Meditation is at the very heart of The System of Reiki.
Breathing and clearing our minds helps us align more closely with the flow of the Energy and connect us to deeper levels of ourselves.
Combined with Reiki, it can be a really powerful tool, but in this article, we’ll focus more on Meditation.
( To know more about The System of Reiki click here)
Nowadays millions of people around the world practice meditation on a regular basis and this practice has become more popular, as more and more people enjoy living a better, less stressful and more productive life.
Too often we are caught over-thinking about our past or our future, becoming unable to focus on what is important in the present moment.
Meditation allows you to concentrate your awareness on the here and now, reducing your stress level, your worrying about everything, helping you to become more present and less judgmental towards what is going on and the reality around us.
But what is meditation?
Many people are mistaken about Meditation, thinking that is all about sitting in the same position for hours, concentrating and thinking of nothing.
It’s actually almost impossible for us to think of nothing and stop our thoughts and emotions.
Whether you listen to your chattering and over-thinking mind or not is the issue. Through meditation, we are trying to find a way to work in harmony with our mind. The only way we have to achieve this state, where our mind works with us and not against us, is to give it some work to do.
For example, try to bring your attention to the way you breathe, and start to breathe slowly, allowing your mind to be aware of the movements inside your body, breath in, breath out.
If any thoughts arise in the background there is no problem at all, As long as you don’t forget to be aware of your breath, then anything is OK.
As you can see, not much concentration is involved, just be aware of your breathing and in this simple way, you can meditate everywhere at any time.
To put it in the easiest way, we can say that Meditation is the process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts, to increase awareness, reduce stress, and develop concentration.
(To know more about Mindfulness Meditation click here)
Some of the many scientifically proven results we can achieve through meditation are:
-Controls anxiety
-Promotes emotional health
-Enhances self-awareness
-Improves your mood
-Help in fighting depression
-Reduce high blood pressure
-Reduce age-related memory loss
-Help in fighting addiction
Have you tried meditation yet? Here you can find 5 myths that might be holding you back about meditation.
(To know more about the Art of Meditation click here)
Myth #1: It takes a lot of effort to meditate properly
As we saw in the example before, the only things required to meditate properly is being aware of the here and now, by simply bringing your awareness and focus on your breath, allowing your mind to relax and observe your thoughts, instead of being caught in them.
Myth #2: You have to meditate for a long period of time for it to benefit you.
Practical basic meditation can produce positive result right here, right now. Since your goal is not to get to some sort of spiritual enlightenment but to just live in the here and now and focus your mental energies, the benefits are almost immediate
Myth #3: You have to “believe” for meditation to produce benefit.
You don’t have to believe in anything. You just have to go through the step of meditation because meditation works as your mind works. It’s like redecorating a room with existing furniture. The furniture is already there, you just need to rearrange them in order to produce a better result.
Myth #4: You are fully unconscious when meditating
Real practical meditation is the exact opposite. You remain fully conscious. However, you train your consciousness to purify its focus. You start to become mentally disciplined and this is the complete opposite of being unconscious.
Myth #5: You have to be religious for meditation to work:
You don’t have to hold any particular religious belief for meditation to work. As we said, meditation works with how your mind naturally processes stimuli. It doesn’t need religion or spirituality. You just need to tune in to how your mind is already working.
Meditation is something everyone can do to improve every aspect of our lives. Trying out different styles of meditation and finding the one suited to your goals, is a great way to change for the better and greatly improve the way we relate to our surroundings and the reality around us, even if we only have a few minutes to practice it each day.
Check out this amazing video from Ralph Smart about How to Meditate Even if You’re a Beginner
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