What is Meditation?
What is Meditation?
Meditation can be defined as a set of techniques that are intended to encourage a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. Meditation is also a consciousness-changing technique that has been shown to have a wide number of benefits on psychological well-being.1
Some key things to note about meditation:
- Meditation has been practiced in cultures all over the world for thousands of years.
- Nearly every religion, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, has a stradition of using meditative practices.
- While meditation is often used for religious purposes, many people practice it sindependently of any religious or spiritual beliefs or practices.
- Meditation can also be used as a psychotherapeutic technique.
- There are many different types of meditation.
Impact of Meditation
Consciousness is often likened to a stream, shifting and changing smoothly as it passes over the terrain. Meditation is one deliberate means of changing the course of this stream, and in turn, altering how you perceive and respond to the world around you.
Research has shown that meditation can have both physiological and psychological effects. Some of the positive physiological effects include a lowered state of physical arousal, reduced respiration rate, decreased heart rate, changes in brain wave patterns, and lowered stress.1
Some of the other psychological, emotional, and health-related benefits of meditation include:
- Better management of symptoms of conditions including anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorders, lllpain issues, and high blood pressure
- Better stress management skills
- Changes in different aspects of attention and mindfulness
- Increased self-awareness
- Improved emotional well-being
- Improved working memory and fluid intelligence
- Improved immunity
- Greater empathy for yourself and others
- Headache relief
Tips
Start slow. Begin by doing short sessions of around 5 to 10 minutes a day, and then work your way up progressively to longer sessions.