Simple Meditation Techniques

Meditation seems to be more popular than ever. This is great news, as meditation does so much for the body, mind, and spirit. It can help to reduce stress in the body. It assists the mind in feeling peaceful and less attached to the outcome of things. It lifts our spirits and makes us feel connected to the larger world.

But there are so many different meditation techniques, how do you know which one to try? Or how would you know whether you are practicing the best method for you without trying them all?

Here are some of the main techniques you’ll find to help you discover which one is right for you:

1. Breathing

Simply following the breath is an easy way to start your practice before moving on to other more in-depth practices. Because the breath has such an impact on our whole being, focusing on breathing brings about a restful and calm nature. Focus on the simple action of breathing in and out. When you notice that you have a thought, return to thinking about your breath and following it in and out of your body.

2. Gazing

When following this method, we are using our sense of sight to silence the mind. Gazing at a still candle flame in the dark, for instance, helps the mind become very focused. That is a good way to start this type of meditation.

3. Visualization

This method involves going within, with our eyes closed, and seeing some object such as our chakras or our heart and holding that image as an object of meditation. If you find that your thoughts are drifting from that image, reimagine it and focus on it again.

4. Chanting mantra

People who follow transcendental meditation or chant a mantra are following this path. This is where a mantra or sequence of mantras are repeated (silently) to get the mind to become calm and centered. Find a mantra that you connect with, and repeat it over and over in your head.

5. Focusing

When we are focusing on something like the third eye in between the eyebrows, we bring awareness to a very powerful center. This focusing brings stillness to our whole being.

6. Using mala beads

Using mala beads brings an extra layer of activity for the very busy mind. As you are doing your chanting or gazing, you touch or count the mala beads helps to keep the mind super-focused on the task at hand, and keep track of your affirmations.

7. Using an image

When using an image to stare at, we are evoking the power and strength of what that image represents, while you focus it on it as you meditate. If you use the image of a guru, religious figure, or master, whatever energy they have will be with you. This practice is good for people who already have a spiritual practice and follow a certain path.

One thing you need to first understand before you get started: Methods vary because people vary in their attitudes, character, and nature. So when coming to pick the right method of meditation, you will have to fit the meditation into your nature, and not try to fit your character into a certain technique. When you fit your natural nature into the right meditation method you will feel a certain ease and comfort in your practice.

Breathing Exercise

What is pranayama (yogic breathing)?

Your body is like the wick of a candle and the mind is like the glow all around it. ‘Prana’ is the vital energy needed by our physical and subtle layers, without which the body would perish. It is the prana or life force in us that nourishes the mind and keeps the body alive. ‘Prana’ refers to the universal life force and ‘Ayama’ means to regulate or lengthen. Pranayama means working in the dimension of prana.

Understanding prana

The prana creates an aura around the body. It flows through thousands of subtle energy channels called ‘nadis’ and energy centers called ‘chakras’. The quantity and quality of prana and the way it flows through the nadis and chakras determines one’s state of mind. If the prana level is high and its flow is continuous, smooth and steady, the mind remains calm, positive and enthusiastic. However, due to lack of knowledge and attention to one’s breath, the nadis and chakras in the average person may be partially or fully blocked leading to jerky and broken flow. As a result, one experiences increased worries, fear, uncertainty, tensions, conflict and other negative qualities. Every problem first generates in the subtle and then surfaces on the physical level. Sickness shows up in your prana (Pranic Body) much before you get sick physically.

Benefits of regular practice of pranayama

• Increases and enhances the quantity and quality of prana
• Clears blocked nadis and chakras.Clears the whole energy around you, expands your aura and heightens the spirit
• Makes one energetic, enthusiastic and positive
• Brings harmony between the body, mind, and spirit, making one physically, mentally and spiritually strong. It brings clarity to the mind and good health to the body

4 Types of pranayama and their application

The ancient sages of India realized some breathing techniques which are simple to practice and brought great relaxation to the body and mind. These breathing techniques can be practiced with ease and at any time of the day on an empty stomach:

