Meditation is one of the spiritual techniques where a lot of emphases have been given on the spiritual path. It is good to see that meditation has become a trendsetter in the last decade and many people have started practicing it for stress management and relaxation purposes. Meditation is helping many people in many different ways. There are so many types of meditation being taught in different spiritual schools with different names. We will explain to you the science behind meditation, its benefits, purposes, and types below.
It is believed that our mind generates around 60000 thoughts daily and most of these thoughts are not just negative but repetitive thoughts. Our mind is generally more attracted to negative thoughts because of our tendencies to react. We all have different belief systems that are based on different religions, regions, caste, political parties, etc. When someone challenges our belief, we start reacting and start generating negative emotions like anger, frustration, irritation, etc. Jealousy and enviousness are other negative emotions which most of us reflect daily. All these negative emotions disrupt the prana flow in our energy system which becomes the main cause of illness in our body. This disruption in prana flow can bring mood swings, emotional instability and mental confusion on different levels and in different degrees. Even neuroscience has accepted that negative thoughts generate unhealthy neurochemicals in our brain which manifest as different diseases in our body. Hence, we should be aware of our emotions and thoughts and should adopt practices that help us in refining our thoughts and emotions. As negative thoughts are the things which are present inside of us, we need to fix it by going inwards instead of looking at the solution outside in the material world. For this, we need to start an inner journey where mindfulness and meditation are considered as the best tool to start with.
Three Main Benefits Of Practicing Meditation
1. Meditation Clear Energy blockages
Quantum Physics says that everything in this universe is made up of energy which has some vibrational frequency. Our thoughts also have energy which has the power to manifest. All negative thoughts or negative emotions like anger, frustrations, etc have lower vibrational frequency whereas positive thoughts have a high vibrational frequency. If we keep negative thoughts in our mind and surround ourselves with people who are pessimistic and who criticize a lot, we will attract lower frequency towards ourselves and will be more prone to disease. Remember, lower the frequency, higher the chances of illness. Higher the vibrational frequency; lower the chances of illness. It is even believed that more than 90% of the diseases are psychosomatic i.e. they are somehow related to our emotional and mental patterns.
We have an energy field (also known as aura) enveloping our body, which keeps attracting energy from surroundings mostly negative. When our aura is filled with lower vibrational frequency because of negative emotions like anger, frustration, etc, we start feeling heavy and it affects the way we see ourselves and the world. We start developing energy blockages in our energy centers or meridians which can affect our health.
When we do meditation, we tap into the infinite field of universal consciousness and divine energy. This divine energy which is of very high vibrational frequency envelops our energy field and removes all these lower frequencies and energy blockages from our system. Therefore, meditation should be a daily practice for all of us.
"Meditation is like a giant broom for sweeping away any stagnant or blocked energy that you may have buried deep in your body. "
- Deborah King, Author & Master Energy Healer
2. Meditation brings shift in consciousness and change mental perception
With daily practice of meditation, we start seeing shift in our consciousness. We start realizing that we all are part of same infinite source and we all are one. We all are tiny droplets of water from same ocean and hence, we are one on spiritual level. With this realization, our perspective towards other people changes and we start seeing divinity in others which reduces the chances of bringing anger, jealousy, enviousness etc towards others to a great extent. Hence, our aura is less prone to negative entities.
"Meditate! Lift your consciousness up so that the dirt cannot touch you - the Soul!"
- MCKS, Founder of Pranic Healing
3. Reduces stress level
In many studies and researches, it has been found that mindfulness meditation could lower the level of stress hormones in our body. Many studies have been conducted where the cortisol level (the Stress hormone) was reduced up to 50% with daily meditation practices.
Once, we are able to again these 3 benefits i.e. clearing energy blockages, reduces stress level and make shift in consciousness level then all other bunch of benefits follow us automatically. Concentration, focus, willpower, controlling our lower emotions, happiness, emotional stability, mental clarity, good sleep, good health etc are some of the by products of these three big benefits.
Do and Don’t
a. Never make fun of Meditation
It needs to be understood that meditation is not just about concentrating on specific chakra(s) and sitting with eyes closed. It is not just a stress management or relaxation technique but a divine practice which should be considered equal (or more) to any religious activity. It is the higher consciousness which is working through us and brings relaxation during meditation. It is very divine. We should not try to play with chakras or energy with half knowledge or without the guidance of expert. Our chakras are closer to the divine than our physical body and hence, we should not even make fun of chakras, meditation or any spiritual practice.
b. Exercise before and after meditation
We must do exercise before and after the meditation. Exercising before meditation opens up the energy blockages in the body resulting in smooth flow of prana during meditation. Exercising after meditation releases the excess energy from the body which helps in preventing us from energy congestion.
c. Do invocation before meditation
It is good practice to invoke for the blessings of higher beings, angels and our Guru for divine protection before meditation. They keep an eye on us during the meditation and protect us from excess energy by acting as a energy transformer for us. A good faith is needed for better divine protection.
