Saturday, April 1, 2017

SOME Q AND A ABOUT MEDITATION, HOW TO START MEDITATION? WHICH ONE IS BEST MEDITATION?


What is meditation about?


Different people have different meaning of meditation  For some people, it’s about a specific benefit (better health, performance, creativity, etc.), or about personal growth and healing. For others, it’s about spirituality, awakening, and transcendence.


Whatever motivates you to start meditating, is good. Your goals may change by time.


How to Start a Meditation?

How to start meditating? How long until I see some results?
That is actually a very good question.There are few essential points about how to make meditation a permanent part of your life.


JUST START


There is no preparation needed. You can start today.
Choose a time of the day and a place in your home to do your meditation. Make any small changes you need to make to your schedule and lifestyle, so that this habit is encouraged and has its place. For example, setting up an alarm clock for the meditation time, or preparing a cushion and corner of the room for the practice. Commit to practicing every day.
Starting even with one minute per day is ok, as long as it’s every day.


SHOULD I HAVE  EXPECTATIONS BEFORE MEDITATION


Expectation is the antithesis of meditation. If you learn to do meditation for meditation’s sake, its wonderful benefits will come to you in time (not in one week though). Think of meditation like taking a shower, or sleeping. Simply something you need to do every day.
There are some results from meditation that are immediate. You immediately feel better, more at ease, after most practice sessions. Other results come in a few months – actually research shows that with daily meditation, even after 8 weeks you already have some noticeable results. And some deeper results may come as years pass by.


WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE IN MEDITATION

Meditate as if your head was on fire – that would get your full attention wouldn’t it? That type of attitude.
Yet, don’t worry about succeeding at it. Just keep building it. This is the practice.

HOW TO INTEGRATE MEDITATION IN DAILY LIFE
A Zen Master said pick one new activity every week (like walking, eating, talking, dressing, etc.) and focus on bringing the meditation energy to that activity, whenever it happens, during the whole week. Then, in the following week, you keep doing it but add a second activity. Do this for 20 weeks, and mindfulness will have impregnated your life.



When to meditate

Is it better to meditate in the morning or night?
It depends on the person. All things being equal, however, meditating in the morning is better. The main reasons are:
You can focus better – you are more well rested, refreshed, and probably have fewer things going on in your mind.



On the other hand meditating at night does help you have a better sleep. Also, if you are a night person, you may find yourself more alert for practicing at night.


Should I always meditate in the same place?


Meditating always in the same place and time is a good help in focusing the mind. Your brain associates that place with the practice, so it is easier for you to focus. There is less distraction involved.



How long should I meditate for?

What’s the ideal session duration?
You can start with anything – even 1 minute a day is good. The most important thing is that it be every day. After one week you can then increase to 3 minutes, then increase 2 minutes per week until you arrive at your desired length – I suggest 20 minutes for beginners.

It is also very important to have a few mini “mindfulness moments” during the day. Just taking a couple of mindful breaths during your day can make a big difference.


Remember that consistency is the most important. 1min every day is better than half an hour once a week.


It doesn’t matter how slow we walk, so long we keep on moving. – Confucius


What are the best postures to meditate?

 Is it okay to meditate in bed to build habit?
The body and mind are VERY connected, so they influence each other. The posture you take can help concentration, or can act as a distraction.
The ideal position to meditate is seated down, without leaning your spine. You can sit on a cushion on the floor or, if that is too hard, on a chair.

if you are doing guided meditations, I would not worry much about doing it laying down. Whatever is comfortable for you and get you started, is great.

Should I keep my eyes open or closed?





Meditating with closed eyes has the advantage of helping you move into deeper states of meditation. However, beginners may find that the mind wanders more if the eyes are closed, or is more likely to fall asleep. Meditating with eyes open helps your mind be more present and alert, and may make integrating the meditation state in your daily life a bit easier.



So both are possible. In some traditions the eyes are closed during meditation (mostly the Hindu based practices); in others the eyes are kept half-open, with the gaze resting in a place in front of you (usually in Buddhist and Chinese traditions).


Which meditation technique should I do? Should I stick to one or try many?


There are several types of meditation, some quite different from each other (learn more here). Most of these techniques you can learn for free (through the internet or in a center).
In the beginning it is a good idea to go and try all the ones you feel attracted to, but make sure to practice each of the ones you like for a few days at least, to have a real taste for it. Once you’ve found one that matches you well, then you will grow more by sticking to it, instead of jumping around to other practices. Otherwise it will be like moving one inch in ten directions (instead of ten inches in one direction).


Is there a form of meditation that is better than others?


Yes – the one that works for you.
All authentic forms of meditation will yield a certain set of common benefits, common results – such as greater focus of mind, stress reduction, increase of will-power, etc. That being said, some types of meditation will give certain types of results better than others. For increasing compassion, loving-kindness may be more effective than Vipassana; to learn to be more in the present moment, mindfulness may be more effective than mantra meditation; to transcend the ego, self-enquiry is probably the most direct.


There is no reason for you to force upon yourself a certain type of meditation. Try different ones, explore, and stick to what works for you. By time you may also change practice, as your needs change.

Meditation tips for starting the session

What I have found that works is having a very clear start in your practice, with a strong intention. I now make it part of my routine that, when I sit down, I have three very long breaths, where I breathe in through the nose (filling my lungs to the brim) and out through the mouth (emptying them fully). Then I say to myself, in my mind: “At this moment I’m not interested in anything else in this universe. I’m not interested in any thought, memory or feeling. I’m only interested in the meditation. During this time, there is nothing more for me to think or do – only this!“.



What is the best breathing method for meditation?


Most adults move their upper chest (not their belly) when they breathe. For meditation and yoga, the best is diaphragmatic breathing, which better oxygenates the blood and calms the mind. Once you get used to having diaphragmatic breathing your default breathing pattern (for your whole day, not only meditation session!), if you then try to do “chest breathing” again, you will see the big difference it makes.


Both abdominal breathing and diaphragmatic breathing (which are not the same thing) are better than breathing through your upper chest. Yogis have known this for thousands of years, and lately science has been catching up as to the health benefits of this practice.

REFERENCE BOOKS AND MEDITATIONS





Meditation For Beginners A Step By Step Guide To Calming Your Mind, Reducing Stress, And Living Longer Starting Today (Self Improvement) (Volume 1)

Meditation for beginners: Learn yourself Guided Meditation for Beginners





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