[et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="3.0.47"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.0.105"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.105" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.0.105"]<h4><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">This post may contain an affiliate link, check <a href="../disclaimer/">disclaimer</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"> for more information</span>.</span></h4>[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.0.47" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="3.0.47" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"]					Our brain is said to be the profound distinction between human and that of other living counterparts, the ability to reflect and reason is what sets us apart. Ironically though, this very advantage drives us to our weakness.

<img class="wp-image-590 aligncenter" src="http://www.kahlmah.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Knock-Off-Stress-1-147x300.png" alt="" width="264" height="539" />

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<em>Stress</em>, <em>anxiety, depression</em>, do all these sound familiar? Yes. They are the modern-day bogeyman. These are the things we force ourselves to endure in our day to day living.

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Among the three, <strong>"stress"</strong> is probably the common denominator of today's living, in fact, a survey done by the <a href="http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/impact-of-discrimination.pdf" rel="noopener">American Psychological Association</a> revealed a significant percentage of American adults reported that stress greatly impacts their physical and mental health. But the strange thing is most of them say they are not doing anything about it.

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Although a release of stress hormones is part of our body's natural physiologic response to a threat, which is, of course, useful in times of danger; however, <strong><em>chronic stress</em></strong> caused by our own thoughts and worries is linked to greater health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, stomach ulcer, obesity and many more.

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So, how do we stop stress? The answer is simple but complex, and that is<strong><em> being mindful</em></strong>. Stress is a product of mental action and/or reaction. There's a saying that goes "it's all in the mind", tackle your mind head-on!
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<h4>Meditation</h4>
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<strong><em>Meditation</em></strong> is a <strong><em>practice of mindfulness</em></strong>, it teaches <strong><em>mental focus</em></strong> and <strong><em>clarity</em></strong>. Its roots go far back our time, which is linked to various religious practices, but you certainly do not need to be religious to be able to practice meditation.

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A wide variety of research has proven that meditation significantly reduced stress and improved one's health and well-being.

A scientific study revealed an increase in regional brain gray matter density in people who practiced meditation. This affects a person's ability to react to stress, this was explained in an interview with Sarah Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital, read the article in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?utm_term=.8290383ee1cf" rel="noopener">Washington Post.</a>
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<h5>Among the many benefits of meditation are:</h5>
<ul>
 	<li>Decrease in blood pressure</li>
 	<li>Improves blood flow</li>
 	<li>Decrease in heart rate</li>
 	<li>Decrease anxiety</li>
 	<li>Decrease cortisol level</li>
 	<li>Promotes deep relaxation</li>
 	<li>Decrease stress</li>
 	<li>and many more</li>
</ul>
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There are three main forms of meditation: Physical posture, Mindfulness, and Mental silence. One or a combination of these forms are incorporated into many types of meditation and their teaching vary with respect to the practice of different techniques.

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But I will not bore you into the details of all the types of meditation because, in my personal view, meditation does not necessarily need to rely on one practice, belief or religion, however knowing them may guide a person to finding the right path to practice meditation.

<span style="color: #993300;"><strong>F.Y.I.</strong></span> : If you want to know more about all the types of meditation this article presented it in details <a href="https://liveanddare.com/types-of-meditation">Types of Meditation.</a>

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In whichever form or type of meditation, the idea is basically the same that is, <strong><em>"to be in the present moment"</em></strong>. There is no exact tangible and intangible goal or definition of thought just <strong><em>focused attention</em></strong>.

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<strong><em>Meditation</em></strong> is <strong><em>not judgemental</em></strong>, from that I would argue that there is no right or wrong way of doing it, it's just a matter of finding a way that works best for you.

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You must examine your intentions and fully submit to the practice in order to benefit from it.
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<h4>Expectations</h4>
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The one thing that draws us back from reaching any goal is our <strong><em>"expectation"</em></strong>, we expect quick solution and result, but quite often, we have not even gone far from the starting point.

Before even considering meditation settle your <em>expectation</em>.
<ul>
 	<li>Meditation is an exercise, <strong><em>a mental exercise</em></strong>, like any other exercise it may or may not work for you.</li>
 	<li>Meditation <em><strong>takes time</strong></em>, anything that takes our time gets the least of our attention, which is probably why people continue to endure stress because doing something about it takes away our time, without looking into the larger picture that doing something about it will not only <em>add time but also</em> <em>quality to our lifetime</em>.</li>
 	<li>Meditation<strong><em> is a practice</em></strong>, a practice is an actual application of an idea and the key is to be <em>consistent in your practice</em>.</li>
 	<li>Meditation <strong><em>is a process</em></strong>, and quite frankly it is a <em>complex process</em>, you have to make the decision to submit to the process.</li>
</ul>
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<h4>Basics of Meditation</h4>
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With reference to<em> Vedic</em> science, the human being is consist of three aspects:
<ol>
 	<li><strong><em>The physical body</em></strong></li>
 	<li><strong><em>Inner faculty</em>;</strong> This is the working consciousness, it is constantly changing
<ul>
 	<li><em>Mind</em>, where we process sensory perception such as pleasure, pain, good and bad.</li>
 	<li><em>Intelect</em>, where we analyze, decide and judge</li>
 	<li><em>Ego</em>, the doer, and the experiencer</li>
 	<li>And the <em>memory</em></li>
</ul>
</li>
 	<li><strong><em>Deep inner self</em></strong>; a non-changing consciousness, it is the source of all knowledge, intelligence, creativity and all that governs human existence.</li>
</ol>
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<strong>The Process</strong>

