Introduction
Meditation can eliminate stress and bring out the beauty in you.
Lord Buddha has said something very beautiful. He said that the mind is like a river; you cannot put your foot twice in it. The mind is flowing, you should let the mind flow. Then you can be like a river – calm and flowing. If you stop, then it rots. So, what does it mean? It means that the mind has to align with the body and the breath. Then there is flow.
Every night we go to sleep, and we wake up energised and rejuvenated because during sleep the mind, body and breath come together into one rhythm, eliminating the stress of the day. But there is another way of resting which is much superior to natural sleep – and it is called meditation. In meditation, you are relaxing consciously. Conscious rest or restful alertness is a state that, in a short period of time, removes stress from our system. It brings clarity to the mind, makes our skin glow and our heart glow as well.
Meditation is not connected to any one religion. Like yoga, it is common to everyone. It can bring you deep relaxation. The mindfulness is a by-product of meditation. Focus comes to you naturally. Research has shown that brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation even in non-experienced meditators. [Basso et al. (2019)]
What is Meditation ?
What is meditation? The mind without agitation is meditation. The mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation, is meditation. It is the journey from movement to stillness, sound to silence. Everyone wants to be happy. And meditation is the way to find true happiness. Meditation provides a way to access the nothingness within you. And this nothingness, when it becomes predominant in your life, then you don’t get bothered by all the small things.
Meditation is the skill to move the mind from a state of chaos to a state of bliss, from restlessness to deep restfulness, and to tap into the source of intuition. Research on meditation-based programs shows enhanced intuitive abilities and cognitive performance, especially in children.
Meditation Calms Your Mind
A disturbed mind affects many of us today in our often busy and stressful lives. Unfortunately, many people don’t even acknowledge that they are stressed. Neither at school nor at home are we taught how to handle negative emotions and how to be calm. We teach dental hygiene but forget to teach mental hygiene. Stress does not go away by just talking, advising, or resolving. You may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t get angry, but when the emotion comes, you are unable to control it. It comes like a thunderstorm, and you lose your calm.
Meditation is accepting the moment and living every moment totally. If you observe, the mind vacillates between the past and the future. We are either angry about the past or anxious about the future. Meditation helps bring the mind to the present. When that happens, the mind naturally calms down.
When the mind is calm, we are able to perceive things better. Our decision-making improves. On the other hand, when the mind is disturbed, our perception is also disturbed, and our own decisions may harm those we love or us. Research studies show that yoga and meditation techniques induce a unique state of relaxed alertness in the brain, improving focus, clarity, and a calm mind. [Goldstein MR, et al. (2016)]
How to Meditate
In order to meditate, we need to be in an informal atmosphere because a formal atmosphere or a formal setting is not congenial for meditation. You need to feel at home, really relaxed. So you can begin in your own home. There are a number of guided meditations available on YouTube in Gurudev’s meditation channel. You can also download the Art of Living App. You can login and start with a guided meditation that will help you to relax and go deep.
Another way is to pause and take a few deep breaths every now and then. This will also help you to relax. It’s very important that every day we take time for ourselves. Meditation can be considered as mental hygiene, like you have dental hygiene. Every day, a few minutes of meditation can uplift our spirit and make us feel calm.
In meditation, three things are important: keep your body still, just for a few minutes and your eyesight should also become still. Eyes should not keep moving here and there. Then you will see the mind becoming still on its own.
You can follow the instructions above and do the meditation below:
Overcoming Common Challenges to Meditation
The mind gets caught up in likes and dislikes and events, past and planning of the future. So meditation is the skill in which you bring it to the present moment.
How do you do this? First of all, know that everything is going to end when you say, this could be my last breath out. Suddenly, it just brings some relief to you. Yes, it’s true you need to plan and take care of things. It’s all good. It’s not that you should be blank and just stare at the sky. But not all the time! When you go out, you put on shoes. Shoes are needed. But you don’t go to your shower with your shoes on. When it’s time to relax, just relax.
Similarly, take those few moments when you reflect on your whole life. What’s my life? What’s the meaning of all this? What am I doing? I want something – ok, what if I get it? I want to achieve this. Okay, I will achieve. But then the curtain is going to come down. So what do I want? If you just put a little attention on that, you get into a space where you find yourself in such freedom, such strength. Then meditation is effortless.
