In this article:
What is meditation?
Beyond all the chatter and noise in our minds, there is a silent, peaceful, blissful, and beautiful space that exists in all of us. A place that is intact and unbroken. Turning our attention to this silent chamber within is meditation. Experiencing this silent space cleanses the mind, giving it much-needed rest, and making room for better perceptions and new ways of looking at life and its challenges.
When you are free from the anger and regrets of the past and planning for the future, meditation happens. You accept the moment as it is. It is a rest that is deeper than sleep. Yet unlike sleep, during meditation, you are aware.
Why meditate?
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar calls meditation a form of mental hygiene which is as necessary as dental hygiene. Research shows the benefits of meditation covering the physical and mental realms: from increased immunity and pain management to improved cognitive function to reduced anxiety, making it helpful for goals as regular and diverse as overcoming a traumatic heartbreak to increasing daily productivity.
The practice helps:
Culture the nervous system: Regular practice of meditation removes stress and anxiety from the mind and frees you from trauma. It cultures the nervous system to maintain peace, energy and expanded awareness throughout the day.
Balance the mind: Meditation enables you to switch between the delicate and tough aspects within you. You can stand up when needed and let go when needed.
Boost one’s energy: Happiness is linked with a sense of expansion while unhappiness has been linked with a sense of contraction. Meditation is a way to attend to this aspect. It uplifts the energy and the mind and spreads it out.
Myths around meditation
Meditation is the art of doing nothing which is also a widely misunderstood practice. Some of the common myths around meditation include:
Concentration: While concentration requires effort, meditation is an absolute relaxation of the mind. When the mind relaxes, we can concentrate better. Concentration is a benefit of meditation.
Controlling thoughts: Thoughts are like clouds in the sky. They come and go on their own. In true meditation, you neither crave good thoughts nor are you averse to bad ones. You relax and transcend thoughts and move into a silent space deep within.
Hypnotism: In hypnotism, people are unaware of what they are undergoing. Meditation is complete awareness of each moment. Hypnotism takes us through the same impressions that are in the mind. Meditation liberates us from impressions.
How does meditation really work?
The mind and the body work on opposite laws. On the physical level, the more effort, the better the result. Whereas on the mental level, the lesser the effort, greater the result. When the mind learns to let go and relax, then ideas come out. Meditation is based on that law. Meditation benefits the mind because it is a conscious way to relax the mind. It raises the life force energy, also called prana in our bodies which raises one’s awareness, energy and enthusiasm and reduces anxiety. That is why it feels so good to meditate.
Where does the practice of meditation come from?
If you observe a baby from the age of three months to three years, a baby is a yogi who does all yogic exercises and the way a baby breathes is yogic breath. The way a baby sleeps is a meditative sort of sleep. Though yoga and meditation have come from the Eastern tradition, it is common to people all over the world. If you observe a baby at home, you don’t need a yoga teacher. They live in the present moment. The tears are still on their cheek and they start smiling. Not like an adult who has an argument and holds onto it for weeks. Meditation allows you to let go. It gives you the ability to let go of the past and be in the present. There are roots of meditation in every religion.
How to meditate?
Like any other skill, meditation needs instructions from an expert and practise for mastery. You can use either of three tools to meditate: a guided meditation, a personal mantra from a teacher, or a breathing technique. If you want to experience meditation now, feel free to pick a free guided meditation.
The basics: Make sure you have quiet surroundings and a relatively empty stomach before you begin. Sit comfortably with back support and a gentle smile on your face.
The three rules: There are three golden rules for meditation to happen.
I want nothing: All intentions, good or bad, trivial or important, need to be dropped for meditation to happen. While you sit for meditation you have to let the world be the way it is.
I do nothing: While every job requires focus and effort, meditation requires neither.
I am nothing: Think that you are nobody during the next few minutes of your meditation.
The process: While meditating, many thoughts may come. Do not resist. Just observe and follow the instructions of the guided meditation.
What are some easy ways to meditate?
Right from your body to the world that you see outside can give you a chance to meditate. In all probability, you have already experienced some form of meditation, even for a moment in your regular life. There are five easy ways to meditate.
Yoga: When your body does certain postures with a certain rhythm, it brings some tiredness. This helps the mind slip into meditation. Your body has to be in the right state between rest and activity – in that delicate balance, the mind and whole system slip into meditation.
