Sunday 04 September, 2016.
Benefits of meditation, types of meditation, transcendental meditation, beginner meditation tips.
How to use your imagination for managing stress.
Why Meditate?
Meditation is that it is the starting point for your inner journey of getting to know yourself.
Knowing yourself gives you insight, control and balance, and gives you the tools for keeping outside stress where it belongs – at a distance from your core.
The Benefits of Meditation
- Being able to control your mind instead of allowing your mind to control you will bring peace and harmony into your life.
- Those who meditate (including visualization and guided imagery) regularly are less anxious, calmer, mentally more alert and generally more efficient in managing time and energy.
- Research suggests that mind relaxation practices have the following physical benefits:*Â more relaxed body* improved sleeping patterns
* lower blood pressure and reduced heart rate
* lower levels of stress hormones in the blood
* improved circulation
How can meditation help you cope with stress?
Your thoughts, moods and emotions have a fundamental impact on your health, wellness and immune system. To be truly healthy, you need to take care of your mind as well as your body.
An unhealthy body makes it so much more difficult to deal with stress!
And an unsettled mind invites imbalance and dis-ease into the body – MORE stress!…We all react to stress in different ways, but stress does affect us all!
And it really does start in the mind.
The way stress works is that it triggers certain emotional responses in us – often depending on what we anticipate will happen to us. That emotion triggers certain chemicals which affect parts of our body – And we suffer stress symptoms!
The good news is that there are techniques that you can learn which can help you to become consciously or mindfully in control of your body’s reaction to stress.
Indeed, there are many different types of mind therapies designed for mental relaxation and to reverse the stress response.
There are many informative and in-depth websites offering information on meditation and different types of meditation…
But, I don’t want you to be put off and think that the benefits of meditation are available only to a select few who have reached high levels of practice and walk around in saffron robes!
Not So!!
I want you to be excited about including this exercise in your daily stress relief programme! And enjoying the benefits of meditation.
It is true that you need a guru or teacher to guide you with transcendental meditation, but as for the other types, you can learn how to meditate in your own time and at your own pace.
The techniques described on this site, such as meditation, visualization and imagery offer you do-it-yourself ways of relaxing your mind so that you can control its responses to stress, and also enable you to change the way you think about yourself and the challenges that you face.
Relaxing your mind is the natural complement to relaxing your body, and to deal with stress effectively you need to be able to do both. This might feel unnatural at first for those who are not used to meditating but, as with any exercise, it becomes easier with practice. And will soon become second nature… One of the benefits of meditation!… A calm mind will be your natural state!
Mental relaxation, like physical relaxation is best done in calm and comfortable surroundings. You will find it easier to separate your mind from your immediate surroundings if your senses are not being bombarded by the bustle of life around you. You can learn to enjoy the benefits of mediation anytime and anywhere.
BUT, lack of quiet and calm is no reason not to practice meditation! – You just have to focus more and train more! It will be worth it!
In fact, in both meditation and visualization, many people find it easier if they have something relaxing to focus their senses on, whether it is peaceful music, images of a beautiful, calming scene or a favourite aroma… Whatever puts YOU in a quiet state of mind! These need not be physically present – even the memories can help you to relax and take control of your mind.
Stress control and a sense of calm DOES start in the MIND!
Know your Mind, Learn to Control your Mind,
and Life takes on a Different Kind of Feeling.
As you become more experienced in controlling your mind’s reactions, you may find that you are able to switch to a relaxed state despite the distractions around you. This is what we are aiming for… and, definitely a situation that has obvious benefits for dealing with stressful situations.
What Is Meditation and Visualization
- MEDITATION – is a very effective way of focusing your mind to bring about relaxation, peace and clearness of thought. One of the benefits of meditation is that it helps you to gain a new perspective and enables you to stand back from your problems. Meditation is often practised as a means of spiritual self-enlightenment, but is also so effective in relieving stress. Find out about different types of meditation and “how to”.
- VISUALIZATION – or Guided Imagery is simply the use of the imagination to deal with stress and illness, to improve motivation and change negative attitudes. It is an important part of many relaxation therapies. And it really works! Click here to find out more about visualization
Something to think about
Along with the need to relax your mind and control its responses to stress, the need to change the way you think about yourself and your life is important too.
Few people realize the destructive impact on their lives of worrying about what they have not achieved, the unattainable goals they set themselves, or even negative things that have not yet happened.
Learning to be positive, thinking about what you have achieved and setting realistic goals is a valuable way of avoiding unnecessary stress.
Mental relaxation is not only about internal factors…
Relationships with other people can provide a source of happiness and calm in your daily life and give support in difficult times.
Developing, strengthening, (and resolving troublesome) relationships with family and friends is vital in achieving inner calm. One of the benefits of meditation is developing a sense of calm and detachment when dealing with relationships.
More Useful Information
- Beginner Meditation Tips
- More Benefits of Meditation
- How To Meditate For Beginners
- Alpha Meditation
- Simple Meditation Exercise
- Meditation For Relaxation
- Simple Meditation Positions
- Mindful Walking Meditation
- Mindful Eating Meditation
- Standing Meditation
- Meditation To Relieve Stress
- Body Scan Meditation
- Meditation For Anxiety
- Meditating With Crystals
- Guided Meditation Scripts
- Meditation Quotes
