Meditation For Beginners, Types & Meaning(Full Guide)

Why meditation is important, Why do you think A Monk and so powerful, mentally? any gues? , well I would say that they exercise but not in the gym but through their inner consciousness. Meditation is what we call it

Some say, Meditation is a gap between your mind a body, some say that meditation is just focusing on one thing at a time. What is it actually and how can you be benefited from doing mediation?.

We will cover everything here.

Why Meditation is important? and Meditation How to Do

Why I can’t I start meditation even if I want, Why I am not able to sit down for just 5 minutes.

Don’t worry, I have also faced countless difficulties while in my early days of practising meditation. Trust me Not even a minute would pass and I would start looking at my stopwatch. Before learning meditation, one must understand what meditation actually is.

Meditation is important because When you are in a meditative state, you tend to improve your memory power, self-awareness, and also help you to be focused and mindful. Meditation can also make you empathetic. There is even more scientific evidence on how meditation is important for as covered below in the article.

And To be clear meditation is not about just sitting with your eyes close and taking deep breaths. Meditation is the state of “absolute attention”. It is the state wherein you turn your focus to one single point of reference. Meditation does not always mean sitting down with crossed legs, breathing deeply, and enchanting mantras.

It is the state of full concentration of one thing, and that thing can be anything- dancing, writing a poem, listening to your favourite songs, and so on.

According to psychology today

‘Meditation means turning your attention away from distracting thoughts and focusing on the present moment

Now, concentration is everything about meditation, to be absolutely focused n whatever you are doing is the key. As my own Country India, there has been a widely regarded methods and principles used on mind liberation.

And, we also have a Sanskrit sentence for that.

तत्र प्रत्ययैकतानता ध्यानं

It simply means that An unbroken flow of knowledge to an object is Dhyana (meditation).

The mind tries to think of one object, to hold itself to one particular spot, as the top of the head, the heart, etc., and if the mind succeeds in receiving the sensations only through that part of the body, and through no other part, that would be Dharana, and when the mind succeeds in keeping itself in that state for some time it is called Dhyana (meditation). — Swami Vivekananda

Meditation Types Explained

There are basically four meditation techniques or type as my knowledge —

1. Mindfulness —

It is a widely used meditation technique that focuses on bringing aim to the Present situation. Our mind is always full of thoughts that come and go in seconds. This is often referred to as “Monkey Mind”.

Mindfulness helps to bring your attention to one single thought or sound that serves your “anchor.” If you think that you keep pondering over so many thoughts in a day, you should adopt mindful meditation techniques.

One of the best ways to practice mindful meditation is to practice the Buddhist breath meditation.- “vipassana.”

For this, you need to sit straight with your legs crossed and keep your back straight. You need to simply observe your breath and inhale and exhale deeply. Observe how the breathing process is taking place, and feel that sensation. If other thoughts disturb you, then keep them away by focusing on your breaths.

2. Active Meditation —

Active meditation also known as meditation with eyes open as is practised when you are already involved in some activity and just to get flow into that. You must have seen great Dancers enjoying their performance so much that they forget about everything else. Or a poet, when he or she writes something, gets deep into the writings and forgets about everything else happening around him or her. This is also known as the flow state and is a type of meditation.

This is the Fundamental aspect of Active meditation. Your body and mind get in synchronization with each other, which makes you calm ultimately.

Active meditation can be performed anywhere. The rule is simple: You have to focus on the ‘Physical activity’ that you are doing and get rid of all the other thoughts that are coming to your mind.

For instance, if you are walking and want to practice meditation- Just focus on the physical movement you are doing. Concentrate on how your body is moving while you are walking and use this physical movement to clear out all the garbage thoughts from your mind.

3. Mantra Meditation—

This is one of the widely accepted techniques of meditation. You must have seen people sitting under a tree with bare clothes, eyes closed, and enchanting mantras. In this type of meditation, one needs to enchant a word or phrase and this word or phrase works as an anchor and a stimulant to clear mind and allow spiritual progression to take place.

For Mantra meditation of meditation, you need to sit down and cross your legs. Now, close your eyes and enchant any word that gives you peace. For instance, in India — ‘Aum’ is enchanted mostly to get peace. You can repeat some of your positive affirmations too.

4. Visualization Meditation—

This is the simplest kind of meditation to do. In visualization or insight meditation, you just need to imagine something positive and concentrate solely on that. This meditation technique allows us to focus on just one thing at a time. For insight/visualization meditation, all you need to do is pick any topic and think about that.

