What you need to know when starting meditation. So what is "meditation"? Simple Meditation Techniques for Life

The constant practice of meditation has a great effect on the mind and mind. A restless mind loves constant movement and change. Meditation removes the restlessness of the mind, making it a better and more positive instrument.

Meditation develops concentration, awakens inner world and allows you to control your mind. Constant practice develops serenity, silence, inner peace, joy, inner strength, which none of the circumstances in the world can take away.

There are people who consider meditation impractical, useless and meaningless for development. They believe that those who are looking for inner peace and silence are dreamers, impractical people who have severed their connection with reality. This is an erroneous assumption. Among the people who practice meditation, there are many practical, pragmatic and active people who are intensively engaged in internal, spiritual searches. Many of these people find it difficult to suspect the practice of meditation and spiritual quest. This demonstrates that practicality, common sense, and spirituality can go hand in hand.

Spiritual life and at the same time participation in worldly activities, is there anything unusual in this? Read about the life of Paraji, an Indian sage, and you will learn that he worked for many years but at the same time lived an intense spiritual life. And this is not the only case. You do not have to give up everything worldly, live in an ashram or monastery in order to meditate and lead a spiritual life.

Success in meditation requires diligence, perseverance, and strong motivation, but the benefits of this practice are great and very valuable. Thanks to meditation, the mind becomes calm and quiet, this is the result of regular practice, and, as it turned out, there is no need to spend more time on the meditation process in order to find inner peace and silence.

When the mind is pacified, a kind of calm, joyful and powerful consciousness arises that is different from ordinary and everyday consciousness. Consciousness is huge and endless, absolutely calm, relaxed, joyful, strong and invincible. It is a kind of altered state of consciousness, which is not a trance state or loss of the earthly plane. This is the awareness of oneself as a part of the earthly and spiritual planes.

When you start to practice meditation, you will feel a state of inner peace and bliss, you will find that this can be achieved not only during meditation, but also in Everyday life... At first, this state arises either suddenly or gradually, and lasts for some time, and then it goes away. At this stage, you need to make it permanent. This is done by calming your mind, but after you remember the way to enter this state, you will learn to awaken it anywhere, at any time and under any circumstances in your daily life.

In order to speed up this process, we recommend that you better understand your thoughts that arise and pass through your mind. Don't let them lead you. Just remain an outside observer. Let the serenity overwhelm you completely.

All meditation methods actually lead to this state. This is a state of light, happiness and joy, internal energy, focus, practicality and common sense. It has many names, Nirvana, Samadhi, self-realization, Cosmic consciousness of the higher Self. The name is only an external label. And the content is more important than any sticker.

Active meditation in daily life

Meditation is not just for people living in an ashram or cave, or for people whose only interests are spirituality. Meditation benefits both the most practical person and the most dreamer.

On a physical level, it relaxes the body, replenishes its vitality, relieves anxiety, relieves anger and develops calmness, tolerance, patience and a kind attitude towards the world around us. Mental ability, memory, concentration and willpower are improved.

On a spiritual level, it awakens awareness of the real inner essence of a person. Allows you to experience an inner consciousness that goes beyond the mind.

Meditation has nothing to do with impracticality, distraction and laziness, as some might think. In order to practice meditation and lead a spiritual life, you do not have to live a solitary life, give up material values or any activity. You can keep on living ordinary life, work, take care of the family, and at the same time meditate and lead an intense spiritual life.

You can wear a robe or other special clothing, light candles and incense, and sit on the floor when you meditate, but you can also meditate while sitting on a chair in the office wearing a regular suit. The exterior is actually not that important. What matters is your attitude and what is happening inside you.

Proper and effective meditation requires some willpower. You must have ambition, desire, willpower, perseverance and perseverance. All these qualities necessary for success in the material world are also important here.

Even if you have a job or business, you will benefit from this practice. It does not turn you into indifferent and impractical people. It will improve your common sense, develop intuition and give you more energy. The concept that meditation is not for practical people is absolutely wrong.

Here is a simple, effective and practical method that will help you strengthen your concentration and add a few more benefits to your world of mind. For positive results, it is important to practice the meditation daily, for about ten minutes each time.

Tracking thoughts in meditation:

Find a place where you can be alone. Sit down and pay attention to your body. Relax your muscles and release any other physical stress. Take a few breaths.

Track your thoughts as if you were watching an uninteresting movie. Treat thoughts like birds circling around crumbs of bread. Bread crumbs are your attention. They are all trying to grab your attention. They bring associations, images and feelings. Your task is to remain indifferent and ignore all these thoughts. Just look at them, but without any interest.

You are not these thoughts. They are just guests visiting your mind. It is you, you are real observing these thoughts. Just look at them as a distant, uninteresting scene. If they force you to follow them, ask yourself who is the master, you or them?

Stay relaxed without tension. Do not fight your thoughts, do not get angry or upset if you cannot stay away from them. It is a natural habit to let thoughts into the mind. And it will take time for you to change this habit. The secret to the success of this event lies in detachment.

Very often people, having started to practice meditation, quit the practice, because after a few months they do not receive the expected life changes. Others do not understand at all why this should be done. Why is such a seemingly simple-minded practice capable of bringing about any changes in life at all?

This article is a detailed answer to the question: "Why meditate"... Exactly. Why set aside special time just to consciously concentrate on one point, be it breathing, inner sensations, or whole words and phrases? “Aren't there any more useful and interesting activities? Anyway, how can such a primitive exercise change my life? "- you ask.

“A very, very strong” - I will answer you - “up to a global reassessment of values, improving the quality of life, getting rid of addictions, fears, depression, the development of intellectual and personality traits, deep self-knowledge and gaining inner harmony (no matter how trite it may sound).

Through meditation, I quit smoking and drinking. and . I left the hired job and organized my own business, which allows me to do interesting and valuable work and travel. I solved many other personal problems, understood where I was striving and what I want to achieve. "

People who are more skeptical will say:

“It's all nonsense. How can my life change from the fact that I will simply stare at one point for half an hour a day? Sounds even less realistic than the couch shop offers.

