one’s thoughts and emotions away from the outside world and onto something simple, such as the wind or one’s own breathe. By learning how to meditate, an individual can learn how to react appropriately to “the circumstances one finds oneself in, i...
There are six easy steps: must stay relaxed, believe that it is true, visualize, practice, be patient, and improve you concentration every day. First, to come to full relaxation meditation is a good start. It is not required, but it will help relax the body and strengthen concentration. “False beliefs are a well-known obstacle to achieving anything” (WLP, 2015), which brings us to our next step, believing. The mind must know it is real and can be done.