The word meditation doesn't have a single concrete meaning. Today this word is used to describe a variety of activities and mental states but the act of meditation has existed since time immemorial in one form or another in every culture in the world.
What is Meditation? A Detail Explanation
In the most basic sense, meditation means to concentrate all your attention on something. What that something is, depends on the context in which you are talking about meditation.
History of Meditation
In Hinduism, the concept of Dhyana has existed since the time of the Vedas that were written as early as 1500 BC. Dhyana means to be aware of the oneness of the body, mind, soul, and the universe while remaining completely detached from it all. From Hinduism, the concept of Dhyana came to Buddhism and Jainism. The Japanese concept of Zen is also closely related to Dhyana.
In Yoga, Pranayama is a series of breathing exercises that focus on Prana or the life force. It is a form of meditation used for healing and relaxation.
In many religions, including Christianity and Judaism, prayer and reading of sacred texts is a form of meditation. In Islam the practice of Dhikr, which involves reciting the 99 different names of Allah, has been practiced since the 8th century.
In one form or the other, meditation has existed since us humans walked out of our caves and started building complex societies. In fact, it is said that the ability to focus our attention on a single task for a long time has been a milestone in our evolutionary journey.
Different Types of Meditation
Because of this long and varied history, there are many different forms of meditation that are practiced today. We'll talk about these different types of meditation in more detail in the next chapter but for now it would suffice to list out some of these varying techniques that fall under meditation.
These are:
- Focusing attention on the breath
- Controlling the breath
- Praying and meditating on the name of God
- Controlling your thoughts so as to eliminate thought completely and replace it with a general awareness of the present moment
- Slowing down your thoughts and visualizing a safe place
- Transcendental meditation
- Kundalini meditation
- Practicing mindfulness
- Using prayer beads to recite a mantra a given number of times
- Sound meditation
- Reading sacred texts
- Singing sacred hymns
- Contemplative meditation
- Concentrating on a single task to achieve the feeling of being "in the flow" or "in the zone"
- Focusing attention on your emotions and feeling compassion and gratitude
- New age meditation
As you can see, there are several similar concepts that all fall under the general term meditation. The common factor among all these different types of meditation is that they all have the same purpose; to calm the mind and bring stillness to it that is missing in our normal day to day life.
Have you ever wondered how much work your brain puts in every day? It starts chattering from the moment you wake up. Sometimes you might be half asleep, trying to find the snooze button on the alarm clock, and your brain has already started its nonstop thinking.
Your brain thinks about everything you do during the day. It calculates your every move. It also thinks about past events and creates judgments for the present moment based on your past experience. It then calculates the results of your actions and how they will line up with your dreams for the future. As you go to bed, the brain is still talking at full speed. Sometimes you wish it would just shut up so you can finally get some sleep. And even during sleep, the brain is creating dreams for you to enjoy. When you are not dreaming the subconscious mind is working on the problems you weren't able to solve during the day.
Clearly the brain needs rest. It gets rest only during cycles of deep sleep and even then many parts of the brain are active, running the basic machinery of your body's vital organs. Meditation allows you to slow down your frantic mind. Things become clear as excess thoughts are lost in the background and only an awareness of the present moment remains. Doing this daily, will help keep your brain healthy, and your mind sane.
There are so many forms of meditation to choose from that it can be overwhelming for the beginner. Which form of meditation you choose, is up to your own personal beliefs but there is a place for most beginners to start from that will help you stick to the meditation habit till you realize the highest benefits.
Benefits of Meditation
Despite all the differences, the benefits of all forms of meditation are almost exactly same. Once you start meditating consistently, no matter which form of meditation, you'll receive the following benefits:
- Your mental health will improve; your thoughts will stop being chaotic and your emotions won't cause an upheaval inside you.
- Anxiety, stress, and depression will reduce.
- You'll be more positive.
- You'll be able to concentrate better.
- Your attention span will increase and you'll learn to focus.
- Your mind will slow down and you won't feel like it's running at full speed all the time.
- You'll be able to sleep better.
- Your physical health will improve as your brain sends the right kind of feedback to the body.
- You will be able to stick to a healthier lifestyle and diet, which will help you improve your physical health.
- You will find it easier to stay away from alcohol, tobacco, and other bad habits.
- Your productivity and efficiency will increase.
- Your memory power will increase.
- You will be able to make better decisions without being paralyzed by fear.
- As you move to higher levels of meditation you'll get in touch with your real self and find a meaning and purpose to your life which will result in a more fulfilling life.
All these benefits, and more, can be achieved by meditating daily. It will take some time for the results to start showing, and at first it will be hard to stick to, but if you can manage to form this habit, in the end it will all be worth it. Luckily for you, by the time you are done reading this book, you'll know exactly what to expect and how to make this habit stick.
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