Chakra Meditation

In this day and age, meditation is becoming a tool for us to achieve a well-balanced physical, mental and spiritual health. Chakra meditation is arguably the most popular type of meditation that western culture has shown interest in. This is attributed to the fact that chakra meditation is simple and, at the same time, effective in relieving our everyday stress.

The idea behind chakra meditation is understandable. Buddhists have always believed that the human body is governed by seven energy centers known as chakras. To achieve a sound mind, body and spirit, the energy flow throughout the body has to be balanced. This means that during meditation, you have to concentrate on each of the chakras, allowing energy to flow throughout your whole body. But before we get into that any further, here are the seven chakras and how each governs our physical, mental and spiritual self:

1. The Crown Chakra – This is located at the top of your head. It governs our thoughts, providing us with wisdom, knowledge, and the development of our consciousness.

2. The Third Eye Chakra – This energy center relates to the power of light which gives us the power of visualization and perception. It is located in between our eyebrows.

3. The Throat Chakra – Found at the base of the throat, this chakra relates to the elements of sound. It governs our communication ability and our creative endeavors.

4. The Heart Chakra – This governs our compassion and capacity for love and relationships. It is related to the element of air and is located at the center of the chest, close to the heart.

5. The Solar Plexus Chakra – It is also known as the power chakra simply because it governs our will power and metabolism. It is located on top of the navel, just below the rib cage. It relates to the element of fire.

6. The Sacral Chakra – This is responsible for our creative impulses. It governs physical love and our generative organs. It is located just below the navel.

7. The Root Chakra – This is considered as the first chakra and is located at the base of the spine. This chakra is responsible for our physical health, in general, as well as security and prosperity. It relates to the element of earth.

Again, these energy centers have to be properly aligned and well-balanced for you to achieve a healthy lifestyle—physically, mentally, and spiritually. There are techniques to do this. The first technique is grounding. The aim here is to be physically and spiritually connected to the earth. What you should do is to sit or lie comfortably, close your eyes and visualize a root growing out from your body, seeping into the ground beneath you. You have to be extremely focused while doing this technique for it to be successful.

Another technique is centering. What you need to do is to take a few deep breaths in order for you to achieve the proper breathing. Every time you breathe, try to tighten each and every part of your body and then loosen and relax them afterwards. Do this from the bottom to top. Try to visualize your self doing this relaxation. After doing this, imagine a piece of pottery being centered on a potter’s wheel.

The last technique in chakra meditation is the relaxation technique which taps directly on the energy centers of the body. This may take but longer, twenty minutes of relaxation time being the minimum duration, but it is considered to be one of the most effective and easiest to follow among the three techniques. All you have to do is to relax yourself. You can either sit or lie down as you close your eyes. The important thing is to remove any external stimuli so that you can concentrate on your energy centers. Again, you only need to breathe naturally and let all distracting thoughts flow throughout your body naturally. The body shall find its way to achieve its natural state, allowing you to deepen this meditation.

Now start your concentration with your Root Chakra and imagine it exuding a vibrant red energy field. Feel safe and grounded while doing this. Imagine this energy rising up to your Sacral Chakra. As it fills out the area with energy, imagine the color turning into orange. From here on, concentrate on feeling attractive and sensual. Take your energy upward to the Solar Plexus Chakra, imagine the color becoming yellow here. Feel powerful and vital while the energy fills the area until it goes up your chest towards your Heart Chakra, filling the area with love and peace. Visualize the energy field turning into the color green. Let this energy flow to your Throat Chakra and as it reaches the energy center, notice a ball of blue light forming. Concentrate on your artistic endeavors and self-expression. The energy will then reach your forehead, in between your eyebrows, where the Third Eye Chakra is located. The energy becomes purple as it fills this area, increasing your psychic abilities and intuitions. Finally, the energy field would turn into white as it reaches your Crown Chakra. This energy shall connect your energy with the rest of the universe providing you with wisdom, knowledge and spiritual development.

After concentrating on your seven chakras, individually, you can conclude your chakra meditation by visualizing your whole body glowing with all the energy colors. The combination creates a rainbow throughout your body with a beam of white light crowning your head. Breathe deeply several times and once you are ready, open your eyes as wide as possible and feel the energy revitalize yourself physically, mentally and spiritually.

Learning Transcendental Meditation

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the world to the wonders of transcendental meditation back in 1958. In his time, he has written several books and has toured the world to conduct lectures on learning transcendental meditation to over 40,000 teachers and practitioners. Today transcendental meditation is commonly practiced in the medical field as a therapeutic remedy for stress and anxiety symptoms such as depression. It is also widely known in the Western world as a form of deep relaxation that can be performed at home or even in the workplace.

