Meditation is more than just sitting in a quiet room…
Every day, we are bombarded with life’s responsibilities, which crowd our thoughts. Constant thoughts of what we “have to do” and “should be doing” plague our minds. The chatter appears endless, as do all of the necessary activities of daily living. As we have moved into a “technology-based, information-loaded” lifestyle, there seems to be no time for a quiet mind. We live in a fast-paced, stressful world. We have become a part of it, whether by conscious or unconscious choice.
We try to “keep up” or “out-perform” our coworkers or neighbors in the spirit of competition and winning. Until 2008, our American culture was based on acquiring “stuff” to validate our societal success and worth. The more we have, the more we believe the world is saying, “Atta boy, good job!”
This external recognition keeps us spinning on that economic hamster wheel. This race has no end in sight. We strive for years, believing that when we achieve the next goal, the next promotion, the bigger house, or the faster car, we will feel that level of fulfillment. And every goal we achieve provides a brief sense of accomplishment. When that feeling fades, the dissidence returns, and we begin striving for the next destination to see if we can achieve that fleeting feeling of satisfaction.
Regrettably, the race goes on month after month, year after year. Without self-reflection, a person’s race usually ends when he is physically or mentally unable to continue. We have created a never-ending “pressure cooker” for ourselves and live in it with stress. Some of us turned to meditation to find relief from anxiety. Meditation, among other things, reduces stress, calms the nerves, and relaxes the body, leaving us refreshed afterward.
Remember that meditation has not eliminated the sources of stress that continue to agitate the mind. As a result, the underlying problem is never resolved, and an agitated mind cannot meditate and reap long-term benefits; the benefits are only temporary. So we go through a cycle of stress to meditation to stress. Meditation is then reduced to forcing yourself to sit quietly and focus on an object, place, person, or mantra, and it no longer provides the same rejuvenating feeling that it once did. One day, the effects of stress catch up with us, resulting in some disease, and we dismiss meditation as a useless, vexing practice. What went wrong with meditation? Is meditation something we do after the fact? How can we change this?
To begin answering these questions, we must first define meditation.
Meditation is a laser-like focus on one thing while clearing the mind of all other chatter. While the mind focuses on a single task, the intellect observes the mind’s activity. The brightness returns the reason to its original focus when it detracts from that one thing. The intelligence must constantly monitor and control the mind.
So, meditation improves our ability to focus on one task and one task only. To improve this skill, we practice during our quiet time in silence. However, meditation does not stop there. We now bring this practice with us and apply it throughout the day at work, at home, in relationships, and any other situation. It’s similar to how an athlete practices and improves his skill before putting his training to use during a game. The same is valid for meditation. It is not intended to be practiced in a room at home; it must be used in the field.
How will we put it to use?
First, we must comprehend how our body, mind, and intellect function. While the body can perform multiple tasks simultaneously, the reason can only perform one at a time. When our minds are involved in various studies, they become quickly tired, and the quality of each action suffers. This, in turn, leads to uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to anxiety, and an anxious mind creates restlessness, which eventually leads to stress. This is where we put our training to use. Just as we use our intellect to keep our minds focused on one thing only during meditation, we do the same thing here.
Our intellect must always maintain strict control over our minds, preventing them from wandering off into the past or the future and from multitasking. Staying focused on one task at a time and completing it gives us great satisfaction; completing five tasks with uncertainty in mind leads to do-overs and stress. “Living in the moment” is something you’ve probably heard of. This is how you live in the present moment, my friends. When we begin to live in this manner, we practice meditation in every moment of our lives.
We talked about the stress caused by the mind in multiple tasks. Another source of stress is a conflicted mind. Because people’s egos are involved, conflicts frequently create a sea of emotions in mind. As a result, the intellect must oversee action or actions that will resolve the dispute without causing additional conflicts. The intelligence must use the mind as a field on which to play out various resolution action scenarios. While acting out these scenarios, the intellect must control emotions, egos, and selfishness. The mind focuses on an action that resolves a conflict without causing another. This is a technique for resolving disputes and avoiding potential clashes.
So far, we’ve been discussing meditation’s “outward” application. It is beautiful if you are at ease here. Meditation can also be used for “inward” purposes. This inward journey is very subtle, must be taken seriously, and should only be undertaken after one has achieved peace with all external matters. Otherwise, it is difficult to stick with it, and if one becomes frustrated, one should immediately discontinue this meditation practice and resume it later. Another article, “Real Yoga for Real Yogis,” delves deeper into this topic.
What If You Tried These Easy Meditation Techniques?
Consider starting to use meditation techniques in your everyday life situations. In one sentence, your stress will be reduced while your success will increase. You will feel more in control of your life. You will avoid creating excessive pressure due to conflicts at home and work, relationships, and health issues. A battle between stress and the mind can become the root cause of a disease. You can avoid future health problems by practicing regularly and daily.
A conflicted mind cannot meditate. Without meditation, how can you know peace? Without peace, how can you know joy? So, to live in peace and joy, you should seriously consider trying these techniques.
Summary
In a nutshell, we practice meditation part-time only to put it into practice full-time throughout the day in all of our other activities.
If you have read this entire article, I assume you are serious about positively changing your life. This and other articles were written to inspire people to develop their knowledge of their Inner-Self and make specific changes in their lives to live healthy naturally- with the wellness of both body and mind.
Rakesh invites you to read more of his articles on wellness, health, health tips, natural home remedies, healthy relationship advice, and so on. You can also subscribe to the “Simple Secrets to Good Health” wellness program and receive new posting alerts on the following blog site:
Read also: Learn To Control Your Anxiety As Well As Your Life