Additional Techniques for Peace of Mind
Breathing Techniques
Breath is the connection between the body and mind. Learning about the breath is very important. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath, and for every rhythm in the breath, there is a corresponding emotion. When we are angry, our breath is short. When we are happy, our breath is long and calm. The opposite is also true. When we change our breathing pattern, our state of the mind also changes. While you cannot handle your emotions directly, you can handle them through the breath. Breathing techniques like Pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya reduce stress, anxiety, and depression significantly. Nadi Shodhan Pranayama, or Alternate Nostril Breathing, purifies the body and allows the influx of fresh energy, eliminating stress and improving endocrine function. SKY Breath Meditation participants show less elevation in breathing and heart rates in high-pressure performance situations, suggesting improved ability to think clearly and perform tasks effectively. [Research Summary (2021)]
Trusting in Absolute Intelligence
When you feel you’re getting carried away by anxiety, remember there is an organising intelligence much bigger than you and everyone else that is in charge. There is an absolute intelligence in the universe that has maintained this universe for billions of years. Have faith in that power. It will take care of you. The faith in a greater power can relieve you of your anxiety and bring calmness.
Now, that does not mean you become inactive and do nothing, saying, “Oh, everything is done by a greater power, why should I do anything at all?” That type of irresponsibility is also not good. We need to take a middle path.
Your anxiety is because you’re not in control. If you’re in control, you won’t be anxious. And you can’t control everything. That’s why you must remember there’s a higher power taking care of things.
Spirit of Enquiry
Often, you are not aware that you are connected with the whole universe, and you think you are just some small person wanting small things. How do we get out of this small mind? We must look to enquire into the core of our existence. What is life? Who am I? What do I want? This spirit of self-inquiry can awaken something inside you, bringing a sense of calmness.
Your Centre is All Calm
The structure of human consciousness or the mind is very similar to that of an atom. The positively charged protons are in the centre of the atom, while the negatively charged electrons are only on the circumference. Similarly, even in human consciousness, all the negativities and anxieties are only in the periphery. The centre of your existence is all calm and positive. You are akin to the structure of an atom. Go back to your centre where you find that all your anxieties just dissolve. Your true nature is peace and love.
Quick Tips
A few other simple ways, like listening to music, having a cold shower, being with nature, and exercising, can also shift our focus, helping us calm down quickly.
Conclusion
In our daily lives, we come across many challenging situations. These situations often influence the state of our minds so much that we cannot make effective decisions. Neither the events in life nor the states of our mind happen with our permission. In fact, the events and states of mind often occur in direct defiance of our wishes.
Meditation can bring about a balance between the different states of the mind. You can learn to switch from the tough aspect to the gentler aspect within you. You can be firm when appropriate and at the same time let go when needed. Meditation enables you to switch between these states effortlessly.
With a few minutes of daily meditation, our thoughts become calm and powerful, and our tasks are accomplished more effectively. We can cleanse our minds of disturbances, allowing us to achieve peace of mind. Meditation is the way.
References
- Goldstein MR, et al. (2016). Improvements in well-being and vagal tone following a yogic breathing based life skills workshop in young adults: Two open-trial pilot studies.
- Research summary of 15+ published research papers done on Sudarshan Kriya and meditation practices. SKY Breath Meditation participants show less elevation in breathing and heart rates in high-pressure performance situations.
- Basso et al. (2019) Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators.
FAQs on Meditation for Peace of Mind:
Anger and disappointment become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish. The confluence of knowledge, understanding and practice makes life complete. When you meditate and grow into higher states of consciousness, you find that you are no longer thrown off balance by different situations and disturbances.
A daily practice can transform the quality of your life by cultivating the nervous system to maintain peace, energy and expanded awareness throughout the day. You become beautiful yet strong, capable of accommodating different challenges in life without any conditions.
One challenge that you have that comes here is that you sit, and then you feel restless. So many thoughts come to mind. You should just embrace the thoughts. In the first one or two days, it’s like that. Once you move on, you will find that in a couple of days, on the third, fourth day, your meditation will keep getting better and better and better.
Then you sit comfortably. You don’t have to sit with a very straight back. Whatever is comfortable. If you are comfortable sitting with your spine erect without support, you can do that. If you are used to sitting for 20 minutes without disturbance with your spine erect, you can sit like that. But once you begin meditating, you should just let go, and if your body wants to relax, you should let it happen. At the same time, don’t meditate lying on the sofa or stretching your legs. Otherwise, any comfortable seat is good. You can sit with the backrest preferably, and don’t rest your head as far as possible.
You can then do this guided meditation from YouTube.