Others, more enthusiastic, will gratefully pick up the idea:

“Where is this magic exercise, which in just 30-40 minutes a day can solve all my problems and change my life !? Give it to me soon! I'm in a hurry to get started! "

But my task is to "light up" the first and cool the "second" a little. Because both have unrealistic expectations. The first ones do not understand at all why this should be done. And "enthusiasts" are likely to give up the practice when it does not bring the expected magical changes.

“Fuh, take it easy, guys! Just sitting on your ass and watching the breath won't make much of a difference in your life. Yes, you will relax, but you won't have to wait for dramatic changes. For meditation to work, it must be integrated into life, embodied in many daily activities, and its skills must be used in everyday life. "

Although very effective, it is not a panacea. But, nevertheless, this tool, if used correctly, is able to unlock many locks of life.

And the second task of this article is to explain how to apply this tool to get the maximum effect.

Fans of mysticism and esotericism will have to upset. There is no magic here. I will not show any dizzying tricks, juggle fireballs and get the rabbit out of the hat. Watch my hands closely. I'll show you everything now. "

Do you need meditation to relax? Or…

If you ask any person who is superficially familiar with meditation why you need to do it, then he will most likely answer:

"Well, probably to relax, relieve tension."

Yes, many people associate meditation with bearded yogis who are in sublime serenity, a deep trance.

But to say that meditation is for relaxation is like saying that the value of a car lies in keeping things in its trunk. The machine is needed not only for this, as well as meditation is needed not only for relaxation... This is not the main function at all.

Of course, mindfulness practice has been shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, decrease amygdala activity, stabilize blood pressure, lower heart rate, increase alpha activity in the brain, and trigger other physiological aspects of deep relaxation.

But this is only a small part. And I can't say that this is capable of seriously motivating someone.

When you choose a car, you are primarily interested in the characteristics of its behavior on the road. It is unlikely that someone can be attracted to buying a car only by considerations of the spaciousness of the trunk.

Also with meditation.

“Why meditate to relieve stress? It's boring! I'd rather drink beer and turn on the TV! "(Of course, beer and TV cannot be called complete relaxation, but that's another conversation)

Therefore, my last live seminar, which I held in the spring, was titled: "Meditation is NOT a relaxation technique." This does not mean that I forbade you to relax on it =) No, relaxation is just obvious. In explaining the value of meditation, I prefer to focus on other, less obvious aspects of the practice.

And then I'm going to answer the question of how and by what means a simple observation of the breath (internal sensations, the work of consciousness, the body, a mantra, etc.) is capable of help you solve many life problems. Why is it necessary at all, to be aware?

So what is "meditation"?

Before I continue, I will write what I mean by meditation at all. In general, a more appropriate term is mindfulness, but here I will use both. For simplicity of presentation, let's agree for a while that these are synonyms. The topic of the article does not require clarification of all the subtleties of differences and nuances of terminology.

“Meditation is not just sitting on your butt with crossed legs and smart look…»

Mindfulness is directing attention intentionally, in the present moment, non-judgmental... I borrowed this Definition from Viktor Shiryaev.

I completely agree with this definition (it is true, "non-judgmental" raises questions, but we will not talk about it yet), moreover, I consider it exhaustive. I will not go into an explanation yet, for now I will just ask if you see something unusual in it, something that does not correspond to the stereotypical ideas about meditation?

Think about it.

It is true that nothing is written here about the "lotus position" (or any other position), or about closed eyes, or about breathing. That is, the most inherent attributes of meditation (meditation, as it is seen in the public mind) are not affected here.

My point is that, indeed, meditation is not only cross-legged butt-sitting and looking smart. Mindfulness is simply a certain quality of our attention, which can be realized in different ways: both as a concentration on the breath, sitting with our eyes closed, and in the form of directing attention to the sensations of the body while walking. And not only on the sensations of the body: on thoughts, emotions, any other internal phenomena.

When you consciously swallow food during lunch, focusing on its taste, on other sensations in the mouth, this is also meditation. Moreover, meditation is no less than "classical" - in the lotus position or in Turkish. Every act of attention, directed intentionally and in the present moment at any sensations, external and internal phenomena, is meditation.

Meditation (mindfulness) is a very broad term and encompasses many different techniques and different ways directions of attention.

But here, in order not to clutter up with unnecessary meanings, I will be basic technique meditation to understand the technique that uses concentration on the breath. And, yes, this particular type of meditation involves sitting on the floor with your eyes closed - just as you imagined.

I just could not help touching upon here the aspect of the breadth of the concept of meditation. I decided that the information would not be complete without this.

Short exercise

To answer this question, I will ask you to do a short, short exercise. Yes, exactly where you are sitting now. There is nothing strange that the people around you should not do - do not worry.

You may or may not close your eyes (especially if you are sitting at work and are busy depicting hectic activity and involvement in the work process).
If slouching, sitting crookedly, straighten up. Now direct your attention to the abdomen. Try to notice all the sensations that arise there when breathing. When you inhale, the stomach swells a little, when you exhale, it falls off. This gives rise to certain sensations, try to simply be aware of them. That they are there.

Have you noticed?

Now I will ask you to just watch these sensations for a minute. Direct all your attention there, without being distracted by extraneous thoughts. And if you notice that you have begun to think about something and have "lost" the sensations in the abdomen that arise when breathing, just calmly return your attention back to these sensations.

Doesn't sound difficult, right? Now try it. About a minute. It is not necessary to pinpoint, according to your feelings.

Have you tried it? Well, is it as easy as it seems from the beginning? How many times have you been distracted by thoughts? One, two, ten times? And this is in a minute! (And even if you are not distracted now, you will notice that this will happen all the time during longer sessions).

I must say right away that this is normal and natural. This is how our mind works. Like a fussy monkey, he constantly rushes about, runs back and forth. Clings to thoughts, plans, memories. Can't be controlled by any means.

But we can train this mind through the practice of meditation. Therefore, an important premise of this article is that we view meditation as an exercise, not just a way to feel calmer.

If so, then what are we training by focusing on the sensation of breathing?

We train concentration!

