Meditation Is a Way to Relax the Mind

At some point, all you’ll want to do is turn off the noise in your mind and get in tune with the inner voice that you’ve been neglecting, but that has so much to say to you. Meditation is a way to reunite with your soul, a vital connection that can bring you answers in the midst of stormy waters.

There’s not just one reason why people choose to meditate. Sometimes it happens by coincidence. For example, the person has back pain and the doctor recommends yoga, which introduces them to this ancient art that has so many different schools of thought and interesting approaches.

Also, meditation takes on different meanings depending on the context. Despite not being specifically linked to any religion, it is a big part of many belief systems. But setting aside the spiritual aspect, there has always been a lot of  psychological interest in meditation for many reasons and therapeutic goals.

The exercise focuses mainly on the ability to “self-regulate” the mind and its processes and thus achieve a good balance between your thoughts and emotions. It’s quite interesting and requires planned training to complement strategies geared towards certain psychological issues like stress, anxiety, and depression.

Meditation can restore your inner balance

For many people, meditation is synonymous with Buddhism. However, it’s important to remember that the Druids also used these techniques to connect with nature and divinity. In order to do so, they had to overcome a series of obstacles called the four sorrows: nostalgia, loss, envy, and difficulty.

If you go a little bit further into the complex and interesting world of religion and spirituality, you’ll realize that they all have the same backbone. Mircea Eliade, a well-known philosopher and historian, once said that when humans look up for the first time and see the stars, they are enchanted by their calm, almost divine magic. Something is happening out there that is so far away from the hardships and needs of humanity.

Since we’ve been able to use reason, we’ve always longed to find that calm, that inner balance that would help us achieve a more intuitive understanding of things. A broader, more profound serenity that could conjure up the true self within us and allow us go get to know ourselves better and connect with our environment in a different way. If you think about it, that’s pretty hard to do today, in this world where action and stress prevail, inadvertently wearing us down and completely shattering our self-esteem.

Stop being a slave to external circumstances

Nobody can 100% control what happens around them. However, what you can control is the way these circumstances affect you. Believe it or not, we all have to live with inner demons that are there even if we can’t see them. They’re like termites of the mind, and we have to learn how to deal with them in a wise, skillful way.

These include the following:

• Worry.

• Dwelling on the past.

• Judging others.

• Being critical of yourself and others.

• Blaming yourself for everything that happens around you.

• Catastrophizing thoughts.

• Doubt and indecision.

When you start to meditate, a contemplative journey begins where you can see all of these issues, but instead of viewing them with disdain or contempt, you look at them with the serenity of someone who says no to judgment and understands that change is always possible. Meditation involves wrapping yourself in respect and love, clarifying your goals, and reinforcing yourself with peace and balance from that moment on. 

Choose your preferred type of meditation and take care of your brain

Science has made it clear that meditation generates positive changes in brain structure. For example, the cerebral cortex, which is linked to introspection and attention, gets thicker. More connections also develop in the hippocampus and the frontal lobe, which are both related to emotions and decision-making.

Meditation is a worthwhile activity if you believe in it and need it. There are many different types of meditation, so you can pick the one that fits you best:

• Buddhist meditation

• Trascendental meditation

• Vipassana meditation

• Zazen meditation

• Kabbalah meditation

• Mantra meditation

• Sufi meditation

• Dzogchen meditation

• Chakra meditation

However, you don’t have to do it with a specific approach. Meditation is an exercise that you can use to achieve a state of awareness and relaxation and benefit from a series of cognitive and psychological processes. To do so, sometimes all you need to do is visualize positive images while you mentally verbalize a series of affirmations that fit with your needs:

• I have complete confidence in myself.

• I feel free to make my own decisions.

• I will listen to my intuition.

• Nothing and nobody has the right to threaten my inner peace.

• I am not less than anyone, and nobody is less than me.

• I will finally dare to initiate change and fight for my own happiness.

To conclude, sometimes in order to maintain or recover your vitality during uncertain and difficult times, you have to journey inward. Instead of running away and trying to escape, it’s better to find yourself again. And to do that, there’s nothing better than meditating.