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Transcendental Meditation

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:55:05 +0000

We are all aware that human being has different states of consciousness like dreaming, waking and sleeping states of consciousness. However scientists have now mapped another fourth state of consciousness called by some cultures as Samadhi or Nirvana. Scientists vouch that this fourth state, named by them as Transcendental Consciousness, can be acquired from practicing Transcendental Meditation.

This fourth state of consciousness was first discovered by the scientists, almost three decades ago, during a transcendental meditation, when they witnessed slowing down of heart beat, reduced resistance in the skin, etc. However when this state is linked to the religion or spirituality, the practitioners sees divinity in everything around him, and correlates his existence to the belief that he is harboring. However, the process has been scientifically examined through brain mapping, and thus we have scientific evidence before us about the state of conscience.

During the course of last 30 years, scientists were able to examine the brain waves of practitioners of Transcendental Meditation, and found these waves to be appreciably more consistent through the entire brain, more so, in the prefrontal cortex. This activity has now been subjected to a sort of measurement called brain mapping, through the process called multiple electroencephaolographic (EEG), which correctly understands brain wave patterns, produced during different states of consciousness like dreaming, sleeping, wakeful, and meditative.

An astounding fact is that when someone experiences this fourth state of consciousness, his brain function improves. Decades of experimentation holds out with scientific confirmation, a definite correlation of the Transcendental Meditation to the enhancement in the mind-body health, longevity, happiness and increased intelligence (IQ).

This has led to the truth that almost anyone can attain this fourth state of consciousness, through Transcendental Meditation. If we accept Samadhi propounded by some cultures, as a form of Transcendental Meditation, should we therefore conclude that anyone can achieve this state of Samadhi? Is this the ultimate of meditation, even as you are able to bring pain relief not only to yourself but to those around you, though briefly through this fourth state of consciousness?

Some scientists have conducted brain mapping demos to volunteers to get at the truth of this state. One such demo conducted in Honolulu, clearly gave forth the following result during Transcendental Meditation.

During this demo session, the volunteer’s brain waves started scrolling on the screen. They exhibited about 6-% of coherence activity, while the average coherence levels in human beings are only 30 to 40%. It was amazing to find that when the volunteer closed his eyes to meditate, his coherence levels shot to 95%, and continued to be there. Once the volunteer stopped meditation, the brain waves came back to coherence level of 60%. This scientific evidence suggests that Transcendental Meditation brings about a new state of consciousness, with high brain wave coherence.

Relation of Meditation And Colors

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:49:11 +0000

Do you know meditation is connected to colors as well? We have seen how people respond to Colors, which makes them extremely visual. This is precisely why certain Colors are liked by people who go on meditation, which they find it good for relaxing. It is common experience that while some Colors make us uneasy and excited, some others bring a relief by softening our entire personality. Red for instance is identified as an aggressive color, and certainly being associated with blood this color is considered not suitable for relaxing your mind and body.

Precisely for this reason, meditation identifies colors with their propensities to bring calmness all around, so that not only the person who meditates, but also people around him, feels relaxed, and the entire ambience will be peaceful, calming and ideal for relaxing. But then which color is most calming. This is a tricky question, to answer, though many people have identified different Colors to possess these qualities which can give you peace.

If you see people going on meditation preferring blue or green as their backgrounds, it is because they are the coolest Colors. While selecting the Colors again, one should not go for the different shades like lime green or electric blue. We are talking about forest green or sea green which can be soothing. Similarly, sky blue is peaceful, and so is navy blue. Colors give you the ambience to relax, and slip peacefully into meditation.

Some offshoots of original Colors can be calming, too. Some colors identified as highly comforting are softer shades of purple, like lilac, violet, lavender etc. Royal colors like purple are usually dismissed as aggressive, but the fact is that they are also soothing. Choosing colors for meditation requires spotting of grey-mix in the shades, which makes the color not exciting.

Aqua Colors are also known to be good agents for relaxation. Meditation purposes do not warrant dazzling or piercing shades, which does not provide relaxation, as they are not cool.

Nice blue green can help. That is precisely the reason why many shades of blue and green colors are chosen, because they are picked from nature and therefore the body and mind also responds well to the natural tints.

Sky shades color of blue, are perfect setting for relaxation. Dusk-time sky blue is perfect. The environment made of such Colors, including the clothes we wear gives a relaxed ambience, and the mind also slips easily during meditation into the higher state of peace.

At times even neutral Colors can calm your nerves. Therefore we can say with confidence the gamut is wide and varied. Mauve and taupe are also soothing. Choosing a color for these purposes should be guided by only one aspect they should be cool and relaxing.

Meditation Can Sharpens Your Activities

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:55:22 +0000

Are you bored with life? Are you feeling guilty for not being more productive? You should try meditation. It sharpens your activities. Meditation does not mean you go into a lonely place and take up postures, or visit a monastery where this kind of action is taking place. You can meditate anywhere anytime, and reap the benefit of increased interest in life. You will meaningfully contribute to the society, and to yourself, through disciplined relaxed approach to every thing in life, resulting in higher productivity, clarity of action.

A very interesting aspect of Meditation is that it can help reduce your stress, and concurrently increase your concentration, which in turn boosts your productive instincts. It has great ability to put down your mental babble, and help bring clarity in all your actions. Such a state of mind increases your productivity. When you’re in that state, it’s easier to be productive. Meditation is not only for few, it is for everyone who would like to sharpen their activities. Everyone who would like to make their life meaningful, and try to put out the distracting aspects of life, should try meditation.

