The Magic of Meditation

Meditation may offer you more benefits than any other way of taking care of yourself–whether that care is mental, emotional, physical or spiritual. It is a simple process, easy to learn, requires no changes in your belief systems, and there is nothing more economical!

Whatever you would most like to happen in your life, meditation can help you create it. Whatever your greatest block or fear, meditation can help you resolve it.

How does one meditate? There have been countless methods taught through diverse cultures and over the many centuries. And different variations appeal to different personalities. But the essence, the basic practice, is essentially the same:

Find a regular, comfortable time and place where you will not be interrupted. Sit with your back straight, supported if necessary. Watch your breath as you inhale. Now, watch your breath as you exhale. Repeat this for five, ten, twenty, sixty minutes–whatever amount of time you set as your goal. Whenever you notice that your mind has wandered (which is guaranteed to happen), gently return your focus to your breath, over and over, until you complete the time you have set for yourself.

Sound a little boring? It’s not! Meditation is the doorway into the core of most interesting and exciting person in the world–yourself. Meditation helps you discover the magnificence that is inside of you; it helps you recognize your purpose in life and your greatest loves and dreams. Meditation can guide you through disentangling the most destructive patterns from your past, and it can lead you into an entirely new way of perceiving yourself and your world that is based on love, self-esteem, self-empowerment and wisdom.

How does it work? Let’s look at how meditation affects the different levels of our being, starting from the most basic, and moving to the most sublime.

Meditation relaxes and even helps to heal the physical body. As you focus on long, deep, breaths, you automatically relax. This slows your heart rate, brings your blood pressure down, opens the capillaries, bathes the organs and limbs with fresh blood (and oxygen), and warms your extremities. At minimum, this serves as an incredible stress management technique, however, there are also benefits to the immune system and any other organs that are stressed or diseased. No matter how adept you become at meditating, the simple physiological benefits cannot be overlooked.

Meditation clarifies our thoughts and stills our mind. Our thoughts are the creative aspect of our lives. Whatever we think is what we manifest. However, thoughts are instantaneous–quicker than lightning–and therefore most of our thoughts are subconscious. We are rarely aware of even a small portion of the thoughts that run through our minds. As we sit to meditate, before we are actually able to still the mind, we become more aware of our thoughts. In fact, the process of practicing to still them actually helps us to hear them better.

Sometimes people get impatient with themselves if they don’t succeed immediately in creating an internal silence, but actually this intermediary step of being aware of the mind is extremely beneficial. When we can hear the thoughts and beliefs, some of which have been with us since early childhood, we can begin to change them. In other words, when we can access the unconscious creative force within us, we can make it conscious, and thus make choices about what we want to create. Thus, we can change the unconscious negative thoughts into conscious positive ones, and thus literally change our experience of reality.

The other mental aspect of meditation is developing the ability, over time, to be able to still the mind. Our minds can become powerful instruments in our creativity when they are under our control. Like exercising the muscles and thus building strength in our physical bodies, learning to change or to quiet our thoughts gives us an enormous amount of strength and power in our lives, and helps us make better use of our mental side as well as access our more intuitive and spiritual sides.

Meditation soothes the emotions. This happens in three ways. The first is by the fact that in deep breathing, the emotions are allowed to be experienced and released. When we are agitated, we tend to try to push our feelings down, and we hold the breath in order to “stuff” our emotions. When we expand our breath, we allow the emotions to wash through our system rather that be deposited in the form of tension in some part of the body. By breathing into the feelings, we free them instead of stuffing them.

The second way in which emotions are soothed is that when we can hear our thoughts–which create our emotions–we can change those thoughts, thus changing our feelings. It is not what happens externally that raises feelings within us, but how we interpret those events. So if we are thinking something negative will happen, and we are able to actually catch ourself having that thought, we are empowered to change that thought, which will automatically reduce whatever negative emotion that is being stimulated by the thought.

Third, when the mind is stilled and the breathing is slow and gentle, the emotional body also relaxes. Positive emotions and a sense of well-being are the natural byproduct. The longer we practice meditation, the more automatic this experience can become.

Meditation enhances our spiritual lives. Whatever spiritual tradition you follow, the practice of becoming quiet and relaxed inside can help your experience of the Divine, or, what the 12-Step Program calls “God as you understand God to be.” When the mind is still, it allows you to experience “the peace that passeth all understanding.” Spiritual experiences in meditation are too numerous to even address here, but they can range from a simple heartfelt feeling of connectedness to great ecstasy. When we are not limiting ourselves with our own personal thoughts, we can truly enter the realm of limitlessness.

Whether you are looking for a better way to relax, are interested in personal growth, are wanting to better work your 11th Step, or seeking a greater experience of your spirituality, Meditation will bring benefits beyond what the mind can conceive. Why not start today? Maybe even right now—take five deep breaths and relax before you read the next article!