The <strong><em>deep inner-self</em></strong> activates the <strong><em>inner-faculty</em></strong> which activates the <em><strong>physical body</strong></em>. <strong><em>Meditation</em></strong> serves as a <em>feedback loop</em>, in which one makes a <em>conscious connection</em> to the <em>deep inner-self</em>. This process provides <em>inner peace</em> which ultimately <em>removes stress</em> and <em>improves overall health and well being.</em>

To understand this process fully, we need to recognize the three states of consciousness; <em>Waking</em>, <em>Dreaming</em>, and <em>Deep Sleep</em>.
<ul>
 	<li><strong><em>Waking</em></strong>, in a waking state of consciousness the inner faculty is aware of the experiences of the physical body.</li>
 	<li><em><strong>Dreaming</strong></em>, in a dreaming state of consciousness, the inner faculty is aware of the dream but not the physical body.</li>
 	<li><em><strong>Deep Sleep</strong></em>, in a deep sleep the inner faculty is not functioning at all, it is in this state that the inner faculty and deep inner-self unites, in this state, there is no pleasure or pain, there is no feeling, no experience of stress, anxiety, anger, guilt etc. This is why we feel so good after a deep sleep.</li>
</ul>
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You might say, there it is, the answer to getting away with stress is deep sleep, yes! you are right it is, not just stress but all feeling. But a deep sleep is not always possible or it's not always easy to get to for some if not most of us. Which was the case for me, I always struggle to go on a deep sleep until I discovered the power of meditation.

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In <em>meditation</em>, you go beyond the inner-faculty, in this process, you will experience the unity of <em>deep inner self</em> while <em>being aware</em> and <em>not asleep.</em>

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The practice of <em>meditation</em> will modify the inner faculty, and it extends the properties of the deep inner self. The benefits of this process affect all aspects of life - <em>physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.</em>
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<h4>How to Meditate</h4>
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There are many techniques of how to achieve a meditative state, but one common ground of all techniques is the <strong><em>"focus on breathing"</em></strong>.

The reason is that in meditation, breathing is the only real object, it's there no matter what state you are in, it's constant.

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Meditation is a personal journey if you find that one technique that works best for you, then concentrate on that technique. The most important thing is to develop the habit of meditation.

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<strong>A simple way to meditate is to focus on breathing. <em>Just breathing.</em></strong>

You can do this exercise anytime, anywhere, even now.
<ol>
 	<li>Sit or lie down comfortably, loosen tight clothing</li>
 	<li>Close your eyes</li>
 	<li>Relax and breathe normally</li>
 	<li>Focus on your breathing, the rise, and fall of your chest or the in and out motion of your stomach. Focus only on your breathing for 2-3 minutes. How it makes you feel is irrelevant, any other cluster of thought is irrelevant, just focus on the breathing.</li>
</ol>
This is a great way to start for beginners. Doing this exercise almost instantly relaxes you. The longer you do it or the more you do it gets you into a deeper meditative state. I do this exercise whenever I feel the need to relax.

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<strong>Another more complex way to meditate is a <em>Meditation with Intention</em>.</strong>
<ol>
 	<li>Choose a specific time of when you are going to meditate. This time will have to be the same time every time you meditate.</li>
 	<li>Choose a specific place, this will have to be the same place each time you meditate. This place must be free of distraction.</li>
 	<li>Choose consistency, How many times you are going to meditate. Daily is recommended but be realistic and most importantly be consistent.</li>
 	<li>Choose a word or a phrase of central focus, this could be anything that resonates with you, this has to be something that has a stronger meaning to you even if it does not make any sense to others. Keep this in secret, do not share the relevance of this word or phrase.</li>
 	<li>Examine your life, look at it in a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual sense. Then decide on your intentioned purpose, it could be in any aspect or in all aspect of your life.</li>
 	<li>Choose a word or a phrase that represents your intentioned purpose. For example, for physical, you find that you need to lose weight you may choose to represent this by the word "health", it's entirely up to you, but make the word of phrase short and easy to remember. Be honest and open to yourself, no one is going to know this word or phrase.</li>
 	<li>On the day, place and time you agree to meditate, sit and be present to meditate allow at least 15-20 minutes for the exercise. Sit, relax and be comfortable, make sure you are far from any distraction. like a mobile phone.</li>
 	<li>Start with a few deep breaths, and then breath normally, Say the word or phrase of your central focus, repeat it in your head a few times, again and again. Then listen to your breathing, when other thoughts begin to interfere repeat the word or phrase of central focus. Embrace silence and calmness. You might have to repeat the process of saying the word or phrase of central focus a few times, that is fine, Through consistent practice, you will find that this will become easier to do.</li>
 	<li>End your session by saying your intentioned purpose.</li>
</ol>
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<strong>An easier way to meditate is through <em>Guided Meditation</em>.</strong>

My initial practice of meditation was through guided meditation, one night I could not sleep, I was tired but could not fall asleep, this had been a usual problem, so I went on the internet and searched ways to fall asleep and that's where I stumbled on a youtube video on guided meditation, I listened to it and the next thing I know I was waking the next morning feeling well rested. From there my interest grew and I decided to learn more about it.

My own practice of meditation is simple, practical and non-sectarian, it's a combination of techniques that I have learned from each type and proven to have worked for me.

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Learn more about Guided Meditation:
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvldC6mzLvA">Meditation and Guided Relaxation</a></li>
 	<li><a href="http://marc.ucla.edu/mindful-meditations">Free Guided Meditation</a></li>
</ul>
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There you have it, apologies for the long article but I feel this is needed to introduce you to the power of meditation. I strongly encourage you to go on a meditative practice. It does not matter what type or which technique you do but what matters is to develop a consistent practice, because this is where you get the most benefit out of meditation. It will not only relieve stress but also it will transform your life.

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