Meditation Is My Home

I love to meditate for so many different reasons. But mostly, to me, meditation feels like home.

Here is a short list of why I meditate:

Its something I can do no matter where I am, no matter the kind of day I’ve had, no matter what I’ve done wrong or how much time I’ve spent away from my practice. The moment I close the door to my closet and start to center myself this sweet calmness begins to fall over me and I instantly feel safe in this haven of inner peace.  I am reintroduced to my higher self and become reminded of the true person that I am and the person that I strive to be. I am blanketed in God’s love and reminded that holding on to negativity only harms myself; and so in this space, in this moment, I am encouraged to drop my heavy load and burdens and in return I am given a Light to share with the world.

I return to this space on long walks, in hot baths, lying in bed, while sitting or standing; and each time is easier to return than the last because for me meditation is home.

For those of you that do meditate please share with me a reason or two that you feel calls you back to that space. For those of you that don’t I am also interested in hearing why you don’t.  Feel free to share your comments below.

Walking Meditation as a Modern Way to a Healthier Life

Meditation has always been associated with solitude, tranquility, and physical inactivity. When one talks of meditation, you may usually come up with a scenario in which a person finds a secluded area, closes his eyes in silence, and rests his body while working his mind out. Does meditation always have to be like this?

Meditation is an art. A method. A skill. A process. It is the art of keeping in touch with yourself, of discovering your entirety and the many facets of your being. It is also a skill that must be developed. It requires discipline and right mindset. You cannot simply think that you will meditate and expect to achieve a result right after. This requires the tuning of one’s consciousness. Meditation typically involves a set of procedures and guidelines to be followed.

Typically, the success of the activity will depend on the adherence to the given principles and rules.

One interesting form of meditation that deviates from the old and traditional concept is walking meditation. Walking meditation is a lot different from other forms of meditation known to many. For one, you will not have to be physically inactive just to do it. In fact, you need to move and be active – you need to walk! You have to actively engage your mind and your body in this activity in order to experience a holistic positive result. This brings another benefit.
Since walking is a daily activity, you can actually grow by meditation everyday!

You also will not have to find a secluded place just so you can meditate. Anywhere will do. Actually, a noisy and crowded place is even encouraged. Here is where the challenge lies. Concentration is important and awareness must be focused. You must not allow the outer world to bind your mind into it – by the things that you see, hear, or whatever you perceive. You may be aware of them, but you must guard not to do anything about them. Do not cling to anything.

The guiding principle behind walking meditation is achieving a balanced awareness, equilibrium, between your inner self and the outer world surrounding you. This meditation will invite you to feel your entire body, all the workings of the parts that make you up, being aware how each of your body parts operates. While doing this, you also have to notice your emotion and your mood. These are all done while you walk. The outside world need not be lost in your focus. There will always be stuffs that will catch your attention as you meditate, and you are not to resist. You are not to hang on to these, though. You have to let them pass by, observing them without doing anything at all.

This is the real sense of awareness. The ideal result of walking meditation is the person’s consciousness of the outside world while being completely aware of his inner self. When this is achieved, many of the puzzles and complexities of life will become clearer and simpler. By bridging the gap between what is within and what is out of yourself, you can take full control of your life and enjoy a healthier and a more satisfied lifestyle.

Meditation Music: What Kind of Music You Should Play When Meditating

One of the deadliest diseases and considered to be the number killer disease in the United States is heart disease. In fact, recent survey has found that heart diseases kills more people than car accidents in the United States alone. As you can see, you have every right to be concerned about your health in order for you to live a happier and healthier life.

Heart diseases are mainly caused by eating fatty foods and lack of exercise. However, you also have to consider the fact that stress is also one of the main contributors to high blood pressure as well as heart diseases. This is why working all the time without adequate rest is not recommended. It is important for the body to rest in order for it to function properly and remain healthy. However, some people disregard rest because they have to work in order to meet their daily needs.

This kind of pressure is too much for the heart and body. It is also too much for the mind where it cannot function well enough that it impairs your way of thinking. Without adequate rest, you will tend to get moody all the time and lose your efficiency at work.