By "loading" the biceps - we train the biceps. And by “loading” our attention, we train attention. It is obvious. Why do you need to develop concentration? This is also kind of obvious, but not always. Our ability to concentrate is associated not only with our capabilities, say, not being distracted to do work, but also with willpower. Which I will talk about a little later.

"This knowledge will often be much more reliable and accurate than the information in the psychological literature, because during meditation you work with the mind directly ..."

Where will it come in handy?

You are preparing for an exam at the institute. You can't concentrate: the computer is distracting, then Facebook, or some kind of fuss on the street. But because you started meditating, you already know how to deal with it. You understand that external stimuli, of course, interfere, but you cannot always take and remove them.

But you can ignore them, just as you do not pay attention to extraneous thoughts during meditation, concentrating in spite of them. Calmly note that you began to think about how great it would be to launch a new computer game, remember that you need to prepare, that you will be expelled if you fill up the subject and calmly shift your attention on the tutorial.

The next day, you successfully pass the exam and, with peace of mind, with a sense of accomplishment, launch a new toy on your computer.

Less obvious uses:

You decided . Everything in you is ripe for this decision: you no longer experience much pleasure from tobacco, you do not see much sense in continuing to follow the bad habit. There is little left to do. Take and throw. Do not give in to temptation until withdrawal occurs. You set yourself a goal: not to smoke under any pretext.

And within a few hours after this agreement with itself, the brain, feeling the withdrawal syndrome, begins to tempt you to break it: “Come on, let's smoke, throw in New Year, then! "," How can you cope without cigarettes, because such a difficult period at work! "

But you already have meditation experience. You are ready to withstand the temptation. These thoughts come to you, but you have already learned to treat any thoughts during meditation as distractions. Not as orders that you cannot disobey, but as proposals that you can consider and then either accept or reject.

Therefore, you do not follow them, but stay focused on your goal just as you keep your attention on the breath during meditation. And you follow this goal in spite of everything that distracts you.

You quit smoking and after a few months the whole story with smoking seems bad dream... The cough subsides. From hands, body and clothes, from the mouth stops smelling, health and breathing improve, you feel more smells. You are grateful to the practice for supporting you in this difficult task.

Meta observation:

The practice of meditation is the practice of working with consciousness. And the result of this work is not only a restructuring of consciousness and the emergence of new skills. And also the emergence of a better understanding of how everything in our minds functions.

If we are engaged in repairing cars, then thanks to this work we begin to comprehend more deeply the structure of the car, enrich our mind with knowledge and experience (This will be "meta-observation").

The same can be said about working with consciousness. We see what results this or that influence on our mind leads to, fix it and note it, keep this knowledge in our mind so that it will be useful in further work.

This knowledge is the result of observing one's own mind. It will often be much more reliable and accurate than the information in the psychological literature, because during meditation you work with the mind directly.

And under the heading "meta-observation," I will collect personal conclusions from this observation. To demonstrate how we can develop not only skills, but also gain knowledge through meditation.

And when we develop concentration during our practice, we begin to see that:

The ability to concentrate is directly related to willpower. It helps to be collected and disciplined.
Attention is also associated with relaxation. We notice that concentration on one subject calms our mind. Makes problems look less significant.
Diffused attention is a rather energy-intensive thing. When we are concentrated, we spend less energy. Our thinking takes on a framework and structure.

We develop mindfulness

Mindfulness is another quality of our attention, more related to memory.

(Please do not get attached to the terms that I use. Other meditation teachers may use other terms and a different classification. Classification is most often always a rather arbitrary thing: terms and classes within it can be considered differently, as well as interact and intersect in every possible way ...

I am introducing this terminology not in order to somehow "approve", "legitimize" it, but only as an auxiliary way to convey my thought to the reader. To direct his attention in the right direction, so that, having taken this into account, he himself, based on his own experience of practice, draws his own conclusions.)

What is the difficulty in keeping your attention on one subject during meditation? The fact that it is constantly distracted. But if you look at this process under a magnifying glass, you will notice that it has more to do with memory.

You "remember" for a while to concentrate on the sensations when breathing. And the fact that you are distracted from this means that you have forgotten about your goal! And the return to concentration means nothing more than the act of remembering that you are now meditating and must watch the breath!

"Why do I dream of ice cream, because I need to watch the breath!"- it's like a sudden flash of memory.

Renowned meditation teacher Allen Wallace compares this to a state of constant mini-amnesia. We forget our goal and remember it again. Then again. And again. But it normal. This is how our mind works.

But we can teach our mind to more quickly “remember” its tasks and goals, notice that it is distracted by extraneous thoughts and turn attention back to the subject of concentration. And this is important!

This is what we do during meditation: we learn to notice as quickly as possible that we are distracted and "remember" about our goal. Gradually, through regular exercise, these flashes of memory begin to manifest themselves at less and less intervals in everyday life.

And where can it come in handy? Oh, there are many places!

Where will it come in handy?

You have not been able to sleep for an hour. They climb into my head disturbing thoughts about tomorrow: what if your project at work will fail? What if you don't fall asleep and your presentation crashes?

Your mind is running through hundreds of scenarios of how bad and disastrous tomorrow might turn out. But then you remember that at the beginning of the practice of meditation, you are also attacked by whole flocks of disturbing thoughts, which seem very important and urgent, cannot stand to be put off until later.

And then you just try not to react to them, not to pay attention, and they gradually lose their power. They cease to seem so significant and intimidating, simply passing into the category of simply "Creeping line in the head", which is no longer particularly worried.

And now, lying in bed, you decide to try the same principle. You just try not to react to these thoughts, shifting your attention to the breath. At first it is very difficult, you constantly forget that you have to observe the breath, you are again sucked into the maelstrom of disturbing thoughts. But you notice it, "remember" that now you want to sleep, and not think about tomorrow and shift attention for something else.

Gradually thoughts lose their power. You start falling asleep. And just before falling asleep, you realize how much you have inflated the problem by constantly thinking about it. That, in fact, tomorrow's presentation is not so important and scary, because it will only concern an intermediate project, not a key one. And in general, not even a single high-ranking boss will be present at it.