Corporate heads who have gone through this practice of meditation have found it immensely beneficial in sharpening his activities, as one such authority says: “I’m able to sort through work challenges in this state of calm much faster than trying to fight through it. And I make fewer mistakes”. We should note that, we can use Meditation as a tool to make lesser mistakes, and be more perfect.

Meditation can be practiced any time, but preferably during calm morning hours, before you go to work, you can meditate. Similarly, when you return of the days hustle bustle, and you are trying to retire, before going to bed is another opportune time to meditate. By this method, you will be relaxed throughout the day, and get up for a fresh day in a calm mindset. This should be enough to sharpen your activities and be productive.

To reap its full benefits, you should meditate daily. Maybe to begin with you can just spare 5 minutes every day, and go up to 20 minutes a day. Even as you sharpen your activities, meditation will bring discipline to you, without which you cannot meditate

Not everyone is made for meditation. It requires some rigorous mental and physical discipline. To form a habit, it is suggested that you should start a 21-day course, which mean you continuously meditate every day for 21 days, and give yourself a punishment if you miss a day, go back to day. After 21 days, you will find yourself meditating every day, which contributes qualitatively to your increased productivity and sharpens your activities.

Meditation – For Good Living

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:45:50 +0000

In these troubled times, when you are unable to get out of stressed situations, meditation, takes you to a higher plane of mind. Simply put, it is a state of consciousness. Your mind and body reach a higher level through meditation. Like in every other field, even in Meditation there are different levels of consciousness that you reach, and with practice you will be able to reach a higher plane. Meditation requires a relaxed state of mind. The benefits that accrue due to meditation are many, but primarily it relaxes, de-stresses and heals.

There is a false notion that meditation is related to religious or spiritual activities. Far from it. It is a way to heal your body come out of the stress, primarily because with relaxation that comes through meditation, your mind, cleared which is known as stilling the mind.

You receive a heightened awareness through meditation, which is also known as Mindfulness. This is a finely tuned state of awareness, compared to your current state. When you attain this state of mindfulness, you will not be aware of the past or future. Contrary to the popular belief this state can only be attained while you are in meditating postures, when you are performing your normal activities and yet being mindful is also part of meditation, which can be achieved only through practice. In fact this is the ultimate state, which only few people attain even as they experience the state of mindfulness doing their daily activities. The goal of meditation is to achieve this state.

When meditation is linked to spirituality, you shift the focus to an entity called Creator of All, depending upon your belief. Such meditation will open you to the entire universe. You are likely to acknowledge and experience a correlation to everything and everyone.

When you are in meditative state, you experience a slowdown of your physical function; even as your heartbeat and breathing will undergo a stabilizing effect. This is the state when you find your bodily pains, even if they are chronic are reduced and when you can also induce temporary pain relief in others surrounding you. Meditation thus takes you to a higher plane of awareness.

Every individual experiences unique emotional experiences during meditation. Here again, these experiences relate to your expectations and beliefs. In the state attained through spiritually inclined meditation, you will experience a state of plenty of gratitude.

In other words, in this state you will be able to establish feelings of appreciation and thankfulness flowing from you to you, even as your mind gets into a thankful mode, it is then, you feel you are grateful to the Universe, the world, all the beauty that is endowed in the world around you. You have reached a state when you only see the Divine all around you. Meditation presents you a way of living… a good living.

Basic Breathing Meditation Techniques and Its Benefits

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:36:20 +0000

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing meditation. We choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. If we wish, we can sit in a chair. The most important thing is to keep our back straight to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.

We sit with our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils, without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything else.

At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain focused single-pointedly on the sensation of the breath. If we discover that our mind has wandered and is following our thoughts, we should immediately return it to the breath. We should repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on the breath.

Health Benefits of meditation are enormous and they are specially attributed to the mental front.

Even though breathing meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful. We can see from this practice that it is possible to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions.

Meditation for Stress Management

admin — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:34:26 +0000

Many practitioners of meditation are using various forms of meditation for stress management from many years. Meditation is the best thing to blow out stress from your life. You can try these simple forms of meditation for reducing stress out of your life. You will surely be benefited by these meditation tips.

1. The first technique to reduce stress is the breathing practice. First of all, Breath slowly and diaphragmatically. Yoga is a perfect form of indication that helps the user to focus on their bodies in positive ways. It has been used since many years.

You can lie back comfortably in a peaceful environment and breathe slowly, focusing on cool air coming in with the inhale and then the warm breath as you exhale out carbon-dioxide. This will gradually slow their heart rate and can help to reduce blood pressure. This is one of a simple and effective thing for dropping stress.

2. Meditation is an effective exercise that asks the user to keep their eyes wide open and focus on the world around them. Breathing slowly and watching a particular thing for few minutes will also help in stress management simultaneously this will also increase concentration level. One of a nice exercise is to go for a walk, if you will walk on the green grass in the morning it will be even more effective than anything else.

3. One other form of meditation that is practiced world wide by many people. This is sitting for 20 minutes and holding your attention on a word by repeating this word over and over again. Words like “Om” create vibration pattern and reduces stress. A lot of practice is required for the skill of concentration.

Meditation is the best solution because it heels from within.