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Health and Wellness: Meditation - What is it exactly and is it good for me?

9/6/2019

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Meditation is concentration on a thought. It can be through a prayer, a single statement, a mantra (positive affirmation), concentrating on breathing, or a single word (yogi's use OM sometimes). It is focused concentration. It can benefit your body, brain, and emotions. It can teach you to cope with stress during daily living.

Meditation can help people prone to anger, frustration, resentment, and interpersonal conflict.

Dictionary.com defines Meditation as:

"The act of meditating; continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation; devout religious contemplation or spiritual introspection."
It is Latin in origin and was considered to be "thinking over".

Meditation is focusing on a phrase, prayer, scripture, affirming statement or a simple word. Some examples are:

Breathe Awareness - you take slow, deep breathes and focus on each breathe you take while ignoring all other thoughts. This type of meditation is good for reducing anxiety and improving concentration. It is also good for learning to control emotions.

Mindfulness Meditation - this form of meditation is focused on the here and now. What is going on around you? You take time to notice your surroundings and take in the smells, sounds while relaxing your body.

Breathe awareness can also be a part of this type of meditation. This type of meditation is good for improving your focus, memory, negative emotions, negative impulse reactions, and may improve relationships.

It has also been found to improve physical health in many areas such as lowering blood pressure.

Transcendental Meditation - in this form, you will be seated and take slow breathes in a attempt to raise your thoughts above your normal state of being.

To accomplish this type of meditation you will need to focus on a mantra, a single word repeated over and over, or a series of words. This type of meditation has been stated to broaden mindfulness and enhance or create spiritual experiences.

The purpose of meditation is not to create stress by over thinking but to reduce stress and be more accepting of ourselves and others. The overall result should be to feel greater peace within.

Some common mantras, phrases, words, or thoughts are:

If you have a weakness such as a lack of confidence in an area (public speaking, direct selling, interviewing, etc.) your affirmation could be:
“I am a good public speaker.”
“ I am the most qualified candidate for this job.”

If you repeat this over and over again, you will start to believe it. It will make a difference.

You can deal with emotional issues during meditation as well, your affirmation could be:
“I forgive myself.”
“I forgive others.”
“I am at peace.”
“I am a child of God.”

You can deal with self image issues during meditation, your affirmation could be:
“My body is beautiful.”
“I am healthy.”
“I am better than no one, no one is better than me.”
“God made me the say I am, I am perfect in every way.”

A mantra is different than an affirmation, here are a few mantras:
“OM” Hindu in origin, it is pronounced “A-OO-M” (the “A” is sounded like the “a” in car.) Hindus believe that OM is the sound vibration that underlies the creation of the universe.

OM MANI PADME HUM is another well-known mantra, which is often used by Buddhists to evoke compassion and dispel negative feelings toward oneself or others. Pronounced “AOOM-MANI-PADMAY-HOOM”.

“ALLELUIA” If you are a Christian, this is an excellent mantra. Pronounced “AH-LAY-LOO-YA”. It comes from the Hebrew “hallelu” meaning praise and “jah” meaning Jehovah and means “Praise God”.
Other mantras could be: love, peace, one, amen, etc.

Mantras can be stated aloud or only in thought. It is just as effective either way. You can repeat a mantra while keeping an internal rhythm using your heartbeat.

Scriptures can be phrases or affirmations that can be extremely useful during meditation.
Meditating on scriptures should be completely different than what most people associate with meditation. There are several verses in the Bible that instruct the Christian on meditation.

Here is probably the best one:

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth,
but you shall meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.
For then you will make your way prosperous,
and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8 NKJV


Any scripture that helps you can be used, however, here are some good ones to get you started:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

“God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever,” (Psalms 136:26)

“Come to Me, all you labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Meditation can also come in the form of prayers. You can use prayers from scriptures or your own.

You can also use this time to think on yourself and your life, as long it is in a positive way.

Meditation is supposed to be uplifting and affirming, so if you find yourself going down a negative path, revert to the standard words or phrases for meditations (OM, I am confident, etc.).

As we get older, life can be challenging and sometimes extremely difficult. No matter what the situation is, finding time to meditate, no matter what method you choose, can be a blessing and healing tool. It can change your negative feelings and thoughts to positive ones.

Give meditation a try. Do it more than once. Give it a chance to work. It will if you put the effort it take to start it and to continue in it for a period of time.

Healthline.com has an article written by Matthew Thorpe, MD, PhD, dated July 5, 2017, that provides 12 science-based health benefits of meditation.

​Here's the link to the article, it's a good one:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation

Do you practice meditation? Do you practice on a regular basis? If you don't, will you consider doing so now? What are your feelings and thoughts about meditation?

XOXO
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