You wake up in the morning fresh and rested, satisfied with yourself. You realize that you can now use the skill of "mindfulness" anywhere when you are attacked by obsessive, disturbing thoughts. And it is not at all necessary to shift attention to breathing. You can translate it to anything: to sounds, to surroundings, to your work, which now needs to be done, to your affairs!

Meta observation

Often, compulsive thinking about a problem does not at all bring us closer to solving it, but only confuses us even more.
It is impossible to get rid of unpleasant thoughts from your head by telling yourself not to think about them. This leads to the opposite result. But we can simply not react to them, noticing every time they come and transferring our attention to something else. Then they subsequently lose their power and cease to bother us.
Mindfulness is an important skill underlying the development of self-control and the destruction of automatic behavior. In order for us to let go of destructive emotions, not to be led by obsessive harmful desires, we first need to learn to notice the moment when our mind began to "fall into them", to fall under their control. Mindfulness is a necessary pause, to note: "aha, these emotions have come again." Pause in order to make an informed choice whether to follow them or just not be led by them. When this pause is not there, then there is no choice: we obey all our thoughts, emotions, desires blindly, automatically.

We develop an observer position ("I am in context")

If mindfulness and concentration are some "quantitative" parameters of our ability to concentrate (how long we keep our attention on a point, how quickly we notice that we are distracted). That position of the observer is a "qualitative" aspect of attention, which affects exactly what our attention becomes during meditation.

We can direct all our attention to watching the film, empathize with its characters, follow the plot, but this will not be meditation insofar as we do not watch the movie from the position of an “observer”, observing “equanimity” and "Valuelessness"... If we watched the film without getting involved in what is happening, or if we observed our emotions and feelings from the “observer's position” that arise while watching the film, then it would be meditation.

When we simply observe our sensations arising during breathing, our attention becomes, as it were, detached, not involved in all internal experiences, feelings, thoughts, emotions. We look at emotions and even thoughts as if from the outside.

This is called the "observer position" or in the framework of the therapy of acceptance and responsibility (ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). modern direction psychotherapy) is called "I in context."

Agree, this is already something new. If people who have never meditated read this, then they are probably already interested in: "How is it to watch your emotions from the outside, especially your thoughts?"

Indeed, this does not seem obvious and contrary to common sense. However, this only becomes clear through regular exercise. The ability to be aware of experiences from the perspective of an observer is an important and unique skill. This is a completely new way for many people to interact with the inner world, which is able to bring a lot of new things into their lives.

Where will it come in handy?

Example 1

Are you tired of enduring the fact that your senior work colleague constantly breaks down at you, yells and criticizes you for every slightest mistake. You are the newest member of the team and, moreover, the youngest. This is why your coworker chose you as the channel for his anger. Collaboration: he gets a dose of resentment from family members and his boss, keeps it to himself, and then takes it out on you.

It pissed you off from the start. At first, you just tried to contain your anger, suppress it: after all, it seemed to you that your position as a new, inexperienced employee did not allow you to respond to his attacks in the same way.

You sat in silence, enduring moral slaps in the face, then went home spat upon with a vile inner feeling.

Anger has been building up until you dumped it back on a coworker a month ago. It was like how a frail dam was being swept away by a powerful water stream: so much irritation had accumulated that it simply washed away all the obstacles. You screamed, hysterical, left in the middle of the working day, loudly slamming the door.

And this did not have any positive effect: from the outside, it looked as if you were fooling because of your own mistake, lost your temper and lost control. Burnt out, in short. The colleague went unpunished and continued to bully you.

Therefore, it was doubly insulting. From that day on, you decided you needed to deal with your anger, so you decided to take up the meditation that you read about on the Internet. Naturally expecting that the anger will simply decrease.

As you practice observing the breath, you have learned not to get involved in your emotions. Anger, irritation, thoughts of an insult came, you simply turned your attention to the breath or sometimes concentrated directly on these emotions and, as it were, watched them from the outside.

It was an amazing and new experience for you! Until now, you thought that your emotions left you no choice. If anger comes, then you must, ostensibly, immediately follow it or suppress it diligently, which, again, can lead to disaster.

But as you practice, you've learned a whole new way to respond to emotions: just observe. Do not try to remove the emotion, but at the same time do not follow it. Then, as you have seen, they lose their power.

And the next time, when a colleague started shouting and breaking at you because of a small mistake in the interim report, you again noticed a powerful wave of anger in yourself: flaring nostrils, tension in your head, burning cheeks ...

You expected meditation to make your anger weaker, but it turned out to be wrong. On the contrary, you began to feel it, as if, even brighter ...

But something has changed. There was a pause. And there was aloofness. Yes, the anger was still there and it was very intense. But it seemed that now he seemed to pass a little to the side of you, not covering you with his head, subordinating you completely to himself.

(A suitable metaphor. A beginner surfer is covered by the waves, sucking in and spinning. But a more experienced surfer rides the wave, can maneuver it, or simply "dive" under it and let it pass over him. Waves when his skill increases, at the same time, do not disappear)

You have already been able to notice this moment of the wave coming over you. "Yeah, now it starts again"... You remembered the disaster it led to last time.

But instead of following the anger and hysterics or diligently suppressing it, you allowed it to be. You directed all their attention to this emotion. And they just began to observe. How this wave grows in the body, how it breaks out of the chest, as if it goes into your head.

You didn't try to suppress it, you watched calmly. Because you stopped feeding your anger by resisting or encouraging it, the wave quickly subsided. Yes, you were still embarrassed and uncomfortable, but you felt that you were already in control and could somehow control yourself.

You have decided how you will proceed. Neither the return of anger, nor the kind words of the colleague had any effect. Therefore, you choose a different tactic. You breathe a little, pause. Then take your colleague aside and calmly say that this was the last time he fell on you. And if this happens again, then you will take certain measures.

Meditation is one of necessary tools for effective self-development and disclosure of their own potential by connecting consciousness with subconsciousness. Various states are called meditation:

The history of the practice of meditation goes back to the distant past. Since ancient times, people have appreciated the power and effectiveness of this technique of self-knowledge, and have invented many variations of it. Meditation is very relevant for people living in modern world... At our pace and richness of life, it is those people who know how to concentrate and relax correctly turn out to be more effective. However, it is not immediately possible to achieve tangible results; systematic practice is required.