1. Is your mind buzzing with activity? Can’t stop thinking about what someone said about you? Find a quiet corner and try the Bhramari pranayama (Bee breath) to apply brakes in the buzzing mind. This breathing technique is a boon for those with hypertension. 
2. Among the breathing techniques, Kapal Bhati pranayama (Skull Shining breathing technique) is considered the most important and effective for detoxifying the body and clearing the energy channels.
3. Low energy levels? Three rounds of Bhastrika pranayama (Bellow breath) will get your energy levels soaring!
4. Can’t concentrate on the task at hand? Try nine rounds of Nadi Shodhan pranayama (Alternate nostril breathing technique) followed by a short 10-minute meditation. Nadi Shodhan pranayama calms and centers the mind by bringing into harmony the left and right hemispheres of the brain which correlates to the logical and emotional sides of our personality.

Note: Since the pranayamas deal with the subtle life force, it is important to practice them as taught in your yoga classes. Experimenting with these techniques is not advisable.

8 Benefits of Turmeric

​1. Turmeric Contains Bioactive Compounds With Powerful Medicinal Properties

Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color.

It has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice and medicinal herb.

Recently, science has started to back up what the Indians have known for a long time… it really does contain compounds with medicinal properties. 

These compounds are called curcuminoids, the most important of which is curcumin.
Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant.

 

2. Curcumin is a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compound

Inflammation is incredibly important.
It helps the body fight foreign invaders and also has a role in repairing damage.

Without inflammation, pathogens like bacteria could easily take over our bodies and kill us.

Although acute (short-term) inflammation is beneficial, it can become a major problem when it is chronic (long-term) and inappropriately deployed against the body’s own tissues.

It is now believed that chronic, low-level inflammation plays a major role in almost every chronic, Western disease. This includes heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s and various degenerative conditions.

Therefore, anything that can help fight chronic inflammation is of potential importance in preventing and even treating these diseases.

It turns out that curcumin is strongly anti-inflammatory, it is so powerful that it matches the effectiveness of some anti-inflammatory drugs.

Curcumin actually targets multiple steps in the inflammatory pathway, at the molecular level.

3. Turmeric Dramatically Increases The Antioxidant Capacity of The Body

Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind aging and many diseases.

It involves free radicals, highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons.

Free radicals tend to react with important organic substances, such as fatty acids, proteins or DNA.

The main reason antioxidants are so beneficial, is that they protect our bodies from free radicals.

Curcumin happens to be a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals due to its chemical structure.
But curcumin also boosts the activity of the body’s own antioxidant enzymes.

4. Curcumin Boosts Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Linked to Improved Brain Function and a Lower Risk of Brain Diseases

The neurons are capable of forming new connections, but in certain areas of the brain, they can also multiply and increase in number.

One of the main drivers of this process is Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which is a type of growth hormone that functions in the brain.

Many common brain disorders have been linked to decreased levels of this hormone. This includes depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Interestingly, curcumin can increase brain levels of BDNF.

By doing this, it may be effective at delaying or even reversing many brain diseases and age-related decreases in brain function.

5. Curcumin Leads to Various Improvements That Should Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world. 

It has been studied for many decades and researchers have learned a lot about why it happens.

It turns out that heart disease is incredibly complicated and there are various things that contribute to it.

Curcumin may help reverse many steps in the heart disease process.

Perhaps the main benefit of curcumin when it comes to heart disease, is improving the function of the endothelium, which is the lining of the blood vessels.

It is well known that endothelial dysfunction is a major driver of heart disease and involves an inability of the endothelium to regulate blood pressure, blood clotting and various other factors.
Several studies suggest that curcumin leads to improvements in endothelial function. One study shows that is as effective as exercise, another shows that it works as well as the drug Atorvastatin.

But curcumin also reduces inflammation and oxidation (as discussed above), which are also important in heart disease.

6. Turmeric Can Help Prevent (And Perhaps Even Treat) Cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease, characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells.

There are many different forms of cancer, but they do have several commonalities, some of which appear to be affected by curcumin supplementation.

Researchers have been studying curcumin as a beneficial herb in cancer treatment. It can affect cancer growth, development and spread at the molecular level.

Studies have shown that it can reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors), metastasis (spread of cancer), as well as contributing to the death of cancerous cells.

7. Curcumin May be Useful in Preventing and Treating Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world and a leading cause of dementia.

