Picture this. You’re lying on a sandy beach with the sun warming you and your favorite beverage close at hand. For music, you have the gentle sound of the waves washing up on the beach and a light breeze blowing through the sea grass. You’re so relaxed that you can’t quite make yourself think about the crisis you left behind at work yesterday or what you’ll be dealing with on your return. Life for you is just you on this tranquil beach — right now at this present moment.
Only a lucky few of us can escape to the beach when we want or need to. But all of us have access to an equally effective relaxation tool, meditation. Like the beach scene, meditation can produce the relaxed, serene state of mind where our thoughts are focused on the present moment.
Meditation – What Is It?
Meditation has been described as the creation of a relaxed mind-body state with focus on the present moment. The state can be entered by concentrating mental focus on the breath, a sound, a visual scene, or an object. As the practitioner improves in the ability to focus, mental chatter diminishes, worldly thoughts can be shut out and a serene state of mind is achieved.
Meditation Through the Ages
Meditation is central to many of the world’s spiritual traditions. In India, the Hindus meditated to determine the true nature of God. The Buddhists meditated as a way to understand the interconnectedness of all things in the world. And in China, meditation was recommended as a way to balance the opposites of yin and yang and to achieve unity of these elements in life. Prayer is widely recognized as a form of meditation and many of the world’s religions have their own prayer traditions.
Christianity emphasizes prayer and the study of scripture. And Islam prayer is offered several times daily as a means to focus on the true nature of Allah. Throughout thousands of years of history, meditative practices in religious traditions have commonality with the current spiritual and secular meditative techniques.
Why Meditate?
In addition to the spiritual benefits of a relaxed mind focusing on the present, meditation is also prescribed in alternative medicine, and increasingly in traditional medicine, to alleviate many health conditions. A few of these are allergies, asthma, migraines, PMS and high blood pressure. And these aren’t just folk remedies; there’s a considerable body of research to support the health benefits. There are also many reported psychological benefits such as better ability to control thoughts, improved relationships, and increased will power. So all of you smokers and dieters out there can try meditation to help you build your will power to achieve your goals.
These are just a few of the reported benefits of establishing a regular meditative practice. In as little as 10 or 15 minutes a day, meditation can help you find your own ‘inner beach’ without leaving home whenever you need to take a mental break.
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