There is an opinion that regular meditation practices will definitely push a person further on the path of self-knowledge. Meditation is designed in such a way that it inevitably pushes a person to study his spiritual world and the deep development of his personality.

What is meditation for

Meditation improves the quality of life at all levels. Mindfulness and self-control is a wonderful gift that people receive in exchange for persistent training in thinking during the practice. Scientists have conducted over 3 thousand different studies on the effects of meditation on humans. Obvious changes were noticed in the physical and mental health of a person, even after short meditation practices.

People should not give up on such a productive and at the same time easy way make your life happier and more harmonious.

What You Can Achieve With Meditation

Through meditation, a person learns to control their thoughts through concentration and relaxation exercises. It helps to get rid of worries and thoughts that endlessly spinning in your head. Meditations tidy up thinking, increase stress resistance, improve intelligence and strengthen willpower. A person who regularly trains their brain gets the opportunity to clearly and soberly look at the world... In addition, meditation can help combat tobacco and alcohol addiction.

Meditation is not only a brain trainer, but also efficient technique to achieve the desired goal. Meditating on a specific goal accumulates the necessary energy, attracts new opportunities to a person. It is important to remember that meditation can only create more suitable conditions for achieving the goal. Further, a person must make an effort to get what he wants.

What to do and think about when meditating

There are several different approaches to the technique of meditation, however, they have the same basis. For meditation, it is recommended to find a quiet, comfortable place and about half an hour of free time. The practice itself consists of the following steps:

Find the right pose;
Relax the muscles of the body;
Concentrate on the chosen thought for 20-30 minutes;
Without opening your eyes, return to your daily state and smoothly complete the meditation.

Slow quiet music is sometimes selected for meditation. You can meditate while standing or sitting on a chair. There are also nature walks meditations. They are suitable for people who find it difficult to sit in one place for a long time. However, the most common meditation is sitting.

It is necessary to find a comfortable position that does not strain the muscles, but also not too relaxed, so as not to fall asleep while meditating. It is important to find a balance between relaxation and inner tone. It is advisable that the back remains straight, thus maintaining awareness and improving air circulation in the lungs. In this case, you should not lean on the back of the chair, you need to leave the back muscles in a light tone.

For productive meditation, a person needs to relax tense muscles and activate thinking. Relaxation of muscles is not always given the first time, the following technique will help here.

Visualize all muscle groups in the body. Tighten each muscle group and then relax as much as possible. Observe the contrast between tension and relaxation. Repeat this procedure with all the muscles 2-3 times and finally relax the muscles (all except the back muscles that support the spine).

Meditation consists in directing attention to a specific thought - for example, on your own breathing (there is also the option of concentrating on a mantra). Concentrating on the breath, one should only observe the sensations in the body. There is no need to visualize the breathing process.

While observing breathing, a person cannot think of anything else. However, the brain, unaccustomed to concentration, will begin to be distracted from observing breathing. At the beginning of your meditation practice, you will notice how thoughts drift off to the side every now and then. This should be taken without negative emotions. It is enough just to notice this, and then calmly return your attention to observing the breath. The brain will be constantly distracted, but the meditating person must be persistent in the desire to concentrate on one thought.

It is important to understand that you will not be able to immediately end the endless internal dialogue... Often, at the initial level, meditations are carried out in constant ineffective attempts to concentrate on the breath (or mantra). But even such meditation brings tangible benefits to a person: he learns to observe and control the flow of thoughts, as well as to become more aware of what he is thinking in this moment... In addition, a person strengthens his willpower and learns to be more collected.

There are no "magic" tips to help you quickly master the technique of meditation. All you need to get results is to practice regularly and persistently.

The main types of meditation

There are two types of meditations:

Unidirectional. This is a classic meditation that involves maximum concentration on a particular thought or sensation. An example of such a technique (concentration on the breath) is described above. You can also learn to focus your mind on various phenomena: a burning candle, a mantra, music, a point on the wall, a flower, or a household item. One-pointed meditation is often used as preparation for the next type of meditation.
Meditation on emptiness. This technique assumes the absence of any thoughts and full concentration on emptiness. This practice is not suitable for everyone, as it is more difficult. It may take a long preparation in the form of one-pointed meditation to successfully complete meditation on voidness.

Impact of meditation

To health

Painful sensations. Meditation reduces fatigue and muscle soreness after exercise. They effectively fight pain in different parts body, including with a headache, which has become a frequent companion of people.
Appearance. Meditation also affects appearance a person, as it helps to prolong youth and even life expectancy. The tone of the mind and body also has a positive effect on a person's appearance.
Important aspects. Meditation significantly affects the overall well-being and health of a person. With regular practice, the immune system is strengthened, and a person is less likely to get sick, or illnesses are easier. Also, people who practice relaxing meditations are less likely to experience diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Bad habits. Constant meditation, especially breathing practices, helps a person get rid of bad habits such as smoking and alcohol addiction.

This means that meditation helps a person to be healthy and to live in a harmonious relationship with his body.

On thinking

Meditation is the development of thinking abilities, and therefore, in this area, practicing people experience noticeable changes for the better. There is a general improvement in brain activity, its productivity and the speed of thought processes. People who regularly practice meditation improve their memory. Meditation is an effective prevention of Alzheimer's disease, because during the practice the brain is intensively trained.

With constant meditation, people observe an improvement in the ability of the brain: intuitive ability, creative thinking, ability to learn new information... The speed of information processing increases, clarity of mind appears.

This means that meditations help a person to think soberly and effectively perceive new information, learn.

On the emotional state

Meditation significantly affects emotional condition person. One notable aspect is improved control of feelings and emotions. Hot-tempered and irritable people who practice meditation become able to restrain their emotions. The general level of awareness rises, a person learns to determine his emotions and mood at a particular moment. This skill is called emotional intelligence. Through meditation, people strengthen their inner self-esteem, gain strength and become more resistant to stress. A person gets the opportunity to cope with phobias and anxieties. Getting rid of internal stress, in turn, contributes to the cure of psychosomatic diseases.

