tatraikāgraṁ manaḥ kṛitvā yata-chittendriya-kriyaḥ
upaviśhyāsane yuñjyād yogam ātma-viśhuddhaye
samaṁ kāya-śhiro-grīvaṁ dhārayann achalaṁ sthiraḥ
samprekṣhya nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ diśhaśh chānavalokayan
These are the twelfth and thirteenth verses of the sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most revered books by the practitioners of Hinduism. The sixth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita emphasizes Dhyana Yoga.
The verses are a guideline on the correct techniques of meditation. The verse begins by saying that to cleanse one’s mind, it is crucial to focus with complete concentration on one point and leave aside all other ideas and inflow of information. The verse then describes the ideal posture during meditation, with the body, neck, and head aligned in a straight line. One must stare at the tip of their nose without losing focus.
If you have been taking Yoga classes regularly, you must have often participated in a relaxing meditation session. Meditation is the nourishment that your mind and spirit need to balance the various aspects of your health and wellbeing. Its techniques are subtle and involve a lot more than sitting cross-legged and closing your eyes.
Recently, people have begun turning to meditation to sharpen their mental focus and improve their health. The benefits of reflecting on one’s health are ample, one more unique than the other. Let us know some more exciting benefits that meditation has on your well-being.
Building Mental Strength
Meditation is known to give extraordinary mental strength to those who practice it diligently. The results are not instantaneous, but you will notice a gradual and positive enhancement of your cognitive powers with the right amount of dedication. You become more resilient, develop incredible mental tenacity, and develop more courage by meditating regularly. A person who meditates periodically is more likely to dodge the curveballs that life throws at us than the one who does not.
Sharpening Your Mental Focus
The sixth limb of Yoga, Dharana, teaches the importance and techniques of enhancing one’s mental focus. Regular meditation practice is the best way to train your mind to develop unwavering focus. Encouraging your mind to get rid of distractions by gathering your mental energy towards a single point is a crucial element of meditation. You could concentrate your mental efforts towards a single imaginary point within your mind, on a particular thought, person, or even your breathing rhythm. Your point of focus could be anything, but the important part is to prevent anything or anyone from distracting your attention. If you practice centering your thoughts around a single point only, you will gain razor-sharp mental focus within no time.
Stress Relief
Take a deep breath. Now breathe out. Isn’t it the most relaxing thing you have ever experienced? Taking deep breaths helps to relieve your mind of stress and other negative emotions. Meditation too has a profound positive effect on your mental well-being. Meditation allows you to alter the flow of thoughts in your mind and focus only on the important ones. Meditation helps you tap dormant energies within yourself that teach a positive thought process. Regular practice of meditation will strengthen your mind enough to increase its stress-management capacity. While meditation does not help reduce the stress that comes your way, you will be able to shield yourself better against its adverse effects.
Enhanced Self-Confidence
Self-confidence fuels your grit to get past the obstacles you encounter in your daily life. But there are days when you don’t have it in you to overcome the daily challenges. There are many ways to keep your mind brimming with confidence, meditation being one of the best ones. Sitting in a relaxed manner and focusing on your mind helps get rid of your emotional burden. You can free your mind and allow it to develop its strength, thereby increasing your self-confidence.
Anti-Anxiety
Anxiety is creeping upon us every minute, waiting for us to lose our cool so that it can prey upon us. We often suffer from anxiety when simple things in our life spiral out of control and take a wrong turn. The first automatic action we do is to close our eyes and gather some energy to deal with the anxiety. The same step is also the core of every session of meditation. Meditating soothes your nerves and calms your agitated brain cells, putting a rest on your anxiety. It will not prevent stress forever, but it certainly puts a lid on our exaggerated responses to bouts of anxiety.
Mood Enhancer
Are you feeling low? Do you feel like spending the rest of your day curled up in your blanket with nothing but a steaming hot mug of cocoa to keep you company? After you have finished that cocoa, jump out of your bed and head straight for a relaxing meditation session. Concentrate your mind only on meditating without any distractions, and you will find that you are no longer the sulking and sad person you were just a few minutes ago. You don’t need to meditate for hours together to rejuvenate your mind. A short session of 10 minutes will also do you wonders!
Building Your Inner Strength
We often encounter a twisted situation in life that requires immense strength to be handled. Here we are talking about mental strength that is hidden so deep that we never notice its presence until we need to use it. How do you replenish your mental strength so you can handle other grave situations life may throw at you? Yes, you guessed it right. If you spend some time meditating daily, your inner strength remains in a top-notch shape almost always.
Holistic Rejuvenation
‘Tired’ is not just a state of physique but a state of mind as well. Meditating regularly and with utmost dedication is the best way to rejuvenate your mind and body. People often perceive meditation as rocket science, but the truth could not be further from this. Meditate regularly and see the magic that unfolds in your life. With regular practice, sitting in one place and focusing your mental energy on a single target becomes more accessible. Nothing changes your mind and body better than meditating every single day.
Anger Management
Meditating is all about remaining calm and relaxing your mind and body. Every time you meditate, you get transported to a different plane where everything is tranquil. If you struggle with controlling your angry outbursts, you are highly likely to benefit from meditating regularly. Meditation not only helps you to manage your anger, but you can also channelize it into something constructive.
Coping Mechanism
We have all faced situations that have been difficult to cope with. It could be the loss of a loved one, career challenges, or domestic problems, but the pain of going through such situations can drain a lot of mental and physical energy. Meditating will help you channel your emotions and help you cope with your stress.
