Meditation

I have been asked to write a blog on Meditation. So here goes

Meditation is not something that many people are familiar with but it is a very good way to ease both stress and reduce tension in the body.

Unfortunately, to the western world, meditation still remains a somewhat ridiculed pass time. Most people think of hippies’ or yogis’ when they think of meditation but actually, you may already have entered meditative states without even realising it.

How many of you have had that ‘thousand yard stare’, or got lost in ‘thought’ staring into a fire? This is a meditative state. It’s a state of total relaxation where the mind switches off and you almost become detached from yourself. Meditation involves silencing the mind. It is not an intellectual activity, it’s an attempt to expand your consciousness and be aware of yourself. Meditation can be a practical tool for relaxation, concentration and better health, as well as a tool for self discovery. If practiced correctly, meditation can be a powerful antidote to depressive thoughts.

It is hard to pick up meditation without actually having done it and many people find it easier to be ‘guided’ the first few times. There are a few basic pointers though, if you want to try it for yourself. No matter what form of meditation you choose follow, the basic principle is to quieten your thoughts and mind. This is a skill and at first, you may find it difficult to master. I think, personally it’s best to use some kind of outside influence to help calm the mind when you initially start. As I have said before, open fires are good, or a candle flame. Something you can focus on but doesn’t provide a mental stimulus. The whole concept of stopping thoughts can be very difficult. If you tell someone not to think of something their mind will instantly focus on it

Try it… I’m going to tell you to purposely NOT think of a donkey

See what I mean?

So when you first try sitting silence for a while, you will probably be inundated with thoughts. Difficulty controlling those thoughts, at first, is a common experience. However, if you sincerely try, you can learn to reduce the power of your thoughts over yourself.

When you first attempt meditation there are a few things that I think are essential.

Number one is comfort. You have to be comfortable or you will not be able to relax. Some people like to have soft music. This is fine, but make sure its calm and there are no distracting lyrics. Natural sounds or soft piano music works well.

Secondly make sure there are no distractions. TV and radio off and put the phone away and make sure you have plenty of time. It’s very easy to lose track of time whilst in the meditative state.

Thirdly, concentrate on something. It is hard to control your thoughts through the power of the mind alone and requires a great deal of practice. To achieve inner silence it is advisable to choose something to focus your attention on. This may be the use of a simple mantra or prayer or it may be concentrating on a candle or a simple object. Or you can try listening to your own heart beat. This last one is a simple method and is very inwardly focused plus it has the advantage of always being handy.

Lastly, don’t try and force it. Don’t expect a calm or silent mind straight away or after the first few attempts. Meditation, like any worthwhile activity requires dedication and practice. The Chinese call the state of random uncontrolled thoughts, the ‘monkey mind’ because the mind jumps from thought to thought, like a monkey through the trees. In order to calm the monkey, you must train it.

Meditation is often regarded as a tool for helping with depression. When you are depressed, a powerful stream of negative thoughts runs through your mind. You become very insular and almost selfish within your negativity. Often when depression hits, everything seems hopeless. However, if you can learn to meditate you can go beyond these negative thoughts and quieten the mind. It really can have a dramatic change on your frame of mind and how unhappy you feel.

I will however, lay out a hand of caution. Be careful. In a state of depression or anger, if you sit down to meditate but can’t stop the thoughts endlessly going round, it is better to give up and try something else. Meditation is tremendously intense. If you can only focus on negative thoughts you make them more powerful and it will amplify the depressive state. Therefore, when meditating to overcome depression, it is even more important to detach from your negative thoughts. If you can’t, it’s better to leave it for another time.

So in short, Meditation is a fantastic tool and very much underestimated. Used with things like aromatherapy it can have amazing affects on your mood and sense of well being. So next time you react with anger when someone interrupts your ‘thousand yard stare’ you will know why.

Someone has just broken your peace of mind