Meditation Techniques
Meditation Techniques
by
Stephen Lau
by
Stephen Lau
Meditation is a proven alternative mind-body therapy. Simple meditation techniques are often used as a mind-body medicine to lower blood pressure, improve exercise performance in people with angina, enhance breathing in asthma, relieve insomnia and relax stresses. Meditation benefits are substantial. Meditation provides a safe and simple way to balance an individual’s emotional and mental states for overall wellness, leading to natural healing. Meditation therapy is a simple practice but with lasting benefits for major depression.
The use of meditation techniques for healing is not new. Meditation is the product of diverse cultures and peoples around the world. Meditation has been rooted in the traditions of the world's great religions.
The purpose of meditation is to make your mind calm and peaceful. If your mind is peaceful, you will be free from worries and mental anxiety, and so you will experience true happiness.
Meditation techniques focus on training your mind to empty itself of distracting and distorted thoughts, which are delusions causing problems and sufferings in life. Meditation techniques teach you to concentrate your attention on insignificant or irrelevant things in order to give your mind not only a meaningful break but also intuitive wisdom to perceive the true values of life.
Meditation involves a variety of techniques or practices intended to focus or control your attention. Most of them are rooted in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions. These meditation techniques have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years.
Today, many people use meditation techniques outside of traditional religious or cultural settings as a form of mind-body medicine. Meditation therapy is receiving more attention in the medical community.
Meditation techniques focus on
living in the present moment
Do you know that you live most of your time either in the past or the future, but seldom in the now?
The problem with contemporary living is that your mind is riddled with thoughts of what you just did, or what you will or should do. Nearly all your thoughts, including your desires and fears, are based on either the past or the future. Your desires are no more than recollections of the past pleasure and hope of repeating them in the future. Fears are also memories of past pain, and your desire to avoid the pain in the future.
Meditation techniques help you focus your mind on the present moment to the exclusion of past and future thoughts.
If you are concentrating on solving a difficult math problem or performing a complex mental task, you are focusing too, but that is not meditation.
Meditation is concentrating on something seemingly insignificant (such as your breathing) or spontaneous (such as eating and even driving) such that your mind is conditioned to focusing on only the present moment. In this way, your mind concentration excludes all past and future thoughts, thereby instrumental in giving your mind a meaningful break. It is in this sublime state of mind that you are capable of understanding the true nature of things, and their relativity to the meaning of life.
Points to remember
In practicing meditation techniques, you should remember the following:
· Focus on an object as your concentration: your breathing, a candle, a sound (such as water from a fountain), your steps, or just about anything that can draw you back to your meditation.
For example, if your mind wanders away (which is quite common), gently force your mind to focus on the object of your concentration.
It is your act of noticing that your mind has wandered off as well as your repetitive effort of returning to your meditation that help you learn how to focus. Make focusing a habit.
· Keep yourself in full consciousness: you must be fully aware of what is going on around you. That explains why in meditation (except in the walking meditation) you need to sit erect in order to keep your body in full consciousness. Do not lie down (or else you may fall asleep); do not slouch (this may not help you focus).
· A full lotus position is not required. However, maintain a consistent position or posture with your thumb tip and forefinger tip of each hand touching very lightly, while the other fingers are either curled or extended out. A consistent posture and hand position will promote a meditative mind to practice your meditation techniques.
Meditation types
Popular meditation types include the following meditation techniques:
Breath-counting meditation
Sit comfortably in a quiet place, with your hand in the thumb-to-finger position.
Notice your breathing: breathe in and breathe out, and count “ONE”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “TWO”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “THREE”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “FOUR.”
Repeat the process, counting from “ONE” to “FOUR.”
Feel the sensation of breathing, and focus on the number of your exhalation.
If you lose track of your counting, start from “ONE” again.
Thoughts and memories may creep in as you are counting. Just try to stay focused on your counting. If necessary, start from “ONE” again.
Keep practicing breath counting everyday until it becomes second nature to you.
You may gradually extend each count up to “EIGHT.”
Once you have mastered breath-counting meditation, you can do it literally anywhere - while waiting in line or at a bus stop.