Breath: Through breathing, you can get into meditation. Sudarshan Kriya is one of the best examples. After pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya, you get into meditation effortlessly.
Sense Objects: You can experience meditation through any of the five sensory pleasures - through sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. Being completely engrossed in a particular object brings you to a state of meditation, provided you do it in the right way.
Try these open-eye meditation techniques
Just lie down and keep looking at the sky: A moment comes when the mind becomes still, there are no thoughts and you don’t know where you are, but you know you are. Limitless awareness can happen by just watching an empty space because our mind is also space; consciousness is a space.
Listen to music: A moment comes when you are completely engrossed in the music. You no longer hear the music, but you know you are and yet you have no boundaries. That leads you to meditation. Any wonderment or astonishment also leads you to that state.
Emotions: Both positive and negative emotions can lead you to a state of meditation. You know, when you feel utterly hopeless, you say, ‘I give up!’ When you are very angry, what do you say? ‘I give up!’ It means, ‘This is it. I can’t take it anymore.’ During those moments, if you don’t slip into frustration or depression or violence, you will find that there is a moment where it snaps and there is no mindedness.
Intellect: Through knowledge and awareness, you can go into meditation. If you have been to a space museum, you are in a different state of consciousness when you come out of the museum. Or if you have studied Quantum physics, you start to see that everything is just atoms and energy. There is a different context because you have seen yourself in the context of the universe.
Where can I learn to meditate on my own?
Sahaj Samadhi Dhyan Yoga is an easy way to meditate on your own without any guided meditation. It is a mantra-based meditation technique wherein you take a personal mantra to get into a deeper state of meditation. In Sanskrit, it is said, manana trayate iti mantrah. A mantra saves you from repetitive thought patterns and worries. When you practice it every day, you experience bliss, clarity, calmness, and intuition. Studies have shown Sahaj Samadhi Dhyan Yoga to have helped relieve late-life depression and improve cardiac health.
Are there advanced meditation techniques for a layman?
You can experience powerful and deep meditations in an Advanced Meditation Program designed for everyone. The program uses the practice of silence to withdraw your energy and attention from outer distractions and help you go deep within, quieten the mental chatter, and experience deep rest and inner peace. By participating in various course processes specifically designed to take us beyond our usually active “monkey minds”, we experience an extraordinary sense of peace and renewed energy that we carry home with us.
Start a meditation routine with a 7-day challenge
Meditation questions answered by the Master
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Take a stick and start chasing your mind. See where it goes. Chase, keep chasing and you see your mind is so tired that it will come and fall at your feet.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: To drive a car, you can’t say that you are too young. If you are too young, you will never be asked to drive also. If you are old enough to drive, you are old enough to meditate as well.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes a day should be good enough. You can do it two, or three times, but no more than twice, short bits. You are doing twenty minutes, twice, thrice – it will do you good. Do not force yourself into meditation for long periods of time. Like sleep, you can't sleep for fifteen hours a day. You sleep six hours, and at the end, when you have had enough rest you wake up.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Where do the thoughts come from the mind or body? Close your eyes and think about it. That itself becomes a meditation. Then you will reach the point or space within you from where all thoughts come. And that is fantastic.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: If you are not having good experiences in meditation, then serve more, you will gain merit and your meditation will be deeper. When you bring some relief or freedom to someone through your service, good vibrations and blessings come to you. Seva brings merit; merit allows you to go deep in meditation; meditation brings back your smile.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Don’t worry about the experiences of others. Be with your own experience and the experience varies from time to time. So don’t worry.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It does not matter. Don’t lose heart. Let them come. Say, “Come, sit with me, five-year-old, or ten-year-old, or twenty-year-old memories. Come! Sit with me.” The more you want to run away from them, the more they will bother you.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: What happens in your mind when you have to wait? What is happening in your mind right now? Do you see time passing by? This very waiting can take you into meditation. When you have to wait, you can either be frustrated or meditative. Meditation is ‘feeling the time’.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: One, is by meditating, and the other, is by serving people around you - by getting into some service activity. Seeing God within you is meditation. Seeing God in the people around you is love or service. They both go hand-in-hand.
