What is Meditation And How To Start Meditating

Basically, when someone describes meditation, they describe it as a breathing exercise that is not quite correct. For a very long time, we have been making this mistake of calling meditation a breathing exercise.

I know meditation includes breathing, but meditation is not completely about breathing. Some parts of meditation involve breathing because breathing is essential for our survival.

If meditation is not about breathing, then what is it about?

First of all, you must know that this breathing exercise means yoga, not meditation.

Meditation means realizing your inner being by connecting yourself to nature or to the Supreme Being (the supreme soul or you can say, God).

In my personal experience, I have seen many people meditating for years, yet they haven't benefited from it in any way.

Why?

It's because they never learn the real meaning of meditation and how they should meditate in the first place.

So in this chapter, I will share some things about meditation and how you can start your meditation journey.

Let's dive into the inner being.

What is meditation!

In simple words, meditation is the technique to awaken your inner consciousness, awareness, and inner being.

There are so many ways to define meditation and meditation techniques, but all of them serve the same purpose, i.e., to awaken your inner consciousness.

Many people want to know how to awaken their inner self. Also, you might have heard people asking, "Who are we?" Or who am I?

Basically, this "who I am" thing has gained a lot of attention in the last few years. Because of that, a lot of people are moving towards finding their true selves. But in reality, there is nothing like that!

We must understand this: there are two sides to human life. One is physical, the outer body, and the other is an inner being (some call it a soul or metaphysical being).

That metaphysical being resides in every one of us (considering ourselves a body). Incorrect terminology: that metaphysical being is our soul.

Basically, not many people understand the concept of the soul because it's very hard to explain something that you don't see or are not capable of seeing, like we all experience air, but we can't explain it, even though we sense air all the time, plus we survive only because of air.

But it's very hard to explain what it looks like or how "airy" it actually is. The same goes for our souls. It's very hard to define a soul.

In actuality, it's a living energy that is capable of doing things (I think that is not enough to define it fully). Because it needs much more explanation.

Why talking about the soul is so important here?

We are all forms of energy and that energy has certain limitations. These limitations decide everything for us, like our losses and gains of energy. We mostly believe that eating food lends energy for survival; that is true, but not completely.

We need two kinds of energy for survival.

1. Energy for our body.

2. Energy for our soul.

Gaining energy for the body is not difficult, you just need to eat food for that. The better you eat, the better your body's energy will get. But what about things with your soul are quite different?

Why?

Because your soul doesn't get energized by the food you eat, you need to connect with God in certain ways to add energy to your soul because God is the only ultimate source of energy. That's why a lot of people pray to him.

You may have also seen people who meditate and pray to God regularly having a different aura than those who don't.

It's because, as a human, there is only one way to gain energy and that is to pray with God. It doesn't matter who we are in terms of religion (because religion is a human-created thing), but we all pray to God by different means and ways. Nearly all religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam) have a tradition of prayers.

This is so because we all receive energy from God while we pray to him. And the amount of energy received depends on how much you pray to him. It's simple, practical science.

Moreover, there is one more way to add energy to the human soul, i.e., creating positive thoughts or affirmations, as we all know that we lose energy every time we think negatively about ourselves and we gain energy while thinking positively about ourselves.

How prayers are meditative?

Basically, prayers have nothing to do with meditation, but the words we use while praying are the key to meditation.

During prayers, we chant the name of God in different ways, and that's the way to connect to him.

I am not telling you to be religious for meditation. I am only pointing out that all religions perform meditation in different ways. Therefore, if you're a religious person, then you're already meditating.

Then why so many still don't find peace in their religions?

It's because religions throughout the world have made prayers more rigid and incorrect.

How?

It's because most religions force people to follow certain norms before making them a part of that religion, and in some cases, you need to chant the name of the following person, whom they consider the messenger of GOD.

Religions have so many things that are not required for connecting with God, yet they are in there, only to create a difference among religions. That's what makes all religions wrong.

Then what is true meditation?

Meditation is the process of osmosis. In which you're a resin and you need to dive into the water, the flow of energy will automatically take place from higher concentration to lower concentration and the resin will start gaining weight.

The same goes for your meditation process. You need to dive into the thoughts of God and you will automatically start gaining energy from him.

Even if you achieve that peaceful state, you must maintain a consistent meditation practice.

Now comes the fun part. If it was so easy, then why do we have so many unsatisfied people around us?

It's because not many people are capable of creating thoughts for God and a lot of people don't know how to think positively.

Why?

Because they have no idea who GOD is or what they should say to him.

So remember this: we are all children of God and we need to talk to him as we talk to our biological father or mother, plus we can build any relationship with him.

