How To Get Started With Meditation?

Before getting started with meditation it is important to know what meditation actually means? 

Meditation:  It is an ancient practice that helps to control our own mind and consequently our own life and discover ourselves or it is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. Meditation is the only practice that has no side effect and doesn't need to check whether it will suit someone or not. It has a number of benefits which are classified as under :

1. Physical Benefits of Meditation:

• It slows the aging process.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Decreases the physical tension.
• Delete psychosomatic disorders caused by tension.

2. Emotional Benefits of Meditation:

• Helps control anger.
• Helps build discipline.
• Brings clarity to our thoughts.
• Calm your nerves.
• Helps with anxiety and depression.

3. Psychological Benefits of Meditation:

• It helps us to be more confident in ourselves.
• Helps to reduce worries.
• Energizes.
• It helps personal growth.
• It helps to be more tolerant and sensitive.

4. Benefits of Meditation at work or study:

• Improves concentration.
• It makes you more creative
• More receptive and learn more easily.
• Lowers the distraction.
• Improves memory.

5. Benefits of the Nervous System:

• Improved blood circulation
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower heart rate
• Less anxiety
• Slower respiratory rate
• Less perspiration
• Deeper relaxation
• More feelings of well-being
• Lower blood cortisol levels
• Less stress

How to Meditate? Complete Guidance to Meditation

Complete guidance is given here so that you can start meditation effectively. Stay connected with AatmaBharat to know more tips and advice regarding meditation, weight gaining, weight loss, and other psychological factors.

Take a seat

Get a place to sit that feels calm, comfortable and quiet to you.

Set a time limit

If you’re just beginning, it can help to choose a short time, such as five or 10 minutes.

Notice your body

You can sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, you can sit loosely cross-legged, you can kneel—all are fine. Just make sure you are stable and in a position you can stay in for a while.

Feel your breath

Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and as it goes out.

Notice when your mind has wandered

Inevitably, your attention will leave the breath and wander to other places. When you get around to noticing that your mind has wandered—in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes—simply return your attention to the breath.

Be kind to your wandering mind

Don’t judge yourself or obsess over the content of the thoughts you find yourself lost in. Just come back.

Close with kindness 

When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze (if your eyes are closed, open them). Take a moment and notice any sounds in the environment. Notice how your body feels right now. Notice your thoughts and emotions.

How to do Basic Beginner’s Meditation?

Not everyone is able to perform Meditation tasks professionally, it is highly recommended to start from the beginning to slowly move towards moderate and deep meditation. Here is the complete beginner’s guide you must look before starting meditation:

1. Sit or lie down, closing your eyes.
2. Breathe but don’t try to regulate your breathing.
3. Let breaths come and go.
4. Pay attention to the sensations of breathing, attend to the rise and fall of the abdomen, the chest, the shoulders, and the in-and-out of air through your nostrils.
5. When thoughts go stray, return gently to your breath.
6. Do this for 3 minutes per day at the outset and gradually increase your time.

Types of Meditation:

Meditation can be classified into different categories so that one can choose which type of it is more urgent and fruitful for him. Let's have a look over these different types of meditation:

1. Yoga Meditation. It aimed at strengthening the nervous system, so we are better able to cope with everyday stress and problems. However, in order to integrate the neuromuscular changes that happen during yoga and gain the greatest benefit from the practice, we must take time for savasana or Shavasana, known as corpse or relaxation pose, to relax the body and relieve tension and it also improves the blood pressure. 

2. Vipassana Meditation. Another ancient tradition that is aimed to make you concentrate intensely examines certain aspects of your existence with the intention of eventual transformation. Vipassana pushes us to find "insight into the true nature of reality," via contemplation of several key areas of human existence: "suffering, unsatisfactoriness,” “impermanence,” “non-self,” and "emptiness."

3. Chakra Meditation. This meditation technique helps at keeping the body’s core chakras or centers of energy open, aligned, and fluid. Blocked or imbalanced chakras can result in uncomfortable physical and mental symptoms, but chakra meditation can help to bring all of them back into balance.

4. Zen Meditation. This ancient Buddhist tradition involves sitting upright and following the breath, particularly the way it moves in and out of the belly, and letting the mind “just be.” Its aim is to foster a sense of presence and alertness.

5. Mantra Meditation. The idea here is that the subtle vibrations associated with the repeated mantra can encourage positive change — may be a boost in self-confidence or increased compassion for others — and help you enter an even deeper state of meditation.

6. Loving Kindness Meditation. Focusing on the image of different people. It doesn’t matter if we know them or not, if we like them or not — is integral to this technique. We direct positive energy and goodwill first to ourselves, and then, as a ripple effect, to others, which helps us let go of unhappy feelings we may be experiencing. Below is a video with more instructions on how to use the loving-kindness meditation technique.

7. Sound bath Meditation. This form uses bowls, gongs, and other instruments to create sound vibrations that help focus the mind and bring it into a more relaxed state.

8. Body scan type of Meditation. Often, our body is doing one thing while our mind is elsewhere. This technique is designed to sync the body and mind by performing a mental scan, from the top of the head to the end of your toes. Imagine a photocopier light slowly moving over your body, bringing attention to any discomfort, sensations, tensions, or aches that exist.

9. Visualization. This type of meditation invites you to picture something or someone in your mind. It can feel challenging to some, but it’s really no different than vividly recalling the face of an old friend naturally, without effort. By conjuring a specific visualization, we not only get to observe the mind, but we also get to focus on any physical sensations.