Meditation
What is Meditation?
Meditation is a mental discipline by which
one attempts to get beyond the "thinking"
mind into a deeper state of relaxation or
awareness.
Why Meditate?
• Meditation can help people pay more
attention to their present emotions,
thoughts and sensations
• Meditation can release tension, stress, and
anxiety
• Meditation can help to heal the body,
mind and spirit of a person
Why Meditate?
• Meditation can bring clarity and peace to a
busy mind
• There are many ways to meditate, none
are better then another
Why Meditate?
• Physical Benefits:
– You are more rested after even a short
meditation. This allows the body time to
rest, heal and rejuvenate.
– Reduces stress levels
– This helps keep the body younger and
healthier
– We lose brain cells more slowly and give sick
and aging cells a chance to rejuvenate
Why Meditate?
• Mental Benefits:
– Experience inner peace and harmony
– Awaken new patterns of thinking
– Negative tendencies vanish
– Mind becomes steady
– People who meditate regularly are more cheerful,
have more powerful speech and lustrous eyes.
– They also have more energy and better health
How do you Meditate?
•Meditation is best done daily, for
anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.
Slowly work up to this length of time.
Regularity is key.
•Find a spot that is always the same for
regular practice. This helps establish
habit.
How do you Meditate?
•Ideally, meditate around the same
time daily. It is thought that the most
effective times are early dawn and
dusk when the atmosphere is most
charged with energy.
How do you Meditate?
• Sit in a comfortable easy sitting pose. Sit
tall and keep the spine lifted.
• Consciously regulate the breath. Find the
inhalation and the exhalation, noticing the
length and depth of each breath.
• Begin for 5 minutes at a time and
gradually increase the length.
How do you Meditate?
• The monkeys (thoughts) in the mind have
lots of bananas to throw at us. When you
start to focus too much on these monkeys,
find your breath again to regain focus.
• Don’t be frustrated if you don’t get it right
away. Meditation takes practice and some
skill. Just sitting quietly is beneficial for
the body and mind.
Types of Meditation
• Some of the methods are:
– Breathing – following your inhalation and exhalation
– Mantras – repetition of a mantra like OM or Soham
– Body Scan – visualizations
– Walking meditation
– Guided meditation
– Tratak – fixed gazing, like watching a cnadle flame or
a blade of grass in the wind
– Sounds – using sounds to concentrate and follow