Basically, talking to God is like saying positive affirmations about him. Like, I am a son of the supreme soul and I am as powerful as he is. No one in this world is capable of doing anything wrong to me.

These kinds of thoughts really work and also help you improve your mental stability and self-awareness. According to my experience, this is true meditation. Not the one that people try to teach us. Like, hold your breath, breathe deeper, and all that.

So if you want to start your meditation journey, then you should try this out. Breathing is also involved in this.

Types of meditation

Basically, there are no types of meditation. The only thing that creates a difference in meditation techniques is the posture of your body; the rest remains the same.

Meditation is completely dependent on how you decide to do it. As you know, Bharat (India) has a deep culture of meditation and 1000+ types of meditation are taught in Bharat (India). Because of that, a lot of people are confused about meditation and its types.

All meditation serves the same purpose, which is to make you more peaceful and stable, so it doesn't matter which one you're practicing, you must do it right.

Some of the types you might hear are;

1. Rajyoga meditation.

2. Isha Kriya.

3. Mantra meditation ( Depends on different mantras).

I think these three are the best and you must try them because they are really simple and don't ask you to do anything abnormal.

If you are practicing any kind of meditation and hurting your emotional structure, you must stop that right away. Because meditation has both positives and negatives,

Purpose of these meditation types.

All meditation process serves only two purposes.

• Enhances your concentration powers.
• Improves your mental structure.

I think these are very basic things that meditation helps you achieve. Normally, people get misguided because they don't know why they want to meditate and how they will check their progress.

Basically, checking your meditation progress is impossible because it can only be checked while you're facing any sort of problem in your life.

How to start your meditation journey

I think you must not confuse yourself with too many meditation forms at the start because there are so many types taught in different countries and cultures. So, to start, you must start with the basics and move accordingly.

1. Find a quiet spot free from distractions. Obviously, a pro can meditate anywhere, but not a newbie, because a new bird needs to learn a lot of things before understanding meditation, so turn off your devices and sit in a quiet corner of your house.

2. Try to meditate for a short time period during the start. As you are just starting, you must meditate for 5 to 10 minutes only.

3. Pay attention to your body. You must ensure that your body is completely comfortable in your sitting posture and is not in any way in pain. Try to sit in "Padmasana" or "Sukhasana", if you're comfortable.

4. Concentrate on your breath: Because we consider breathing to be the source of our thoughts, most meditation methods begin by focusing on breathing and attempting to slow it down because the slower you breathe, the more relaxed you will feel.

5. Notice your thoughts. Thoughts are a vital part of your meditation and life because they are responsible for your feelings.

You cannot be sad without having sad thoughts, so you need to understand the importance of your thoughts because meditation is all about directing your thoughts in the right direction so that you can feel better and live happily.

During the beginning, don't judge yourself and your thoughts, because most of the time we get ugly thoughts while we try to meditate, so don't judge yourself. Just focus on your breathing and try to create some positive thoughts.

Final tips for meditating

If you have decided to dive into meditation practice, then you should consider these tips.

1. Start slow: You must know this: meditation is a very slow process. It is like homoeopathic meditation; it works slowly but eradicates your disease. So don't be hasty while doing your meditation.

2. Be regular. Meditation doesn't work if you're not regular, so try to be regular.

3. Be at ease: While meditating, you should be at ease, and if you experience any pain or disturbance in your emotions, you should stop immediately. In that case, you should talk to someone who knows about meditation or has been practicing meditation for a very long time.

4. Focus on your feelings: When we meditate, our past feelings come up and try to mess with our heads, so you must ignore these feelings and focus on your positive feelings.

5. Don't try to suppress your feelings. A lot of people do this. They try to run away from their inner feelings, which is kind of impossible because you can't run from them. Also, you don't need to suppress them because suppressing your feelings is not going to work.

So you only need to accept your feelings whatever they are and tell yourself that I accept whatever happened to me in the past, and I am not afraid of it anymore. In this way, you can overcome your bad feelings of the past.

Acceptance is the only way to overcome any kind of fear that you have in your heart and mind.                                                                                 @Pushpender Yadav

Conclusion;

Every journey has ups and downs. The same is with your meditation journey. You will have downfalls over time during your meditation journey because meditation is not something that is going to solve all your problems.

Your financial problems and other problems will remain as they are. The only thing that is going to change after your meditation journey is how you deal with those problems. Nothing else.

So don't expect too much from meditation because expectations are only going to ruin your meditation experience. Instead, treat it as a self-care part of your life.

Use the share buttons and show your love.  

Also, Read;

Meditation Diet | How meditation diet is important.