Redbridge For Mental Health

Instant everything – including convenience, solutions, and results among so many others – is one of the major causes of stress that eventually lead to serious problems. Because of this stress, more and more people are learning to practice one of the most powerful means of concentration called “meditation.”

Described as a state wherein a person is in deep concentration on something, either awareness or some object of thought, meditation can be considered as one of the oldest means of calming the mind and the soul. Usually involving one’s attention to be turned into a single point of reference, meditation is practiced by so many people because it can lead a person to a consciousness an inch higher than the ordinary person.

If you are one of those who planning to indulge in practicing meditation or just interested in its seemingly limitless possibilities, then you should start by familiarizing yourself with the various forms of meditation known today. The most common forms of meditation include “Bodhidharma,” “Hinduism,” “Bahai Faith,” “Buddhism,” “Christian meditation,” “Islam Meditation,” “Jainism,” “Judaism,” “Sikhism,” and “Taoism.” Each and every one of these forms mentioned has their own understanding of meditation and also have different sets of practices that come with it.

Another important thing to take note about meditation is that it involves various physical postures to be able to perform the practice well. These postures include standing, sitting, and supine depending on the tradition of that you would want to follow.

Aside from the postures that are used, it is also important to take note about the various types of meditation before finally indulging into it. Experts say that the most common type is the prayer because this is the one of the most practiced types people does. Aside from the simple prayer, other types of meditation also include the mindfulness meditation, and some of the forms included in the Eastern tradition including the buddhist, Taoist, and zen meditation.

If you are just starting, the first thing that you need to concentrate on is the elements for involved in a basic traditional meditation. Usually, there are four elements that greatly affect traditional meditation including a place that is quiet, a posture that is comfortable, an object that a person can to focus his or her attention and n attitude that is relatively passive.

Learning Meditation Techniques

Meditation techniques are known to vary depending on the origin of the practice and the culture in that place. It also varies depending on the personality of the person and where he or she comfortable with.

Meditation techniques can be classified as “concentrative” that involves the means of focusing into a specific object and the other can be termed as “expansive” that involves a person’s free flowing thoughts, observation, and reflection. The most common meditation techniques that are being practiced by many people today include the “Mantra Meditation” which involve production of sound or the combination of one or more sounds that are played in a very spontaneous manner, the “trataka” or Steady Gaze where the person meditating is asked to gaze steadily in a certain an object and focus his or her attention to it, and the “Chakra Meditation” which greatly helps in the manifestation of energy and mind control.

Those who are practicing advanced meditation are also learning other effective meditation techniques including Vipassana Meditation, Raja Yoga Meditation, Zazen, and Nada Yoga, which have their own respective practices and postures.

One aspect of meditation is to slow down your thoughts enough to “see” your thoughts. Being able to see your thoughts will give you the ability to change your life through the concept of the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction follows a simple physical principle that is applied in nutrition. That principle is “you are what you eat”. Applied to the Law of Attraction the principle becomes “you are what you think”. Think wonderful thoughts and wonderful events will come into your life. Think that everybody is horrible then you will only see the horrible parts of life.

Meditation is the method used to see your thoughts. Since meditation is not easy I have listed 4 simple steps to help you move through the process.

Proper Posture – On the one hand meditation can be done in any position. But there are certain things that happen during meditation that are enhanced by proper posture. The first thing to consider is staying awake. Since you are producing a state of extreme relaxation the most likely outcome, from a rushed and hectic life, is to fall asleep. But with that aside meditation will let energy (chi) flow through your body. The energy follows certain paths and a seated upright position is the most enabling for this energy flow.

Proper Breathing – Another reason for proper posture is that many meditation methods have a breathing component. Not only is there breath control involved but there are certain visualization that go along with the breath. The most common visualization is that on the inhale through the nose to see the breath come in through the nose, travel up over the head, down the back and up the front of the body to the stomach area. On the exhale to see the breath rise up from the stomach area up the chest and out of the nose.

Proper Attitude – Meditation is a process of refinement that cannot be rushed. An attitude of calm expectation is needed to progress. If you become annoyed or angry at the speed of your progress then rest assured your progress will become even slower. Since one of the goals of meditation is to calm the mind then an angry or agitated mind will only stand in the way of the desired goal.

How to Concentrate – The most often given advice on how to meditate is to simply let your thoughts go. To just watch them and not to follow them. Which is very difficult. We have a great tendency to follow our thoughts into long stories until we forget completely about the act of meditating. An easier way to help slow down our thoughts is to concentrate on something. Imagine sitting on the edge of a lake at night and a full moon is clearly reflected in the lake. Keep your thoughts focused on the reflection until you can hold the image without there being any ripples in the water.

Simply follow these 4 steps and you will be on your way to changing your life in ways that will be predictable and controlled by you.

Meditation has a positive effect on your body, both in a physiological and a behavioral way. The main effect is that you can get your body to relax and this helps to remove the stressful feelings that are causing tension in different parts of the body. Much research has been done on the effects of meditation on the body and on how it can help in healing or lessening the symptoms of various medical conditions.

One of the immediate effects of meditation (http://www.wilddivine.com/wellnesslibrary/47.html) is that it slows down the heart rate as you concentrate on your breathing. By taking large breaths in through your nose and holding them for a few seconds before slowly exhaling, you are also bringing oxygen to the deepest depths of the lungs that are often deprived of oxygen in normal breathing.

Research has shown that meditation is one of the best exercises you can engage in for a healthy heart. Transcendental meditation and meditating with the eyes closed seems to be more effective at lowering the heart rate than meditating with the eyes open.

When you lower your heart rate, another one of the effects of meditation is that it increases the blood flow to all parts of the body because the heart is pumping blood at a steadier rate. Blood flow is also necessary for mental clarity, which helps you understand facets of your daily life more clearly.

Research into these effects of meditation (http://www.wilddivine.com/wellnesslibrary/62.html) have shown that blood flow increases more in meditation than when they body is at rest when sleeping. If you have any problems with high blood pressure or hypertension, you would benefit greatly from practicing meditation.

In the studies that have been conducted, patients who started practicing meditation on a daily basis were able to successfully discontinue taking the medication that had been prescribed to lower their blood pressure levels and were able to keep the blood pressure down. The relaxation of the body during meditation also helped to relax any muscles that may have been compressing parts of the circulatory system.

Mediating on a daily basis equips you with the mental skills to recover more quickly from traumatic or stressful events in your life. This is because of the sense of peace and calm you are able to create in your mind and body and this gives you skills to deal with situations in different ways. You are able to sit back and think about what is happening before you react.

Experts say that the effects of guided meditation (http://www.wilddivine.com/our_products.html) extend to enhanced sensory, perceptual and cognitive abilities. You are able to think clearer with the increased blood flow to the brain and this allows you to release your creative talent in finding ways of solving problems. You can also think in a more logical manner and have a greater sense of concentration. This in turn improves your memory. Research has found that those who meditate on a daily basis are less likely to develop Alzheimer`s Disease.

The increased perceptual abilities that are effects of meditation will help you develop a greater understanding of events that are occurring around you. You are able to understand the reasoning of others and understand the reasons for their actions. This also helps you respond to them in more productive ways, which makes your life a lot calmer and easier.