Candlelight meditation
Light a candle in a darkened room.
Sit comfortably, about a foot away from the candle.
Stare intently at the candle’s flame for five to ten minutes.
Whenever your mind wanders away, stare at the heart of the candle’s flame.
Abruptly blow out the candle, and close your eyes.
The image of the candle’s flame will reappear in your mind’s eye.
With concentration and focus, you will be able to maintain that afterimage for as long as you had watched the actual candle’s flame.
Heartbeat meditation
Count your heartbeat either by putting your hand over your heart or by placing your fingers over the pulse in your wrist.
Count your heartbeat: “one, two, three, four” and “one, two, three, four.”
If your mind wanders away, start all over again.
Walking meditation
Walk slowly and focus your attention on your feet.
Focus your attention on the ins and outs of your breath; notice how many steps you take during each inhalation and how many steps during each exhalation: “In one, two, three. . . . .Out one, two, three."
Your breathing rhythm may vary; just accurately count your steps during every inhalation and every exhalation.
Breathe, walk, and count until you get to your destination.
Balance meditation
Stand up straight, with arms at your sides and feet no more than shoulders length apart.
Focus your attention on your balance, as you continue to stand upright.
Lean forwards slightly. Feel the tension on your toes to keep your balance. Lean backwards, lean left and then right.
Notice the weight shift to maintain your balance.
By focusing on the need for complete bodily equilibrium, balance meditation gives your mind a break from past and future thoughts.
You can practice balance meditation anywhere inconspicuously.
Eating meditation
You may pay much attention to what you eat, but little attention to how you eat.
Practice eating meditation by consciously focusing on your feeling and eating.
Begin with thanking your Creator for the food at the table.
Focus on each part of your eating process: picking up your chopsticks, knife and fork; eating, chewing, and swallowing; the sensation of the texture and taste of the food.
If your mind begins to think of something else, consciously re-focus your attention on your eating.
Mindful eating helps digestion, and eliminates unwanted thoughts - giving your mind a complete rest, and letting you live in the very present moment. Compare this relaxed sensation with that when you are eating in front of your television.
Driving meditation
Like most people, the very first thing you may do after you have started your car engine is to turn on the radio or the DVD player. Driving has become second nature to you, such that you pay little attention to it any more. Maybe you have forgotten that driving is one of the most hazardous things you do on a daily basis. Other more hazardous activities include talking on the phone, drinking and smoking, fixing the hair, and even doing the nails.
In driving meditation, focus only on the road conditions to the exclusion of thoughts, music, and talking. Concentrating on performing a spontaneous skill gives your mind a meaningful break.
Watching and listening meditation
Watch intently a moving object, such as clouds, waves, or the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
Just watch and see, without trying to make sense of what you see.
Similarly, listen to repetitive sounds or music (instrumental or background with no words), with no thought, no judging, and no attempt to make sense out of what you hear.
Watching and listening meditation is more difficult in controlling your thoughts drifting in and out of your mind..
My own experience of meditation
When I first started practicing my meditation techniques, I was a bit skeptical of their practicability and significance. Initially, I found it difficult to concentrate, and thoughts kept on coming back despite my efforts to dismiss them. And worse, nothing seemed to happen. I was expecting some sort of transformation, and I was disappointed. But I persisted and persevered with my meditation techniques.
Then one day while I was in church, I focused my attention on a candle burning at the altar, and I began my breathing meditation - like I did before. After a while, something miraculous seemed to happen: my vision suddenly became blurred. At first, I thought it was due to my heavy eyes drooping from my relaxed mental state. Then I realized I was in full consciousness: the candle was still flickering in the midst of a blurry background.
Immediately when my mind sought to verify its veracity, everything came into focus. However, as soon as I permitted my mind to drift by concentrating on my breathing, everything around the candle seemed to blur again. The sensation was indescribable. At that moment, I realized what meditation really was - it is something one has to experience on one’s own.
Ever since that first experience, I have been practicing my meditation techniques.
Recommendations
Ultimate Meditations is a complete meditation kit with 5 pre-recorded guide meditations to prepare you ready for meditation. It teaches everything you need to know about meditations, such as which type of meditation is best for you.
