Why would anyone need to take a few minutes out of their day to meditate? As it turns out, even the simplest meditation would help to calm nerves, sharpen focus and assist in raising your energy for the rest of the day. By clearing the chatter and unwanted noise in your head you will be able to work more efficiently and be more at peace with the task at hand.

A meditation can be as simple as watching a flower blow in the breeze, starring at a flame or lying on the grass; you do not need to reach an enlightened state of being to be good at meditating. The goal of meditation is to simply bring the body to a relaxed state and to quiet the mind. The greatest thing about meditation is that it’s free. Simply visualize what you need to happen and it will.

Remember, we are each beings of energy. We are always picking up energy, storing energy and transmitting energy. We must be functioning properly in order to operate at our personal optimal level. Meditation is the quickest way to do this; however, meditation is a learned skill. Training your mind to be still and silent is similar to training a puppy. The mind likes to jump around and needs to be told several times to “sit still.” Meditation is learning to hold your attention on one thing, to the exclusion of everything else, for about 15 minutes. Doing this will break mental patterns of vibration and opens up awareness. Typically, people in the Western society have trouble with this as they have been over-stimulated with images and information.

You are going to have to alter your daily schedule to accommodate meditation. In order to find the 15 minutes you will need to “reset” yourself you may have to avoid that phone conversation with a colleague, avoid folding the laundry or watching the news.

One of the biggest problems most people have with meditation is that they make it too complicated. Meditation requires concentration and self-discipline, but it is not complex. A comfortable chair is all that is needed. To begin concentrate your thoughts on one idea. “I am still,” “I am at peace,” “I am relaxed,” Find a mantra that works for you.

Meditation may be easier if accompanied with music. Something without words is best. Classical works well, especially Handel, Pachelbel, Vivaldi or Bach. Relaxation CD’s are excellent, anything with the sounds of nature works wonders during the winter. Pick what works best with your mood. You don’t have to listen to the same things all the time.

The greatest benefit of training yourself to shut off all the chatter in your mind is when you slowly learn to turn your concentration inward and discover what your Higher Self is saying. Your Higher Self speaks softly and is calming, where most other things you tell yourself are loud and abrupt.

 

 

History of Meditation

Although no official writing on meditation has been recorded in ancient history it has been practised since ancient times. Researchers speculate that primitive hunter-gatherer societies may have discovered meditation and its altered states of consciousness while staring at the flames of their fires. Throughout the centuries, meditation evolved into a structured practice. Indian scriptures called “tantras” mentioned meditation techniques in use more than 5000 years ago. 

Buddha, one of history’s foremost teachers of meditation, and a meditation icon, first made his mark around 500 BCE. He taught across the Asian continent. Separate countries or cultures adopted different forms of the word meditation, and they each found their own unique way of practising it. Buddhist and Hindu-based meditation are the most widely recognized today. 

Meditation was brought to Western society thousands of years after it was adopted in the Eastern societies. It finally started to gain popularity in the West in the mid-20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s, many professors and researchers began testing the effects of meditation and learned about its multitude of benefits.

Some of the Psychological Benefits of Meditation include:

• a reduction in stress and anxiety
• increased creativity and intelligence
• improved concentration
• a reduction in depression
• increased learning ability, moral
  reasoning and memory
• a reduction in irritability and moodiness
• increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
• enhanced emotional control
• increased self-esteem
• increased alertness

 Some of the physiological benefits of meditation include:

• the possibility of lower blood pressure
• increased chance of preventing, slowed or controlled pain of chronic disease
• a boosted immune system
• lowered cholesterol levels
• improved breathing, especially those with asthma
• the appearance of a younger biological