People nowadays need an escape from the fast paced world. Transcendental meditation is one way of attaining peace, even for as little as 20 minutes a day. During a session, the body is engaged in a deep restfulness while still maintaining a lucid and alert mind. Learning transcendental meditation became popular because it is easy to perform. You only need to choose a word, an image or a symbol to focus on while doing the meditation. This symbol has to be something that you really love or has a profound meaning to you. It can be something in nature, a religious or cultural symbol, or a word that means a lot to you personally. During meditation, you have to concentrate on this word or image and replay it to yourself. Soon enough you will find yourself falling deeper and deeper into a state that is neither deep relaxation nor sleep. It is a state of deep restfulness they often refer to as theta brain wave pattern. This should take place in a tranquil setting, away from any type of distractions.

The meditation techniques used in learning transcendental meditation have been researched extensively not only by Maharishi Yogi. Other Hindu practitioners and new age therapists have studied the benefits that one can derive from this kind of meditation and how to properly perform it in order to achieve such physical, mental and spiritual benefits. Again, during transcendental meditation, our mind falls into a deep restfulness that is slightly related to sleep and relaxation, with many positive results. After spending 20 minutes to an hour on this meditation, this restfulness is then carried over to a state of wakefulness.

After which, the body will automatically feel a little lighter. There will be an increase in mental comprehension, focus and alertness. Other studies suggest that learning transcendental meditation also enhances the creativity of the practitioner. This is one of the reasons we see so many celebrities practicing this type of meditation. Some of the celebrities who are known to be practitioners are Mick Jagger, David Lynch, Heather Graham and, of course, The Beatles.

Aside from this, the International Journal of Neuroscience conducted a study on transcendental meditation, they found in some cases that this type of meditation can actually reverse the aging process. The results of the study show that the biological age of the people who practices transcendental meditation is 12 years younger than their chronological age. Additionally, they found that this meditation has positive effects on some old-age ailments such as insomnia, high blood pressure, and hearing loss.

Aside from gaining a positive response from the medical community, learning transcendental meditation is also supported by most religions, though its actual roots are of Hindu origin. In transcendental meditation, you are not encouraged to either assume a Hindu lifestyle nor convert to the Hindu religion. It is advised that while conducting the session, you should focus on a religious symbol or object that you really believe in. So if you are a Christian, you can still affirm your belief in Jesus Christ while doing the meditation by simply focusing on the crucifix during the session.

The whole point in transcendental meditation is that one has to be at peace with one’s self in order to attain peace with one’s surroundings. Having this kind of spiritual consciousness shall then give you a healthy body, mind and spirit.

Energy Meditation

Energy meditation is fast becoming a popular form of meditation available to those who are constantly looking after their spiritual and mental well-being.

But what exactly is energy meditation all about? This form of meditation is founded on the belief that everything in this world is made up of energy, most especially in our body, mind, and soul. Such being the case, it is important for us to channel this energy to everyone and to the world around us, freeing our mind and soul in the process of the burden brought about by inner conflicts and issues. At the same time, we become more aware and understanding of our own selves as well as of the things around us.

In addition, there are physical benefits that we get as well from doing these types of meditation. You will notice your stress levels become lower as you will experience lower instances of heart attacks and high blood pressure.

Now that we know what it’s about and it can do for us, the next is learning it. But before we begin doing this meditation, we must first let ourselves feel compassion and love to every being and to the world around us as well. This has to be shown in a sincere manner. Also, find a way to say things that would give joy or encouragement to everyone around us and express thanks to God for everything we have right now.

We then let our minds be filled with positive thoughts, thoughts that would make you feel relaxed and at ease. We continue doing so until the mind is fully at rest. Once it is rested, we then shift our attention to the world around us.

Imagine all the things around as forms of energy: the people we meet, the animals or objects around us, even physical structures like buildings and monuments. Now imagine the energy of these living and non-living objects coming together to create an energy field around you, waiting for you to absorb it. The energy field is now established, so we now begin working on the inside now coming from the outside.

Here we focus on our body meditation. Let us picture our whole body also as energy, even our internal organs like the stomach, heart, lungs as well as every bone and muscle found in our body. We now begin to create in our minds a perfect balance between the self and the outside world, working in harmony to achieve that spiritual well-being. This would be done through deep meditation which should last for about 20 or 30 minutes. Afterward, we then let our mind and the world around us revert back to their physical form before we stop our meditation exercise.

Whether you do it on your own or with the guidance of a meditation guru, energy meditation is a form of meditation that anyone can practice. So if you would like let your mind as well as your soul free, this definitely a form of meditation you should consider.

A Guide To Meditation Techniques

Meditation is one of the most universally accepted mental exercises in our world. It is also one of those exercises that have been practiced by man for millenia, harking far back into the ancient times. And as the practice spread across the world, the history of meditation evolved over time as various meditation techniques have made their way into being practiced by many people today.