Brain Music Power used the state-of-the-art Alpha and Theta sound waves to induce deep meditation to relax your body and mind.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Back to the website Rethink Your Depression.
The use of meditation techniques for healing is not new. Meditation is the product of diverse cultures and peoples around the world. Meditation has been rooted in the traditions of the world's great religions.
The purpose of meditation is to make your mind calm and peaceful. If your mind is peaceful, you will be free from worries and mental anxiety, and so you will experience true happiness.
Meditation techniques focus on training your mind to empty itself of distracting and distorted thoughts, which are delusions causing problems and sufferings in life. Meditation techniques teach you to concentrate your attention on insignificant or irrelevant things in order to give your mind not only a meaningful break but also intuitive wisdom to perceive the true values of life.
Meditation involves a variety of techniques or practices intended to focus or control your attention. Most of them are rooted in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions. These meditation techniques have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years.
Today, many people use meditation techniques outside of traditional religious or cultural settings as a form of mind-body medicine. Meditation therapy is receiving more attention in the medical community.
Meditation techniques focus on
living in the present moment
Do you know that you live most of your time either in the past or the future, but seldom in the now?
The problem with contemporary living is that your mind is riddled with thoughts of what you just did, or what you will or should do. Nearly all your thoughts, including your desires and fears, are based on either the past or the future. Your desires are no more than recollections of the past pleasure and hope of repeating them in the future. Fears are also memories of past pain, and your desire to avoid the pain in the future.
Meditation techniques help you focus your mind on the present moment to the exclusion of past and future thoughts.
If you are concentrating on solving a difficult math problem or performing a complex mental task, you are focusing too, but that is not meditation.
Meditation is concentrating on something seemingly insignificant (such as your breathing) or spontaneous (such as eating and even driving) such that your mind is conditioned to focusing on only the present moment. In this way, your mind concentration excludes all past and future thoughts, thereby instrumental in giving your mind a meaningful break. It is in this sublime state of mind that you are capable of understanding the true nature of things, and their relativity to the meaning of life.
Points to remember
In practicing meditation techniques, you should remember the following:
· Focus on an object as your concentration: your breathing, a candle, a sound (such as water from a fountain), your steps, or just about anything that can draw you back to your meditation.
For example, if your mind wanders away (which is quite common), gently force your mind to focus on the object of your concentration.
It is your act of noticing that your mind has wandered off as well as your repetitive effort of returning to your meditation that help you learn how to focus. Make focusing a habit.
· Keep yourself in full consciousness: you must be fully aware of what is going on around you. That explains why in meditation (except in the walking meditation) you need to sit erect in order to keep your body in full consciousness. Do not lie down (or else you may fall asleep); do not slouch (this may not help you focus).
· A full lotus position is not required. However, maintain a consistent position or posture with your thumb tip and forefinger tip of each hand touching very lightly, while the other fingers are either curled or extended out. A consistent posture and hand position will promote a meditative mind to practice your meditation techniques.
Meditation types
Popular meditation types include the following meditation techniques:
Breath-counting meditation
Sit comfortably in a quiet place, with your hand in the thumb-to-finger position.
Notice your breathing: breathe in and breathe out, and count “ONE”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “TWO”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “THREE”; breathe in and breathe out, and count “FOUR.”
Repeat the process, counting from “ONE” to “FOUR.”
Feel the sensation of breathing, and focus on the number of your exhalation.
If you lose track of your counting, start from “ONE” again.
Thoughts and memories may creep in as you are counting. Just try to stay focused on your counting. If necessary, start from “ONE” again.
Keep practicing breath counting everyday until it becomes second nature to you.
You may gradually extend each count up to “EIGHT.”
Once you have mastered breath-counting meditation, you can do it literally anywhere - while waiting in line or at a bus stop.
Candlelight meditation
Light a candle in a darkened room.
Sit comfortably, about a foot away from the candle.
Stare intently at the candle’s flame for five to ten minutes.
Whenever your mind wanders away, stare at the heart of the candle’s flame.
Abruptly blow out the candle, and close your eyes.
