What is meditation?
Meditation is one of the best tools to work with the mind. Our mind can be very wild and if we don’t work with it, it will play with us. Our mind needs training, not because it is bad and it must be better, but to be awake and present. The motivation behind meditation is not to get rid of the thoughts but to train the mind to stay present in the moment, which is its natural state.
During sitting meditation, we are opening and consciously living every moment that life brings to us. Meditation gives us the possibility of accepting and living every moment and situation in life calmly. Through meditation, we are learning how to accept situations as they are, either they are positive or negative. In meditation, we are learning how to just be present. We are becoming observers of all situations and events in life.
The essence of meditation is one thing that many people are still afraid of and that is staying with them selfs. In meditation, we are learning how to stay with our selves regardless of what’s going on around us. During meditation, we are consciously deciding to stay in the moment.
3 Skills that we develop through meditation
- Consistency – In meditation, consistency means that we stay in meditation even sometimes we feel negative emotions and we think negative thoughts. Consistency means that we stay with these feelings and emotions no matter what. This is also the way how, in time, we reduce our fears, because we no longer running away from the negative feelings and emotions. Willingness to sit there however long we decide to sit, this is developing of consistency.
- Clear awareness – Through this decision to stay in meditation no matter what, we start to observe our emotions and thoughts. We become “observers” of our minds. Our mind is no longer playing with us. Now we have complete power over it. Thoughts and emotions come and go, and we can see them clearly, without judgment. We are detached from them.
- Awakeness – This is another amazing blessing that meditation gives us. Many people live in the fog, sometimes they are not even aware of what they are doing. With meditation, we become awake to our lives, to each and every moment that we live. We are present in whatever we are doing. We develop attention to every moment. We learn to just stay in the moment.
Many of you already heard expressions like “Everything comes from inside” or “Firs change yourself and everything around you will change”. This is exactly what we receive from meditation. These amazing skills that we develop through meditation, in time, we start to live in our everyday lives. This is how we change our realities.
How to meditate?
The basic technique of meditation is to place our mind on the object and let it rest there. The most common object that we use as a point of attention is our breath. Many people visualize their breath coming in and out of their bodies during meditation and that is an amazing technique. I am using this technique for eight years. Recently, I decided to upgrade this technique with the FEELING of the breath. I found it very relaxing and satisfying and my meditations are now at a different level. During this upgraded version, we focus completely on the feeling that we FEEL when we inhale and on the feeling when we exhale our breath.
When and how long to meditate
Through meditation, we are learning focus. We usually meditate every day, in the early morning, before breakfast for fifteen minutes. If you are a beginner, you can start with five minutes on the first day, and every day you can add another five minutes. Like this, you won’t put pressure on yourself and your mind will slowly learn how to focus on your breath.
Meditation changed my life and me as a person. More and more people around the world see the benefits of this amazing tool. Meditation is not just helping you to be calm, relaxed and awake, but it also changes your vibration. After some time, your reality starts to shift and your life changes. I hope you all give it a try!
Melita