"When meditating, do not expect something to happen. Otherwise, you are meditating on your expectation, and you are not doing the meditation itself. "
- MCKS, Founder of Pranic Healing
d. Learn meditation from the expert or energy healer
Many beginners have the habit of concentrating chakra(s) or sitting in the meditation pose for long period of time. It is very curious to understand that our chakras and meridians have the capacity to handle limited amount of energy only. You cannot fill 2 litres of water in 1 litre jar. Excess energy can create more energy blockers and develop pain in the physical body. Generally, our chakras should have balanced amount of energy – neither depleted nor excess energy. We should learn the meditation from reputed spiritual organization and trainer not just by watching youtube videos or from the novice.
Many people are sensitive to energy and can feel some discomfort during meditation and hence, they should practice meditation under the guidance of energy healer (like Pranic healers) so that healer can analyze your chakras and heal you accordingly. People with health problems like high blood pressure, heart attack, glaucoma etc should refrain from doing higher meditation and seek advice and proper guidance from energy healers.
e. Don’t mix unwholesome activities with meditation practice.
Meditation practice brings divine energy on us which has high vibrational frequency. A person practicing meditation should avoid alcohol, tobacco, drugs, smoking, casual sex, using abusive or negative words etc. Remember, energy magnifies everything. If you continue practices with such unwholesome habits, it will be magnified and further lead to more problems. Purification is necessary with meditation practice and on spiritual path.
f. Utilize the energy for better purpose
After the meditation, we have huge amount of energy in our energy field. We should know how to utilize this energy for good purpose and good cause. After the meditation, we should bless the people, family members and mother earth with love, success, happiness and spirituality. We can even bless our projects to be more successful.
Meditation is not just blissing out under a Mango tree. It completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are.
Following changes were found in the brain scans between and after 8 weeks of program:
a. Increase thickness in Hippocampus
Hippocampus is a region in our brain which governs learning and memory. It is the region which plays a major role in spatial navigation. Examples: memorizing lines of speech, recalling a route during driving which you had taken a long time back.
Studies has shown increase in thickness of hippocampus when mindfulness meditation is practiced for 8 weeks or more.
b. Reduction in size of Amygdala
Amygdala, also known as fight or flight part of the brain is associated with fear, anxiety, arousal was found shrunk when meditation was practiced for 8 weeks. In one of the study, it was found that stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala.
c. Pre-frontal cortex
Prefrontal cortex – associated with higher order functions such as concentration, focus, decision making etc was found thicker. Some of the good traits of activated pre-frontal cortex includes willpower, focus, impulse control which further helps in overcoming anxiety, distraction, depression etc
Have a look at the video of Dr. Sara Lazar explaining about her study:
Activating the Heart and Crown Chakras
Most of the spiritual studies considers 7 chakras as major chakras or energy gateways which govern our energy flow. Out of these 7 chakras , 5 chakras are somehow found activated or developed in us because of our survival instinct(which impacts basic, hara, solar plexus chakras) and the current education system( which impacts throat and ajna chakras). The emphasis on remaining 2 chakras i.e. Heart and crown chakras have been neglected in many schools and spiritual system. These two chakras are responsible for bringing and spreading unconditional love, compassion, joy, happiness and to experience divine love. This is what the world needs badly at this time. Our focus should be on adopting the meditation which activates heart and crown chakras. This can be considered as minimum eligibility to start the spiritual journey.
Types of Meditation
Every spiritual school follows different set of meditation as instructed or recommended by their Spiritual master or mentor. Many meditations are still not in public domain as they are only passed from Master to disciple directly. However, there are some common meditations which are known to public and can be practiced by all under the guidance of trainers. Some of popular meditations are as follows:
- Mindfulness Meditation (kind of ‘Vipashana’ meditation in India)
- Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Meditation)
- Mantra Meditation
- Transcendental Meditation (TM)
- Kundalini meditation
- Soul Meditation
- Yoga Meditation which includes:
a. Third eye Meditation
b. Chakra meditation
c. Breathing meditation
d. Emptiness meditation
The Power of Group Meditation
Many yogis have been putting emphasis on group meditation from long time. If we look at current time, we can reach at high spiritual level only through group efforts. When we meditate in group, downpour of energy is huge and it creates a ripple effect. When a high vibrational energy creates a ripple effect, it can bring peace and harmony in and around the meditated area. Many meditation practitioners have claimed that the crime rate in the locality or city was reduced drastically where the group meditation was performed.
To large extent, spiritual development is energy. When the energy changes, people change.
The square root of one percent of the population practicing the TM-Sidhi program (a kind of meditation), together at the same time and in the same place, would increase "life-supporting trends".
"In every wisdom tradition, meditation hasn’t been just a way to seek inner knowledge. It has the potential to transform the world. Research on the power of group meditation has been ongoing for several decades, and the results seem to validate what the ancient sages said, that there is greater peace in the vicinity of the enlightened. Individually we may not see ourselves as enlightened, but the group effect multiplies each single member."
We hope this article served the purpose of explaining importance of meditation and its benefit.
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