When practicing meditation, a person learns harmony in the spiritual world, a balance between his feelings and needs. He becomes more determined and confident. This means that meditation helps a person build warm, harmonious relationships with loved ones, as well as live calmly and consciously.

Human life is a difficult and difficult path. We need to constantly overcome difficulties, although we are sad and anxious, and we want to not leave the house at all. We get frustrated and anxious, but we try desperately to find positives. We try to cope with everyday tasks, and finally achieve success in different aspects of life. What peace of mind can we say when you have to be in such a messy layer of emotions?

What is meditation

One of the most common teachings that help a person restore emotional balance is meditation. In the past, monks used this practice to achieve spiritual balance and enlightenment. In our information age, meditation is used as a secular technique that allows you to escape from everyday routine and look at problems from a different angle. But how much do we really know about meditation? Or maybe this practice is simply associated with a yogi sitting motionless in the lotus position? Let's try to figure it out, because it is possible that it is meditation that will become a real outlet for you and will allow you to tune your thoughts in a positive way.

What happens to a person during meditation

Imagine a lot of threads. Individually, they are useless and worthless. But all these threads begin to gather together, weave together - and ultimately turn into a beautiful fabric. Meditation works in much the same way: it helps a person to gather together all the threads of attention and direct it in the right direction.

The benefits of meditation

If you regularly, and most importantly, honestly engage in meditation practice, over time you will notice positive changes in your life:

Meditation and spirituality

Meditative practice allows you to look into the depths of consciousness, to meet your own I, to hear his voice. In fact, meditation helps to realize that we are not just bodies, but the energy that is clothed in them.
The usual things are perceived differently. Your reaction to any event, negative or positive, will be calmer (even neutral). For example, parting with a loved one will be perceived not as severe loneliness, but as an opportunity to establish contact with oneself and important stage development.
With the help of meditative practice, you will learn to control the needs of the body, reducing them to a minimum. It is in your power to make you tell the body what you need, and not vice versa. A person suffering from overeating, having mastered meditation, will be able to control food intake, which means that he will become healthier and more enduring.
You realize that there are many possibilities of the body and it depends only on your attitude what it can do.
You will learn to treat other people's vices and shortcomings with understanding and compassion.
You will learn to accept yourself as the universe created you, with all the vices, innate qualities and talents. You will understand what exactly is your purpose.
You will become calmer, learn inner contemplation. Despondency will be replaced by a feeling of constant quiet happiness. In other words, you will find spiritual harmony.

Meditation and Psychology

The nervous system becomes more resistant to stress. A person endures troubles better, ceases to emotionally react to difficulties.
Mindfulness, composure, creativity and ingenuity develops.
A person who has managed to "cleanse" his thoughts from the outer husk gets the opportunity in emergency situations to act more harmoniously, make quick decisions and make the right choice.
The emotional background after meditation is restored, so a person can independently cope with depression, panic attacks and bad mood.
Memory noticeably improves, creative tasks are easier to solve.
Meditation can help you get rid of addictions. Agree that most of the addictions we know are psychological. It is difficult for us to give up the usual "joys". This seems like an overwhelming task, although the roots of the problem grow in our self-awareness. If you learn to control your mind, you will no longer need to continue smoking, drinking alcohol and drugs.
By meditating, a person trains his willpower, learns to be confident and courageous. At some point, an insight comes to him that, in fact, our potential is limitless and it depends only on ourselves whether we can reach heights in life.
When blocks and psychological clamps disappear, a person can more clearly and clearly see everything that is happening to him. He finds harmony with himself and society as a whole.

Learn to see yourself

Meditation is a practice that allows a person to achieve a special state of consciousness. While in this state, you can try to take control of your emotions and thoughts, learn to "see" your feelings. The ability to control oneself, get rid of negativity, live a normal life without anxiety and stress - these are just a small part of the positive aspects that meditation gives a person.

What does meditation give? This question worries many people who are looking for their way to freedom, tranquility and self-development. Does this method really work, how to meditate properly, maybe it is more suitable for Buddhist monks than for the average person. Meditation - the word itself blows with a mysterious and mysterious wind of the east, hiding behind itself the wisdom accumulated over thousands of years and passed down from generation to generation.

V recent times the technique of meditation is actively used in modern European world, modern ways of its application and methods of use are being created. In an age of rapid development, mental stress increases, people lack peace of mind, it is meditation that helps to restore inner balance and harmony in a person without the use of medicines, antidepressants.

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Always amazed at the calmness and serenity of the Eastern sages, who learned the world and are in no hurry, just watch, enjoy life, every moment that is given to a person on Earth. What does meditation give to an ordinary person, how to meditate correctly?

According to spiritual sages, teachers, meditation is the path to higher powers, a way of understanding oneself, transforming one's personality, acquiring new qualities.

The positive effects of meditation are manifested in such areas:

A person learns to be an observer, perceives himself and the world as a whole, begins to better understand his inner world - thoughts, emotions, feelings.
An understanding of how to manage emotions, feelings, and restore spiritual harmony comes.
A person becomes kinder, more loving and open to the world, ready to share his inner light with others. Compassion for people and joy from life appear, internal state independent of external circumstances.
Intelligence appears - the ability to think independently, not to depend on external views, to find an opportunity to overcome the barriers of society, freeing up their potential, opportunities, to find their freedom.
Teaches a person to find joy in loneliness, being alone with himself, because if you find yourself comfortable alone, then it will be easier with another person than when hurricanes are raging in your soul.
Meditation allows you to realize your "I", your individuality. Society does not particularly support such people, it is easier to manage a crowd than a self-sufficient, confident person who has his own life principles. the main problem people - they depend on the opinion of society and do not listen to their inner intuition, choose the wrong path in life, cannot find a destination.
Promotes the development of intuition, a person better understands himself, the peculiarities of the psyche, discovers his uniqueness, blooms like a flower.
Meditation is the path of insight, knowledge of one's personality and the ability to observe the development of society from the outside.
Helps to strengthen the human psyche - reduces the likelihood of mental trauma, increases self-confidence, efficiency, allows you to develop and improve your personality.
Meditation is successfully used for medical purposes - it improves the condition of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, reduces anxiety, allows you to forget about depression, aggressiveness, increases attention, and the ability to work. It is indicated for disorders of the nervous system and mental overload.
Develops Creative skills, helps in solving life issues, situations. Opens up internal reserves, promotes purposefulness in life, the search for non-standard solutions.