Improved Sleeping Habits
Can’t sleep at night? Or too sleepy all the time? It doesn’t matter what sleep issue you are battling; meditation is here to the rescue. Meditate preferably at a fixed time of the day for a fixed duration every day, and your sleep quality will improve drastically. Meditating every day helps your brain cells relax and allows your brain’s sleep coordination center to perform its functions well.
Improved Metabolism
It is hard to believe that regular meditation has a profound positive effect on your metabolism. Your metabolism does not depend solely on your dietary intake and physical activity; your mental health also has a profound impact on your metabolism. A calm and relaxed mind will help the body metabolize its nutrients correctly. Meditating every day, even for a short time, helps fire up your metabolism and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.
Improved Immunity
It looks like meditation is a one-stop solution for all your woes. It improves your sleep pattern, it also takes care of your metabolism, and guess what? It helps you to enhance your immunity too. Meditation has an anti-inflammatory effect on almost all organs in the body which plays a pivotal role in elevating immunity.
Enhance Your Productivity
You can achieve much when you have control over your thoughts and emotions. Meditating allows you to find your way through the complex mess of thoughts and ideas running through your mind with great ease. A calm mind is always more productive than a mind battling against a tide of emotions. Meditate regularly to find your true potential and harness the energies you never knew existed within you.
Embrace Your Compassionate Side
A kind word and a selfless act may go a long way in making somebody’s day. Genuine compassion stems from understanding the perils of life and the turmoil one must endure to face them. Only a humbled soul can embrace their compassionate side and help others in need whenever they want. Meditation is the key to discovering and nurturing your humane side, which will help you become a better person.
Self-Acceptance
The famous phrase “To err is human” summarizes the behavior of humankind to a great extent. While there is always a tremendous scope for improvement in every person’s behavior, it is unhealthy to brood over every shortcoming that you think you have. Self-acceptance is crucial to succeed in life and remain happy. Meditate every day with your entire focus on loving yourself for who you are, and learn to enjoy your own company. There is no greater happiness than being comfortable with yourself just the way you are.
Healthy Heart
A healthy diet and adequate physical exercise are crucial in keeping your cardiac system healthy. Other add-ons like meditation also go a long way in preserving the normal functions and structure of the heart and its surrounding tissues. Meditating enhances your blood circulation, improves your blood composition, and accelerates your metabolism. A combination of these factors protects your heart from harmful influences and keeps it healthy.
Spiritual Awakening
Good health is a subtle blend of a stable mind, robust physique, and spiritual wellness. We often ignore the latter while giving more importance to the first two aspects of health. There are times when you are just restless, confused, or irritated, but you do not know why. This disturbance is because your spiritual calm is disturbed and needs to be restored. Meditating allows you to connect with your soul and elevate your spiritual health to a more excellent plane. Meditation lights the path that will lead you to a state of spiritual awakening and brings about a state of calmness around you.
Get Rid Of Mental Confusion
We experience difficulty in taking the simplest of the decisions, more than often. The decision could be something as simple as how much sugar you want in your coffee or something important like selecting a university for further education. Irrespective of the cause of your confusion, meditation will help you sail through it. If you meditate regularly, you will develop a stronger and more confident mind, enabling you to navigate complex decisions easily.
Have A Smooth Sailing Pregnancy
Who said pregnancy is easy? Mood swings, unusual food cravings, nausea, and throwing up make pregnancy a tricky journey. Expecting mothers can make their journey easier by indulging in meditation regularly. If you learn meditation under expert guidance, you will be able to keep a calm mind and a good mood during your pregnancy. Indian culture emphasizes Garbh sanskar during pregnancy. Garbh sanskar is a way of teaching good ideology and positivity into the unborn fetus. Meditating is a core element of Garbh sanskar and is credited with developing a mentally and physically healthy fetus.
A New Driving Force
We all need a push to motivate us to work harder, excel in our studies, or become better people. You cannot rely on your friends or family to give you that push every time. Be the master of your own life and give yourself the motivation you need. Practice meditation, and you will notice a change in your attitude towards life. Meditating will train you to take more control and inspire your life journey.
Mind, Body, Spirit Balance
We all know by now that mind, body, and spirit are the three pillars that support your wellbeing and life. Make your life more meaningful by allowing your physique, mind, and spirit to work in a coordinated and healthy manner. Meditation is the holistic nourishment that will allow the tree of your life to bloom and prosper. Meditate daily to feel the difference in your overall health!
Peaceful Living
Who doesn’t like to lead a peaceful life devoid of stress and inconveniences? While that is not possible all day, every day, there certainly are means to bring about a state of relative peacefulness to your life. When you resort to meditating daily, you enhance your ability to keep negativity, disturbances, and stress at bay. Meditation is the key that unlocks the door through which you can walk towards a peaceful and fulfilling life.
Elevated Ideologies
Your thoughts and ideas say a lot about what kind of a person you are. Thinking for the greater good, taking the high road, forgiving others, showing compassion are qualities that set you apart from others. Meditation will show you the path you must take to have an elevated ideology and become your guiding force through your journey of self-enhancement.
Improves Your Food Consumption
We often believe that meditation touches only the intangible aspects of our health and life, like the mind, spirit, and soul. However, meditation also has a profound effect on our lives’ physical and physiological plane. Those who meditate regularly experience a change in their food consumption and appetite. Meditation helps to optimize your appetite according to your health needs. People who suffer from eating disorders, binge eating habits, and even nutritional deficiencies due to a lack of proper food intake benefit tremendously from regular meditation.
Meditation is a vast subject, and no number of words can fully explain its efficacy. This article attempts to encourage more people to embrace meditation and enjoy a fruitful and healthy life. Your motives and reason to meditate may be varied, but the results are always positive.
