The Practice of Meditation

Meditating and Your Health

Meditation is the practice of concentrating one’s thoughts and awareness on a specific thought. This concentration may not seem like something that could in any way affect a person’s health, but in fact studies and thorough research has shown that meditation can help improve a person’s health.

The most interesting physical benefit of meditation is improved cardiovascular health. There are many theories about why meditation helps the cardiovascular system, but one of the dominant theories is that the calming effect of meditation not only relaxes the mind, but it also relaxes the entire body.

Over time, regular meditation can help a person’s heart to be healthier. Since heart disease is prevalent in both men and women, meditation is helpful for everyone. Of course, meditation also helps a myriad of other ailments by the same relaxation method.

History of Meditation

There are no records to point out when meditation exactly began but there are many civilizations that started today’s meditation exercises.

• India is well known for their meditation practices. With the passing centuries, many Hindi scholars wrote about meditation and all their benefits.
• Some of the better-known Hindi texts included the Vedas and the Yoga Sutras that were written by Patanzali.

• No one can argue a more influential source of meditation than Siddharta Gautama known as Buddha.
• In 500 B.C. his goal was better through the practice of meditation.
• He started so many throughout Asia and in a short time around the world.

• The East has practiced meditation for many centuries.
• The Western world started it a few years later. It was the mid 20th century that started meditation and made it so popular with the Western people.

Now more and more people are starting to practice meditation. Many meditation methods are used in religious practices but there are many that do not use the spiritual part anymore. They will usually focus on the health benefit factors and how it can help them in the fast world that we live in.

Even though the spiritual side of meditation is no longer there for many, it is still a great method for well being. This is one of the central parts of meditation.

Below are several tips that can help you make the most out of your practice of meditation.

Tips to Practice Meditation

1. Practice meditation in a quiet place.

While you cannot completely shut yourself out of the distractions around you, it would help a lot if you can meditate in a quiet area, or at least a place which cuts down outside noise considerably.

2. Choose a room with comfortable temperature.

Whether the room’s too cold or too hot, both can destroy your mood for meditation. It would therefore help to find a room with a temperature control so you can adjust it to a temperature where you’re most comfortable.

3. Wear comfortable clothes.

Again, the bane of people practicing meditation is distraction. You should therefore wear comfortable clothes as they would help you be more at ease and relaxed.

4. Guidance.

Sometimes, it can be frustrating to practice meditation without the proper guidance. Follow a guide as it will help you get the most out of meditation.

So learn how to meditate for inner peace and calm, and if you suffer with anxiety or stress it will help you to relax and ease your mind.

You can also download my free meditation kick start worksheet and journal!