For example, you can pick ‘Happiness’ and remember the times or people that have made you happy. Don’t think about anything else, just let those moments of happiness run in your mind.

Sometimes, you can also visualize something negative like you can pick a topic- ‘Hate.’ But make sure not to end meditation with such topics as then it will then fill your mind with more garbage.

so, these are just 4 types of meditation, but the real question is how do you develop your concentration to perform and reach the meditative state. Well here is a simple guide that I use in my life, that might be helpful for you

10 minute meditation – Step to Meditation for beginners

1. Choose a quiet place to Meditate — With less noise and chaos, your mind will be able to concentrate more on the present situation.
2. Sit Comfortably — Without a Good posture and relaxation meditation can be quite a tough thing to do, hence I would highly recommend you sit or lay down in a comfortable position or place.
3. Wear Pleasant Clothing — With tight clothes, one can’t concentrate and meditate properly, hence always wear cosy and dresses in which you are most comfortable.
4. Eat Light before you meditate — If you have decided to meditate in the morning then eat something like boiled eggs or a sandwich, as in an empty stomach your mind can’t focus properly. And for those who want to meditate before going to sleep should also eat something light so that they don’t feel like sleeping just after having their dinner.
5. Use Music If necessary — If music improves your concentration, then you can choose to listen to light music to improve your focus
6. Switch off your mobile phone — Set aside your electronic gadgets for better concentration.
7. Compete for all your unfinished tasks before meditating — Suppose you have to go to the office tomorrow, but you have not finished an important presentation for the meeting then you can’t focus on meditating properly as your mind will jump onto that unfinished task again and gain. Hence, it is recommended that before meditating, specifically at night, try finished all the incomplete tasks.
8. Inhale and exhale deeply — but try to keep your exhalations longer than inhalations. It is because when you expel more air, there is more room for fresh air to fill your lungs.

I am completely honest with you that It will not be easy for dew days, you will break your concentration a lot, but will proper daily practice e you will see that level of your tolerance increasing day by day.

Is meditation scientifically proven?

Meditation has been there for quite a long time, and surely it has some astounding health benefits as well as mental wellness.

So, from a scientific perspective when you Meditate, some regions of the brain have proven to show activities, which can be correlated with decreased anxiety and depression along with an increase in pain tolerance. Meditation also physically changes the size of the brain, as studies have been found that those who meditate every day for 8 consecutive weeks, the grey matter in the brain associated with learning, memory processing, and emotional regulation are found to be enhanced.

When you are in a meditative state, you improve your memory power, self-awareness, and also help you to set a proper vision in your life. Meditation can also make you more empathetic.

There was research once done when scientists compare the minds of the Buddhist monks and new meditators, they have found that the regions of the brain associated with empathy and love were exalted and more aware in the brain of monks as compared to someone who just started meditation. Meditators also have a high level of alpha waves, which assist them to cooperate with negative moods and tensions and consolidating emotional intelligence.

Meditation also helps to regulate the Grey matter in Amygdala of the brain which deals with blood pressure, stress, and anxiety.

Top 5 Meditation benefits for brain and body

• Strong immune function improvement — As Meditation helps you to Decrease the level of stress hormone and maintain the blood pressure equilibrium, the immune system is highly benefited from its practice.
• Better Tolerance level — I have always felt a lack of tolerance in me until I started meditating, tolerance is one of its biggest advantages as meditation has been proven to increase the size of great matter in the brain which is related to better learning and empathy.
• Cultivate Good Memory power — Scientifically the amygdala of the brain which is related to survival instinct, emotions, and memory is enhanced with good emotions and healing capabilities with the help of meditation.
• Increased Compassion and Empathy — Meditation can help you to see the world with a different side once you practice it properly. It will not only changes the dynamics of your brain but also develops empathy.
• Relief stress — Meditation is a stress buster exercise, why the monks are so happy and cheerful? obviously a huge credit goes to meditation.

Meditation also helps with anxiety and depression. There are tons of great thins about meditation, maybe some of these courses and book on Meditation might help to unblock your brain’s deepest Potential

Meditation Books —

Following Links are Amazon Links

1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle –
2. Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy
3. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh

I hope this might help you to open the golden potential of your lovely mind. Keep smiling and drop a comment about your views on this explanation.