Meditation Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Meditation Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Taken from http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8171/5-benefits-of-a-10-minute-meditation-practice.html

When people hear meditation, they are probably thinking about monks in monasteries where they spend entire days sitting supposedly “meditating”. Well if we look at it that way, it becomes an extremely difficult act to follow and we get discouraged if we ever wanted to try it. Nevertheless, listening and seeing all the recent advertising about how meditation can be really good for you is making more and more people want to try it. But most people are not aware of is that, if they try it by themselves without a guide, they will most likely feel discouraged because, they will not be able to achieve a “blank mind” right away.

Meditation has been around for 5,000 years, and it has known benefits such as mind and body healing, and emotional steadiness and harmony. The Art of Living Journal states that, “Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into a relaxed state that promotes healing.” Meditation has a way of bringing energy to the body even better than sleeping. The Art of Living also explains that, “With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.” That way and in so many more, practicing meditation regularly can increase the overall wellbeing of a person.

Taken from http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/meditation/meditation-for-you/benefits-meditation

Meditation has been practiced by lots of different cultures and religions around the world in different ways, and there is not a specific manner of meditation that applies to everyone. Meditation has a lot of different ways to be practiced, and it can literally be customized to everyone’s needs. It is not supposed to make people suffer in the process, or have to make an enormous effort in order to achieve it. But it is also not supposed to be as easy as breathing; specially because, it is not possible to achieve a deep meditation state the first couple of times one tries it. Like every other practice, it requires time and practice to become better at it.

The first times you meditate with a guide or by yourself, the first thing you need to do is not expecting too much and not pushing yourself to be able to meditate for a long time. One should start with short 5 – 10 minutes meditation sessions in which one should just try to find a breathing rhythm. Going straight for trying to clear one’s mind is not that easy. A post on Meditation Oasis explains that, “This is probably the most common challenge people have with meditation. They feel they are unable to quiet the mind and keep out thoughts. ‘My mind just won’t stop its chatter.’ ‘I can’t stay focused on meditation.’” This is one of the reasons why people have the wrong idea about what meditating means. The solution is to stop resisting thoughts because, they are a part of meditation. Meditation oasis states that, “They are a natural activity in the mind. Although meditation can be a way to experience inner silence, this comes about not by eliminating thoughts but by becoming aware of the silence that is naturally present in the mind along with the thoughts.” Therefore, the only way to truly experience calmness, is to stop resisting our own minds.