Unfortunately, no good treatment is available for Alzheimer’s yet.

Therefore, preventing it from showing up in the first place is of utmost importance.
There may be good news on the horizon, because curcumin has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier.

It is known that inflammation and oxidative damage play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. As we know, curcumin has beneficial effects on both.

8. Arthritis Patients Respond Very Well to Curcumin Supplementation

Arthritis is a common problem in Western countries.

There are several different types, but most involve some sort of inflammation in the joints.

Given that curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory, it makes sense that it could help with arthritis. Several studies show this to be true.

In a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, curcumin was even more effective than an anti-inflammatory drug.
Many other studies have looked at the effects of curcumin on arthritis and noted improvements in various symptoms.

Hatha Yoga

When you experience everything as oneness in your consciousness, then you are in yoga. To attain that unity within you, there are many ways. You work with the body, then you move to the breath, then to the mind, then to the inner self. Like this, many steps have been created, but they are only different facets of yoga. It is important that all of them are addressed in a very balanced way, all at once, as one single unit. There is really no division as such; yoga employs all aspects of who you are.

The body is a very large part of who you are right now. The science of using the body to hasten your evolutionary process is hatha yoga. The body itself has its own attitudes, its own ego, its own nature. Let us say you decided, “Starting tomorrow, I will get up at five in the morning and go for a walk.” You set the alarm. The alarm rings. You want to get up, but your body says, “Shut up and sleep.” It has its own way, doesn’t it? Hatha yoga is a way of working with the body, a way of disciplining, purifying and preparing the body for higher levels of energy and possibilities.

The Science of Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga is not exercise. 

Understanding the mechanics of the body, creating a certain atmosphere, and then using body postures to drive your energy in specific directions is what hatha yoga or yogasanas are about. “Asana” means a “posture.” That kind of posture which allows you to reach your higher nature is a yogasana. There are other dimensions to this, but to put it in the simplest way, just by observing the way someone is sitting, you can almost know what is happening with him, if you have known him long enough. If you have observed yourself, when you are angry, you sit one way; if you are happy, you sit another way; if you are depressed, you sit another way. For every different level of consciousness or mental and emotional situation that you go through, your body naturally tends to assume certain postures. The converse of this is the science of asanas. If you consciously get your body into different postures, you can elevate your consciousness.

The body can become a means for your spiritual growth or it can become a major barrier. Suppose some part of your body – your hand, leg or back, for instance – is hurting. When it is hurting badly it is hard to aspire for anything higher because that becomes the biggest thing. Right now if you have a backache, the biggest thing in the universe is your backache. Other people may not understand that, but for the person who is going through it, that is the biggest thing. Even if God appears you will ask for your backache to go! You will not ask for anything else because the physical body has such a power over you. If it is not functioning well, it can take away all other aspirations from your life. Whatever you may fancy, all your longings just disappear once the body starts hurting – because to look beyond that takes an enormous amount of strength, which most people do not possess.

There are thousands of people who have come out of spinal problems by doing simple asanas. Doctors had told them they would definitely have to go through a surgery, but they never had to. Your back can be restored to such an excellent condition that you will never need to go to a chiropractor. It is not only your spine that becomes flexible; you also become flexible. Once you are flexible, you are willing to listen, not just to someone’s talk; you are willing to listen to life. Learning to listen is the essence of a sensible life.

Dedicating a certain amount of effort and time to see that the body does not become a barrier is important. A painful body can become a major obstacle, and so can a compulsive body. Simple compulsions, whether they are about the body wanting to relieve itself or of lust, can rule you so strongly that they will not allow you to look beyond; the physical body becomes a major entity. Body is only a part of you; it should not become the whole of you. Asanas level the body down to its natural place.

Hatha Yoga Prepares the Body

Another aspect of hatha yoga, when one wants to move into deeper dimensions of meditation, is that it allows for a higher possibility of energy. If you want your energies to surge upwards, it is very important that the pipeline of the body is conducive. If it is blocked, it will not work, or else, something will burst. Preparing the body sufficiently before one goes into more intense forms of meditation is very important. Hatha yoga ensures that the body takes it gently and joyfully.