The image of the candle’s flame will reappear in your mind’s eye.
With concentration and focus, you will be able to maintain that afterimage for as long as you had watched the actual candle’s flame.
Heartbeat meditation
Count your heartbeat either by putting your hand over your heart or by placing your fingers over the pulse in your wrist.
Count your heartbeat: “one, two, three, four” and “one, two, three, four.”
If your mind wanders away, start all over again.
Walking meditation
Walk slowly and focus your attention on your feet.
Focus your attention on the ins and outs of your breath; notice how many steps you take during each inhalation and how many steps during each exhalation: “In one, two, three. . . . .Out one, two, three."
Your breathing rhythm may vary; just accurately count your steps during every inhalation and every exhalation.
Breathe, walk, and count until you get to your destination.
Balance meditation
Stand up straight, with arms at your sides and feet no more than shoulders length apart.
Focus your attention on your balance, as you continue to stand upright.
Lean forwards slightly. Feel the tension on your toes to keep your balance. Lean backwards, lean left and then right.
Notice the weight shift to maintain your balance.
By focusing on the need for complete bodily equilibrium, balance meditation gives your mind a break from past and future thoughts.
You can practice balance meditation anywhere inconspicuously.
Eating meditation
You may pay much attention to what you eat, but little attention to how you eat.
Practice eating meditation by consciously focusing on your feeling and eating.
Begin with thanking your Creator for the food at the table.
Focus on each part of your eating process: picking up your chopsticks, knife and fork; eating, chewing, and swallowing; the sensation of the texture and taste of the food.
If your mind begins to think of something else, consciously re-focus your attention on your eating.
Mindful eating helps digestion, and eliminates unwanted thoughts - giving your mind a complete rest, and letting you live in the very present moment. Compare this relaxed sensation with that when you are eating in front of your television.
Driving meditation
Like most people, the very first thing you may do after you have started your car engine is to turn on the radio or the DVD player. Driving has become second nature to you, such that you pay little attention to it any more. Maybe you have forgotten that driving is one of the most hazardous things you do on a daily basis. Other more hazardous activities include talking on the phone, drinking and smoking, fixing the hair, and even doing the nails.
In driving meditation, focus only on the road conditions to the exclusion of thoughts, music, and talking. Concentrating on performing a spontaneous skill gives your mind a meaningful break.
Watching and listening meditation
Watch intently a moving object, such as clouds, waves, or the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
Just watch and see, without trying to make sense of what you see.
Similarly, listen to repetitive sounds or music (instrumental or background with no words), with no thought, no judging, and no attempt to make sense out of what you hear.
Watching and listening meditation is more difficult in controlling your thoughts drifting in and out of your mind..
My own experience of meditation
When I first started practicing my meditation techniques, I was a bit skeptical of their practicability and significance. Initially, I found it difficult to concentrate, and thoughts kept on coming back despite my efforts to dismiss them. And worse, nothing seemed to happen. I was expecting some sort of transformation, and I was disappointed. But I persisted and persevered with my meditation techniques.
Then one day while I was in church, I focused my attention on a candle burning at the altar, and I began my breathing meditation - like I did before. After a while, something miraculous seemed to happen: my vision suddenly became blurred. At first, I thought it was due to my heavy eyes drooping from my relaxed mental state. Then I realized I was in full consciousness: the candle was still flickering in the midst of a blurry background.
Immediately when my mind sought to verify its veracity, everything came into focus. However, as soon as I permitted my mind to drift by concentrating on my breathing, everything around the candle seemed to blur again. The sensation was indescribable. At that moment, I realized what meditation really was - it is something one has to experience on one’s own.
Ever since that first experience, I have been practicing my meditation techniques.
Recommendations
Ultimate Meditations is a complete meditation kit with 5 pre-recorded guide meditations to prepare you ready for meditation. It teaches everything you need to know about meditations, such as which type of meditation is best for you.
Brain Music Power used the state-of-the-art Alpha and Theta sound waves to induce deep meditation to relax your body and mind.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
Back to the website Rethink Your Depression.
Are you breathing right? Get your FREE breathing test!