Meditation and its possible benefits seem to have been gaining more and more attention in recent years. From once being a purely eastern religious/spiritual practice, it made its way into western alternative medicine and has now been quite extensively researched by western scientists and is being prescribed to patients for stress related conditions.
I explored meditation whilst struggling with my own health problems, and eventually found it to be extremely beneficial. I say eventually, as there are many, many different interpretations and ways of using meditation, and it took me a while to really understand what it actually is, and how practicing it could help me in my life.
So I will tell you now, what I understand meditation to be and how it can help you in all manner of different areas of your life.
It took me so long to get any benefit from meditation, as I didn’t really understand the purpose, or results that I was aiming for. Also the preconceptions of seeing Buddhists sat cross-legged in monasteries for hours on end was a difficult image to shake. I became stuck with the “goal” of completely emptying my mind of thoughts, and trying to “achieve” this.
When in reality, meditation is simply the practice of becoming more aware of yourself. It is a tool, to help you see, at a conscious level the thoughts that go through your mind and the emotions you feel in your body. A lot of our stress in life is caused by getting stuck in negative thought patterns, that lead to negative emotions, that lead to yet more thoughts, and so on.
This can start at vicious cycle that can perpetuate for a very long time, if we do nothing to change it. So this is where mediation can be so helpful. Stress can be so hard to relieve simply because we are not consciously aware of ourselves at the mental and emotional level and how we are getting stuck in these stress cycles.
Taking time to stop and watch your thoughts and feel your emotions and see how one leads to another is a great first step in beginning to rectify the stress in our lives.
There are many different forms and techniques that can be applied to meditation, but the one I find most helpful is simply becoming aware of yourself, and watching what goes through your mind and body. Sort of like as if you were watching somebody else.
After practicing this for a while, you may begin to see that you are in fact able to separate yourself from your thoughts and emotions at some level. You can become the awareness that has the ability to watch your thoughts and emotions, without allowing them to “control” you as they had done previously.
It is this space and awareness that becomes so valuable in being able to change the stressful reactions we are having in life, as once we begin not reacting to negative thoughts and emotions that we become aware of, they begin to fade away. Just simply watching and allowing our negative thoughts and emotions, is enough to start to allow them pass, and not bother us anymore.
Then, once you are able to do this successfully in a quiet place on your own, you can begin to use the same technique in your daily life. So that you are in a sort of constant self-aware state, where you can begin to “catch” yourself in negative thoughts/emotions that are causing you stress and let them pass.
The more you practice this, the less those thoughts and emotions will come back in the same situation next time round, until they fade away completely.
This technique has been invaluable for me in relieving all sorts of stresses from my life and I’m confident it can do the same for you too.
Best Wishes
Jack