These techniques vary greatly on the goals they present and the methods used as well. Let us take a look at some of these meditation techniques and what they are all about.

One of the most well-known meditation techniques is the Mantra Meditation. This technique involves repeating specific sounds known as a mantra. The word “mantra” itself comes from the Sanskrit language which means “revealed sound.” This mantra may be given by a meditation guru or you can choose your own. In mantra meditation, it is believed that speaking the mantra emits “vibrations” directed to one’s “chakras” or man’s force centers that will attract divine powers which heals the body physically, spiritually, and psychologically.

Speaking of chakras, another meditation technique is the Chakra Meditation. The purpose of this meditation is to discover these chakras in our body (seven all in all) and be able to bring integration and balance not only to each of these chakras, but to the whole body as well.

The Steady Gaze or Trataka Meditation is a popular meditation technique among many religions, including Christianity and Sufism. It is also one of the simplest and considered the most beautiful meditation techniques. Trataka meditation involves fixed gazing over a particular object like a candle along with deep breathing and alternating with the closing of the eyes. Apart from improving eyesight, it is also said this technique develops one’s “psychic eye” as well.

The Vipassana Meditation is another meditation technique which aims to provide you a vipassana or insight into your inner self to be able to identify the cause of your suffering and get rid of it in the process through self-observation. This body meditation also allows one to study any sensation felt in the body like itching and pain.

Zarzen Meditation, with the image of one sitting in a lotus position, is perhaps one of the most well-known and most depicted among the meditation types. It is said that this is the technique done by Buddha himself. In addition, Zarzen Meditation helps one become more disciplined in life.

The Raja Yoga Meditation technique is a technique practiced by yogis who wish to experience the highest form of bliss and enlightenment. This technique is also used by yogis who wish to be closer to God and be detached from all worldly things.

Finally, there is the Nada Yoga technique which focuses on meditation using the body’s internal sounds. By using the thumbs to plug the ears, one who practices this technique will notice these sounds which are faint at first before it gradually becomes louder. This helps the mind become more active and beneficial to the meditation as well.

What To Look For In A Meditation Pillow

If you are uncomfortable doing your meditation with your body seated directly on the ground, you may want to get a meditation pillow so you can sit a little more comfortably. This is very beneficial, especially if you will be doing meditation exercises for a long periods.

But before this topic can be expounded further, it would be helpful to clarify about what a meditation pillow is. While there are some specialty meditation pillows available today, it does not necessarily mean that you have to use these specialty pillows if you want to meditate. In fact, if you’re on a budget you can use any regular pillow for your meditation needs.These needs will vary depending on the nature of your meditation and where you plan to meditate. It is with these factors in mind that we choose the right pillow for the job, so to speak.

If for instance you plan to do your meditation activity over a soft soil or on grass, then a lightweight pillow will suit the job just fine. The pillow should also have a soft inner fill, like one made of nylon, for extra comfort. Also, if you plan to do your meditation over a grass surface, it would be important for you to get a machine washable type of pillow to keep it clean. Always remember to wash it regularly though.

If you do your meditation over hard surface like wood or concrete, a two-stage pillow would be recommended. A two-stage pillow has its advantages over a regular one since the former would not deform easily after long usage, not to mention never making your rear sore after a long periods of meditation.

Some may have some trouble sitting up straight throughout the meditation exercise, so even a regular or a two stage pillow may not do the trick. In cases like these, you may need to get a specialized meditation pillow. These products are available from quality meditation equipment suppliers. These pillows come with a back support as well, so in essence, they look like chairs with no legs. But what’s more important is that these mediation cushions provide the needed support for your body during meditation, allowing you to be able to do your breathing properly in a comfortable position.

As with any piece of equipment, it would be of best practice to try a pillow that you would like to use for your meditation exercises. We need to make sure that the pillow that we use is something that we would be most comfortable in using. The meditation pillow should be able to support your weight and your back as well if necessary.

Most importantly, one should have a well structured and balanced posture while seated on the pillow, as you do your meditation. Your pillow should be helpful, so that you can relax and breathe deeply, without any feeling of pain or pressure that might get in the way of your goal–clearing your mind to achieve inner peace and harmony.

Effects of Meditation on the Mind

Many people today are experiencing bouts of anxiety and depression due to all the pressure this fast paced world is putting on us. This happens because people lack the time to devote themselves to proper relaxation and self-renewal. In turn, it adversely affects their physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Meditation is one effective way to calm and refresh our bodies. Aside from that, the positive effects of meditation on the mind are widely accepted by many therapists in the Western world nowadays.

