Part One of Six
Course introduction
- As a psychic, medium and qualified holistic healer, I often give guidance to those seeking a way of clearing stress and ‘back luck’ philosophies out of their lives. Regaining an optimistic, calm mind is by far the most beneficial way to combat such patterns of thinking, which is possible to achieve with intent that can be delivered through the practise of meditation. There are other reasons why people choose to meditate, it can be as simple as wanting ‘time out’ to more complex reasons such as achieving spiritual pinnacles. People also harvest the health benefits that come from meditation, such as lowering blood pressure. Unfortunately, there is still a high anecdote which suggests that meditation belongs only in Tibetan monasteries with mantra humming monks sitting in strange positions. It’s true, that is where meditation derives from, but the modern world has finally grasped the idea that we are more than mind and body, we are also spirit.
Meditation has a lot to offer us in this often frenzied and demanding world of today and thankfully, society is more accepting of practises such as meditation. We see evidence of this through the many classes’ like yoga and tai chi which are more frequently taught and learnt. Both of those relaxation techniques are a form of moving meditation, which is as its name suggests, is meditation that requires bodily movement. Many of us have heard of meditation of one type or another, yet still have no idea what’s really involved or how it can presumably help and it’s because of those people that I’ve compiled this guide. So let’s start at the beginning by answering your question of “Why should I meditate”?
So why meditate?
- There are multiple ways to induce the medative state of mind and each technique is designed to achieve the same thing, to gain a balanced state of mind for inner reflection and a restful state of being. Sounds good, so let’s take away the mysticism and preconceptions that meditation has been shrouded in for many years and discuss why you may enjoy and benefit from practising meditation. For those who accept that we are more than mind and body will understand if I use the explanation of: Spiritual energies/vibrations rise within the medative state of mind, which induces a deep self reflection and understanding. That moment of ‘self’ will enable us to notice what we would’nt normally see. But for those of you who don’t yet fully accept or understand that we are mind, body and spirit just yet, all of that will sound like jargon. Since this is a guide for beginners a like, I’ve broken down the benefits into three categories, mind, body and spirit.
I promise to leave out all talk of spiritual energy. This should help give you a more compliant idea of why meditation has healing benefits. (We’ll cover exactly how our spiritual energy centres (chakras) are affected by meditation in a later lesson, when you’re more comfortable with the idea of the term ‘holistic’.)
- In each day we come across things that make us uncomfortable, stressed even. At that particular time, we don’t realise how much this actually affects us in the long run. The moment may seem small and insignificant at that time but if you look at the big picture, all those small incidents add up. Those thoughts, moments and memories could result in nights of strange dreams and built up tension. Meditation is an amazing release of such thoughts that tend to build up without our recognition, as we clear our sub-conscious mind of any negative thought patterns. Mediation is an excellent way to harness true relaxation, it’s even noted by most who meditate that a twenty meditation is 100% more effective to our state of mind and emotion than a typical half an hour relaxation and is also the equivalent to getting two hours sleep. Meditation is also believed to be far more effective than relaxation because it has the power to unlock these repressed emotional and mental influences, thus bringing forward a renewed energy flow, releasing stored negative and unwanted energies.
- We know that being stressed can have a very negative effect on the mind and emotions, but did you know that the state of mind affects our physical health too. For example, raising our blood pressure, inducing headaches, being ‘run down’ and becoming susceptible to catching common viruses like the cold. So common sense would suggest to us that relaxation (the opposite of being stressed) would lower blood pressure and raise our immune system. Repressed emotional and mental influences can be stored in any part of our physical body so finding a way to release those stored energies must be a benefit, which can be achieved with the regular practise of meditation.
- Because we are actively paying attention to our mind, body and spirit, during meditation, we will inactively or actively pursue spiritual awareness. In simple terms, this means we are taking a holistic approach to our personal and spiritual attachment to this world. When our mind becomes separated from our bodies in this manor, it introduces freedom to seek and freedom from all the things that bring us down. It helps regain our spiritual strength to go on, not only that, it also gives us offers practice to clear our own thoughts from our minds, to bring our minds to stand still, to allow messages from spirit to be easier heard! To really know ones self, it is believed we have to look within. There are also good ways to envisage what our spirit guides might look like, or to search for answers in our own sub-conscious world of imagery. The possibilities of our own minds are endless and we can tap into that power and endless stored knowledge passed down from generations of our genetic and spiritual constitute through the practise of meditation.
Words to think about until our next lesson: “Inner exploration is to find a way to be more optimistic and less influenced by the negative people in your life, change the way you think and how you view things with true honesty and pure reflection.”