One of the best ways to relax your mind and body is through sleeping. However, you have to consider that you only sleep once a day and sometimes, you lack sleep because of work. So, the next best thing to sleep is by meditating. Meditation has been around for thousands of years. However, recent studies have found that meditation is beneficial to the mind and body. In fact, research was made on sleeping and meditation. The scanners have found that the brain is more relaxed in meditation than in sleeping. There is less activity in the brain when you meditate. This means that you will be able to fully relax your mind and also your body and keep it fresh all day long.

Usually, meditation requires a quiet room to practice meditation on. However, studies have found that soft meditation music can also help in meditating. People who don’t normally achieve full meditation in a quiet room were introduced to soft and calm music. The research was a success. It states that music can indeed help in meditation and it is now being introduced in meditation classes all over the United States as a helpful tool in meditation.
Ambient meditation music can be downloaded for free over the internet. You will hear soft and relaxing music that will enable you to meditate properly. Meditation music can also help you to go to sleep as well. Other use for meditation music is for sex. It has been found that certain meditation music enhances the sexual atmosphere and gets both partners in the mood for sex.

As you can see, meditation can be used for different purposes. If you want to relax and meditate, choose a relaxing, quiet environment, play your music and start meditating. You will see that it will increase your chances of relaxing through meditation.

Relaxation and Meditation Exercises

After a day’s hectic schedule of meeting deadlines, attending meetings, preparing different documents, and so on, you will always be looking forward to going home and relaxing. There are many ways to relax, and one method that is quite effective is meditation.

How will you do it? Perhaps you’ve already heard other people talking about meditation. It’s not as hard as you think. The idea revolves around focusing your thoughts to a certain relaxing thing over a sustained time. This way, your mind is able to rest, and your thoughts about stressful things are diverted elsewhere. Your body can recuperate and relax through meditation; toxin build ups are also cleared away.

You will notice that while you’re meditating your breathing slows, your blood pressure is reduced, the muscles relax, anxiety and irritability are reduced, stressful thoughts and lactic acid are eliminated, clears your way of thinking, headaches and stress are also lessened, and you can now concentrate and focus fully.

Focusing on just a single thing is the true essence of such activity. This is an active process unlike that of hypnosis. All your mental faculties should be concentrated on the meditation’s subject. Meditation is usually done for about 30 minutes, so be sure that you’re in a comfortable position. You can lie on your bed, sit on your favorite couch, or choose any position that you’re really comfortable with.

You can focus on different things when you’re meditating like breathing, an object, a sound, or even imagery. Whichever you choose, it is very important to remain focused. If you experience any distractions and external thoughts, recognize them and let them drift them out. This is natural when you’re just a beginner; you will always find your thoughts wandering but as you continue practicing meditation, you will soon improve.

Here are a few examples of mediations that may help you get started:

1. Ideal Relaxation – close your eyes and try to create an ideal relaxation spot inside your mind. Choose any place whether it’s imagined or real and furnish the place according to your own preference and style. Wear comfortable clothes and imagine that you’re going to that place. Feel mellow and at ease in your imagined and ideal relaxation place. Enjoy that special moment for about a minute.

2. White Light – White light and color meditations can be very healing. Close your eyes and take deep relaxing breaths. As you inhale imagine the brightest white light coming in and bringing warmth and healing to every cell of your body. As you exhale imagine the stress, negative thoughts and energies being released from your spirit. Enjoy the white light as it cleanses you; and accept the feeling of being renewed as you let go of negative emotions and thoughts.

3. Word Meditation – Words are very powerful and in understanding their power you can use them to create the reality you need. For example, if you feel that you are all over the place, unfocused and can’t seem to pull yourself together then you may need to ground. One way to do this is to use the word grounding to call forth what you need in the physical. So as you relax, get focused on your breath and think of the one thing that you need. As you breathe in slowly say in your mind “I AAAMMMM” and as you exhale slowly say “GRROOUNNDDED”. We have the power to call what we need into existence. You can use this mediation to bring forth anything into your life; love, peace, patience, healing, calm, etc…

These are just simple relaxation and meditation exercises that you can do. If you’re feeling stressed and tensed, do these exercises. Do what works best for you and have fun