What meditation gives to a person is a rather broad question. The use of meditation helps a person find himself, the meaning of life, learn to manage himself, move to a new, higher quality level of life, better understand the world around him. The path of enlightenment, liberation is opening internal forces and potential.

The mechanism of the effect of meditation on a person

Research by scientists confirms the effect of meditation on the human brain at a biological, molecular level. We used modern equipment to study electrophysiological, metabolic, biochemical processes. Surveys and psychological testing confirmed the improvement in mental health, positive changes in personality characteristics, self-development and realization in society in people actively using meditation, who were trained in techniques in groups.

Meditation, influence on a person - actual and demanded questions, a change was noticed at all levels - mental, molecular. A feature of the effect on the brain is a change in the dominance of the hemispheres. Scientists and thinkers have long noticed differences in the characters of people, attitudes towards life, dividing them into artists and thinkers, creative people and adherents of science.

The differences are associated with the predominance of the development of the left or right hemisphere of the brain, the left one is responsible for logic (reading, writing, problem solving, conservatism), the right one is creative potential (imaginative perception of reality, striving for discoveries, new things in life).

In the life of people, the development of one of the hemispheres usually prevails, over the years, preference is given to the right one, which is involved in study, it is necessary to obtain new information, knowledge, the right one develops only when constant training, music lessons, drawing, in ordinary cases, the connection with the creative side is lost, the help of the subconscious is lost.

Meditation allows you to balance the activity of both hemispheres, the activity of the left and right hemispheres is aligned, which affects the development of a person's mental state, the manifestation of new abilities, the discovery of creative potential, improvement of self-regulation processes, and personality development.

In the process of meditation, the integrity of the work of the human body is restored, reserves and internal possibilities open up, the attitude towards oneself and the world around is changing, changes occur at all levels. Even scholars now recognize the positivity of meditation practices. How to start practicing meditation, are there any techniques available to everyone?

To begin with, it is worth understanding that all methods of meditation lead to one goal, the ability of a person to look at the world differently, to become an observer, to break out of the cycle of life, to calm his mind. For beginners, to use meditation, you need to be in a quiet, calm place, away from people, nature, preferably in a private room.

Experienced practitioners can meditate in any setting, beginners need calmness. It is customary to use a sitting or lying position to relax the body and free the mind. However, meditation teachers suggest starting with catharsis. This is a method that allows you to release emotions, a person in the process of life constantly suppresses anger, fear, disappointment.

Such emotions do not allow the mind to calm down; in Buddhism, it is customary to give out emotions in a safe way. So you can show anger when you hit a pillow, a pear, the main thing is not to direct it at people. If you are sad, you can cry, you feel uplifted - laugh, dance, just be honest with yourself and give vent to emotions. And then go directly to the meditation exercises. Emotions are difficult to suppress, they need to be banished, having experienced and forgotten. What does meditation give? It also allows you to release accumulated emotions using dynamic methods.

The basic rules of meditation are a state of relaxation, observation, lack of judgment, only contemplation and silence. It seems that the world freezes, all movements, thoughts stop, there is only pure space.

There are more than a hundred methods of meditation, the methods and structure are different, but the principles are the same. The most suitable method should be chosen and used for meditation. There is no need to invent a new method, everything has already been studied and thought out before the smallest details, worked out in practice for centuries. You just need to choose the most convenient method. And most importantly - calmness and patience, haste will not help in the development and mastering of meditation techniques. The truth comes over time, as the seedlings of the planted seeds germinate for beginners. For beginners, consider the simplest techniques.

So, meditation, the effects of the methods, ways of doing:

1. Meditation on a point - any meditation is associated with concentration, an object, it can be the outer world or the inner one. The method of meditation on a point is very simple.

There is information that this method promotes eye health on the physical level and clears thoughts, calms and improves mindfulness and concentration on the mental (spiritual) level.

Method of execution: a black dot is drawn on a sheet of paper, the sheet is positioned at eye level. It is necessary to look at the point for 3-15 minutes (gradually the time is brought to 30 minutes), it is necessary to concentrate thoughts on this object (point), trying not to be distracted by other thoughts. After completing the exercise, you need to close your eyes and wait until the inner image of the point disappears.

Can be used similar method just by observing the flame of a candle, focusing on the fire. This exercise is considered basic in the process of mastering meditation.

What does point meditation give? Improves attentiveness, helps to calm thoughts, improves vision.

2. Transcendental Meditation, transient meditation (TM) - a technique developed by Maharishi Maher Yogi, involves the use of special mantras to go beyond thinking, purify consciousness.

This meditation is considered the easiest to use, it is used all over the world, it requires only 15-20 minutes of practice, 2 times a day to get positive results. The technique allows you to reduce, inhibit the process of thinking, contributes to the transition to a state of calmness and awareness. Such activities can help reduce stress and have a beneficial effect on personal development.

Transcendental meditation assumes the opposite of the standard thinking - in the process of meditation, a person paves the way to inner consciousness, the source of thoughts, their generation, finds the foundation of conscious processes. It is advised to use it regularly to increase the level of concentration on the inner self, gaining complete relaxation and peace of mind. This method has been studied by medicine and has established itself as having a positive effect on the entire body and mental state of a person.

Technique for performing TM consists in pronouncing a certain mantra that affects certain parts of the brain, causing inhibition of thinking, leads to a transition to a relaxed state: breathing slows down, there is a feeling of a baby's state, primary thinking, without a certain framework. Thoughts are scattered, a calm close to the state of sleep arises, but this is not a dream, it is better to practice meditation in a vigorous state in the morning and in the evening.

Having reached the desired state, the mantra is no longer recited, but in the event of unnecessary thoughts, they repeat it again. The transition to the state of meditation contributes to the purification of consciousness, internal reboot, stress relief, unity with the outside world, the Universe, receiving external energy. Anyone can master the TM technique; this does not require special training, only the desire and the availability of 15 minutes of free time.