Deep relaxation is the foremost effect of meditation to our bodies. While engaging into different meditation techniques, you are able to free your mind from the stress of the world. You are able to let out all negative thoughts from your body and replace them instead with positive energy. Deep relaxation is far different from what we derive from simply lounging in front of our TV sets. It is even deeper than what we get from sleep. They say that deep relaxation boosts alpha waves intensity in our body and thus reducing the level of lactic acid in the blood. High level of lactic acid causes anxiety and once it is reduced, we become a little less anxious as well. It then becomes a good way of de-stressing ourselves after a long day’s work.

The effects of meditation on the mind doesn’t just bring us to a state where we can relax and feel good about ourselves. This new calmness we can derive from meditation also relieves us from anger and agitation. In turn, it does not only affect us mentally, but also physically. The more agitated we are, the more our blood pressure increases. Meditation, then, helps reduce our tendency to get heart ailments. It regulates our blood circulation by increasing tranquility and removing all types of anxiety and anger.

In the end, an overall sense of well-being can be achieved from regular practice of meditation. All the physical effects of stress in our bodies shall be relieved accordingly. The effects of meditation on the mind will have a domino effect on our physical fitness. Insomnia, chronic headache and migraine, irritable bowel sydrome and upset stomach, dysmenorrhea, and other ailments caused by fatigue and depression will all become nothing but things of the past.

Meditation also encourages a healthy lifestyle. A regular dose of meditation shall alleviate our dependence on medication, alcohol and smoking. If we are undergoing treatments for any injury or illness, meditation aids us in dealing with the pain. Again, what meditation does is calm the mind. The less agitated our minds are, the more we can tolerate any pain. The body will then react positively towards healing.

Aside from benefiting directly, the effects of meditation on the mind benefit from the feeling that we get from progressing in this healthy lifestyle. Experts say that meditation makes us look and feel younger. Studies show that any form of meditation reduces the level of lipid peroxide in the body which contributes to old-age diseases such as atherosclerosis. It then brings about a healthy glow on our faces by bringing peace and tranquility.

Where most of these practices originated, meditation was not just a method for revitilization. It is a significant cultural and spiritual practice that contributes to a person’s well-being. The self-knowledge and wisdom derived from the practice of meditation also provides us with a higher sense of self. Having said that, the effects of meditation on the mind is brought to a much higher level of self-awareness.

The History Of Meditation

Archaeologists affirm that the history of meditation actually dates back to prehistory. They believe that before written records of meditation in the civilized world existed, early human beings had already discovered the positive effects of gazing into the flickering flames of a bonfire that has brought them to an altered state of consciousness. Since then, many types of meditation have become common among primitive societies.

The earliest records of written meditation techniques are Hindu scriptures called tantra’s that are said to be written 5,000 years ago. A yogi figure demonstrating the practice of yoga proves the existence of meditation in the first ever Indian civilization located in the Indus Valley.

The spreading of meditation techniques across Asia can be attributed to the advent of Buddha in around 500 B.C. Each culture that came to adapt Buddha’s teachings developed their own interpretation and techniques of meditation. This resulted in many different variations and styles, in several cultures, across the continent. Buddha used to be known as Siddharta Gautama. He was able to attain Buddhahood by his experimentation in different forms of meditation. Because of this, he was able to develop jhaanas or supranormal skills until such skills became a practice known as samatha. By practicing these skills, he was able to calm down his inner thoughts and develop in himself the power of concentration. This type of meditation became known as the vipassanaa – the ability to see the nature of life and the universe by means of meditation. Through vipassanaa, one is able to attain Nirvana.

The history of meditation must not be attributed merely on the Buddhists and the Hindus. The Muslims also claim that meditation has become an Islamic practice, dating back to  the time of the Prophet Mohammed. This is according to the beliefs of the Sufis of Islam.

Western religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Jainism also have there place  in the history of meditation as well. However, meditation is not widely practiced or taught in these religions, when compared to the Middle Eastern and Asian traditions.

In ancient times, meditation was performed for spiritual and cultural purposes, though its effects on a person’s physical and mental well-being have long been documented. It took thousands of years before the western civilization took meditation seriously. It became popular in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Even celebrities practiced different forms of meditation. The Beatles are probably one of these groups who were very vocal about their meditation practices. People who idolized the band also tried to assume the same lifestyle. As a result, they found the benefits of meditation to be quite substantial.

Probably, one great leap in the history of meditation also happened during the 60s and 70s. It wasn’t just hippies learning about meditation, the medical and scientific community started conducting studies on meditation. Most of the studies, if not all, discovered that meditation had some significant health benefits. Because of this collection of findings, the western civilization started accepting meditation as a form of therapeutic remedy to alleviate physical and mental ailments. Soon after, meditation became the first ever alternative, or holistic form of healing, widely accepted in the medical world today.

Meditation At Sunrise

Starting the day with a calming meditation.

Meditation On The Dock

Meditation near water can be very soothing.

Meditation By The Sea

A soothing meditation pavilion near the ocean.

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