Meditation is the practice of mind to train awareness, achieve a mentally focused and stable state. You listen to the birds chirping, it could be your breathing, a sensation in your body, making you aware of the surroundings. It is one of the most subtle ways to eliminate distraction, get focused, reduce your stress. Various researchers and scientists have found out that practising meditation is the key to a healthy mind and body. You can easily understand the concept of meditation if done regularly.
Before starting your meditation, keep in mind:
- Choose a quiet place, away from the chaos. As noises can distract you and wouldn’t let you focus.
- Sit in a comfortable position and space with your eyes closed.
- Keep taking a deep breath and focus on the movement of your diaphragm.
- Meditate for at least 10 minutes every day
- Repeat it in the morning and the evening before going to bed.
- Each type of meditation is effective in different parts of your body. Depending on the body parts, there are several benefits to it. Let’s have a look at the types of meditation and their effects on our body
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Mindfulness
This is one of the most popular and widely known meditation. Various meditation studies have found that doing mindfulness meditation for 8 weeks not just changes our mindset and thinking but also changes the shape of our brain, which is known as neuroplasticity. It can be done anywhere during your daily activity, listen to everything around you and be alert. It grows your brain much smarter, controls the stress, creates self-awareness. The level of serotonin and dopamine can be the cause of depression. With the help of meditation, it can increase the production of serotonin and dopamine that can reduce depression and anxiety. Other benefits include:
- Increases the brain’s ability to organise and be more efficient towards the learning process, decision making.
- Helps us to connect with your body from head to toe.
- Increases the thickness of Grey matter which is located behind the brain’s frontal lobe.
Heart Meditation
The connection between your heart and breath is meditation. When you merge your breathing and your heartbeat, you create awareness and can feel the rhythm of it. You get connected mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The physical benefits include:
- Meditation can help in reducing blood pressure as stress is linked to high blood pressures
- Regulation of heartbeat
- Reduction of heart rate
- Increases a sense of connection between your heart and yourself
- You get to create a deep, meaningful relationship and understanding of who we are.
- When you are connected to your heart, you make decisions based on empathy and compassion. You become more kind towards yourself and others.
- Increases immune system
Vishuddha Chakra Meditation
This meditation is a part of your throat chakra which resides near the larynx and thyroid gland. Vishuddha means “purification of impurity”. There are mainly 7 chakras that help in passing energy. Focusing on the throat chakra, it brings out many benefits like:
- The ability to communicate your feelings and thoughts come effortlessly
- Maintains posture
- Beneficial for people with the thyroid. The symptoms can cause a high level of cholesterol, loss of hair, muscle cramps. With this, the symptoms get eliminated
- Cures sore throat as it is related to sound
- The sound and vibration can be felt through the throat which is essential for communication and expression
- Vocals of your voice are improved
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Yoga Meditation
Also known as Shavasana, which means “corpse pose” as the position for practising this is lying on the ground with your face up, arms and legs spread out and your eyes closed. This usually calms the mind and body, releasing stress. Other benefits include:
- Reduces fatigue
- Improves your relationship with people and yourself
- Boosts energy, mood and self-confidence
- Helps to focus and concentrate
- Diminishes the symptoms of health conditions
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Mantra meditation
This meditation relates to the vibration that connects to your mind, rising and falling waves of the universe such as sound waves, radio waves, ocean waves. Usually, you choose a mantra like “Om” which is the most well-known. Repeat the mantra for five minutes. You get coordinated with the rhythm of your breathing which increases the awareness of your surroundings. It also connects you with the sound of your surroundings.
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