There is an opportunity to find a paid instructor or go to a group to study the TM method in more detail, or you can practice it yourself, it is advised to use the "OM" mantra to begin with, which is considered a mantra of general use. With personal training, the instructor can choose a personal mantra based on the characteristics of the person.

Let's take a closer look at the technique of performing transcendental meditation.:

It is necessary to take a comfortable sitting position, relax all the muscles, breathe deeply, feel relaxation throughout the body, the muscles become heavy, the wave of relaxation passes through the entire body from head to toe.
An exhalation is made for a few seconds, we feel how energy flows through the crown of the head into the lungs, we accumulate energy in the solar plexus.
We say the mantra "OM" (aum), moving attention to the area of the chest, throat, crown. Repeat inhalation and recite the mantra with exhalation. Continue until the state of calmness comes and external thoughts stop disturbing.
If thoughts do not go away, you need to think about pleasant, beautiful - to represent nature, flowers, special happy moments life. Try to let go of thoughts and illness as you exhale, freeing your body and mind.
We leave the meditation in 15-20 minutes, gradually turning on the muscles, we roll a wave of tension, from the legs to the head, we try to turn on the vision at the end. Again we begin to feel the whole body, every muscle, hear and see the world around us.

People often ask the question: what does meditation give, the effects of practice? Mainly there is a reboot of thinking, cleansing of negative thoughts, stress relief, rest at the physical level, activation of internal forces. During periods of stress, meditation can be an effective aid in minimizing the effects of overload on the body.

3. Practice "Inner smile" - the emotional state of a person has a huge impact on physical health.

Experiences lead to disorders of the nervous system, digestion, disturbances in the work of the heart, and positive emotions and joy fill the energy with health, strengthening the immune system and improving the general condition of the body. Recommend using " inner smile»To strengthen physical and mental health.

Execution technique:

The exercise begins with the eyes, they are interconnected with nervous system and all organs. You need to close your eyes and imagine that they are smiling, as is usually the case with joy, fill them with relaxation and light.
Mentally smile to all parts of the body and organs, starting from the head and going down, it is important to give a positive charge - to the brain, heart, stomach, liver and others important areas especially the chakras.

What does meditation give this method? After practice, a surge of strength, energy is felt, the general condition and mood improve.

4. Vapassana - this is one of the most common techniques, it contributed to the enlightenment of the largest number of people, as it contains the essence.

Anyone can do it, there are several ways:

Awareness of oneself, actions, thoughts - you need to follow and understand, be aware of the movements of the arms and legs when walking, learn to feel all processes, excluding unconscious manifestations. At the same time, there is awareness of thoughts, actions, without evaluation, just observation. Exercise - walking around the room with downcast eyes, concentration forward a couple of steps, the feeling of touching the ground with your feet. It is important to come to an awareness of body movements, thoughts and emotions. Three basic steps.
Awareness of breathing - you need to focus on breathing, feel how the stomach rises and falls as you inhale and exhale. As a result of concentration on the breath, stomach - thoughts go away, emotions dissolve, the heart calms down. You can focus on how the air enters and exits if it is difficult to breathe in the stomach (more men are concerned).

The exercise is performed as follows.: it is necessary to take a comfortable sitting position, close your eyes, relax your body and direct your attention slightly above the navel, feeling how you inhale and exhale air. Try not to be distracted, but if you are distracted, turn your inner gaze to the question for a while and return to conscious breathing again. It is important to observe calm breathing and feel the state.

What does meditation give, namely Vapassana? This method allows you to learn to observe the world, feel life with all your heart, find peace and open insight, and find your peace of mind. The whole world is just a reflection of a person, his thoughts, calming the soul, we change our attitude to the world, differently we feel life, we see new facets and horizons.

5. Kundalini - meditation - this meditation is similar to dynamic, where a person must initially throw out energy, in this technique the following steps are used:

the body relaxes, a shudder arises as a result of the impact of energy rising from the feet upwards (15 min.);
dance, the body moves at its own discretion, freeing itself from hidden emotions, stiffness (15 min.);
relaxation in a sitting or standing position, with your eyes closed, we observe our sensations, the inner and outer world (15 min.).

What does kundalini meditation give? This meditation technique helps to cleanse the accumulated emotions, experiences, restore calmness and balance in the soul and body.

6. "Born again", Osho meditation - also involves dynamic and classical meditation.

It is believed that over the years, a person ceases to enjoy life, loses spontaneity, contact with the natural beginning, the natural beginning of life. Therefore, Osho proposed a meditation that returns to childhood - for 1 hour a person behaves like a child: he plays, sings, jumps, releasing energy, removing clamps, splashing out emotions, for another hour he remains in a calm state, in a sitting position.

What is the benefit of being born again meditation? As a result of the application of the technique, there is a feeling of childhood, immediacy, openness to the world, a person learns to feel life in all its glory, to express openly feelings and emotions.

7. Meditation of laughter - there are stories about the laughing Buddha, who walked through the settlements and just laughed, without telling people, while he helped to cleanse spiritually and recharge with positive energy.

The simplest technique- in the morning, waking up, stretch with your eyes closed, after 3 minutes start laughing, continue for 5 minutes (do not open your eyes). Laughter helps to clear negative thoughts, fill your consciousness with light and a positive charge, and makes the new day more successful.

An important rule of meditation- learn to open the heart and fill it with peace. It is the heart that allows you to live real life, and problems are created by the mind, consciousness, complicating the surrounding world. Therefore, it is useful to move awareness to the area of the heart, to learn to feel the world. There is no need to complicate life, there are no problems, there are secrets and mysteries of life, everything else is a product of our thinking.

Meditation - this is a state in which we are involuntarily, without even noticing it. During periods of special concentration, such activities as drawing, creating music, contemplating the world, nature, drinking tea, running - can cause a state of meditation: harmony of body and spirit, the absence of unnecessary thoughts.

Each person is looking for their own ways to restore inner strength, even positive memories can fill the soul with light. Breathing exercises during periods of stress, irritation, loss of calmness are also excellent.

We wish you to find your own method of meditation and live in harmony with the world around you!