Meditation You Can Actually Perform

Meditation helps. Meditation heals. And we all know that. But the problem arises when we realize we must meditate but don’t have time enough for that. Get up at seven, quick bath, get ready, breakfast, run for job, return late, parties with friends – everything tires us, and by the end of the day we’re too tired to concentrate on anything. We know meditation will help us relax more, but we don’t have time for that.

This meditation technique is a very simple and easy technique and is subtly a part of almost all types of traditional and ‘commercial’ meditation systems like ‘Art of Living’ and ‘Transcendental Meditation’. You just need to separate twenty minutes from your daily schedule – at a fixed time every day. These twenty minutes must be ‘reserved’ for meditation. No phone calls, no unwanted guests at home, and no worries about works you’ve to do yet. Just meditation.

How to Proceed :

1. Seclude yourself. No one should disturb you for 20-30 minutes. If you are at home or have some roomies, make them responsible to preserve your peace.
2. Sit or lie comfortably in any easy posture.
3. Close your eyes, and take a long-deep breath.
4. Exhale as much as you can – exhale enough to kill yourself – keep breathing out till at least five seconds.
5. Let the air flow in naturally without any applied pressure.
6. Now control your breath. Keep eyes closed and notice how relaxed you are.
7. Now follow following breathing pattern:-
   1. Take a long, deep and controlled breath in counting to four in mind [Inhale]
   2. Hold breath, count to four again [Hold]
   3. Exhale with same count [Exhale]
   4. Hold breath for half the count – here, two counts [Hold]

One count may be somewhere around a second. Keep counting till you can keep track of. Repeat three-four times. Let all other thoughts come and go – they themselves won’t engage you when your concentration would be in controlling your breath.

1. Now increment the counting limit, say five. Repeat the pattern with same count three-four times, and keep incrementing the count limit.
2. Once you feel breath is saturated, stop at the limit. Say, you keep going up till seven (7), and you realize it’s getting harder to hold the breath, decrement it to 6 and continue. Let the process be all natural, and you’ll be guided by your mind itself.

10.  After ten-fifteen minutes, stop counting and let the breathing be instinctive. Your closed eyes will start seeing some soothing color in the dark, which will spread and give you a strange feeling. Notice that, but don’t try to think. Yes, everything will be instinctive.

11.  You’ll observe relaxation and serenity of mind. Let it be. Everything will come naturally.

12.  Once you feel saturated, open your eyes. Don’t get up immediately. Keep sitting quiet and calm. Hold for two minutes and then get up to get back to your chores with more vigor and joy.

Benefits of this Meditation:

This meditation is actually standard traditional Indian method of meditation for beginners and intermediates. It begins with initial states of sitting in postures, and then combines ‘pranayama’ and ‘meditation’. Let us discuss major benefits you’ll encounter.

1. You can reduce your breathing rate from about fifteen breaths a minute to 5-6 breaths a minute, which amounts to reducing the breathing rate by one third
2. Heart rate slows down as more oxygen can be pumped even with less number of breaths. Your blood pressure will be controlled.
3. Body tensions are relaxed and nerves are quieted.
4. Blood circulation improves because of better performance of breathing mechanisms and heart, and lead to improvement in health of inner organs.
5. Functioning of autonomic system improves.
6. Lethargy, fatigue and tiredness vanish.

vii.  Anger, depression and mental evils diminish.

Benefits are too many to point out. In this meditation, there is no one external to guide you. You do it all by yourself and inspiration from inner voice. You can perform it easily whenever you wish.

Last Words

It’d be beneficial if you meditate regularly at a same place at same time every day. Don’t repeat this exercise more than two times a day in the beginning. Keep meditating, stay healthy.

Aditya Joshi is an independent meditation and motivation trainer and controls a facebook page called ‘Personal Guidance’. Join the page to connect Aditya, receive motivational messages, meditation techniques and discuss on related topics with other minds like you.

Posted in: Health and Fitness, Self Improvement