Tag: Meditation

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Meditation and Mental Health

We’ve heard the saying where the mind goes, the body follows. There’s been numerous research on mental health causing more health issues and more complications in our personal lives and in our professional lives as well. Less tolerance for minor problems, greater stress, less productivity or less motivation. 

When our thinking becomes contorted, it affects many areas in our lives. It’s hard to have clarity of thought when we have an overactive mind or when we have obsessive compulsive problems. 

Anxiety can be described as an overactive mind. You may be focused on many concerns in your life or perhaps you’re obsessing over one particular concern. Depression is focusing on a number of different problems or it can be focusing and dreading one particular problem. Either way anxiety, depression and OCD is an overactive mind. 

What is the opposite of an overactive mind? Stillness, tranquility, and inner peace. How do you achieve this state of mind? By doing the opposite of what you’re currently doing. You’re overthinking, so stop thinking so much, and give your brain a break by quieting your mind. 

Go someplace quiet if possible, close your eyes, sit or lie down and try to think of nothing. Focus on your breath. If some thoughts come and they probably will in the beginning of a meditation practice, let them drift and don’t try to fix anything. Let them be, don’t fight it, and let them run their course. In time you’ll think of those thoughts and they won’t cause you great concern. 

There’s a time for contemplation and trying to solve problems, but if you do this all day long without a break, your mind will become exhausted. That’s what causes mental health challenges. 

Try to aim for at least 15 minutes of meditation, but even 10 minutes or 5 minutes can make a difference. Perhaps with time, you’ll work your way up to 15 minutes or 20 minutes. Reflect on this statement, why is sleep so beneficial? Because your mind is at rest, and your brain recuperates. Why is meditation so beneficial? Because your mind is at rest, and your brain recuperates. The only difference is that in meditation your mind is awake, however, your mind still benefits from this practice. 

Try not to compare yourself to others because if you do, you risk not completing the task or quitting all together. I meditate 20 minutes every day, but if I thought because Deepak Chopra wakes up every morning at 4am and meditates for 2 hours, I should do the same, I probably wouldn’t stick to it nor would I want to. 

Assess your needs and determine what’s best for you. You may feel 5 minutes or 10 minutes is plenty to release some resistance and get on with your day. Find what works for you. There should be no comparison, just focus on improving you. 

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Through the Eyes of Source

Meditate on optimism, wisdom and faith. Meditate on the victor you’re born to be. Meditate on all the reasons to be born and free. There’s always two options, one is pessimism and all the ugliness in the world. The other is all the good you see through the eyes of source. Danny G. 

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The Space Of Stillness

The reason people don’t meditate or stop meditating is often because their thoughts are on everything but the present moment. Practicing meditation and mindfulness means letting go of the external world for a little while. It means seeking inward, and finding that space of stillness where all is well, and everything is working together for my own good. Danny G. 

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Solitude Needed At Times (Poem)

Solitude is my friend,

My place of zen

Where I enter

When frustrated 

Indecisive 

Or angry.

I look within,

The only power 

I’ll ever have 

To change within 

So I can change 

The course.

When I enter within 

I can conquer mountains 

In front of me.

And I can enter the world, 

And be happy and at peace, 

Despite the chaotic world 

Of our nation.

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The Benefits of Meditation

Why is meditation beneficial? The biological benefits which have been studied suggest meditation:

-lowers blood pressure
-improves the immune system
-slows down aging
-allows you to think more clearly
-improves concentration and the list goes on.

From a spiritual perspective, the practice of meditation is beneficial because it allows us to connect with our higher self, and live in the moment. Think of an individual who has an overactive mind. Let’s say his mind is preoccupied with everything but the present moment. Let’s say he’s listening to everyone but himself. How can he be attentive if his mind is preoccupied with everything but the present moment? How can he get to the core issues of what’s troubling him if his mind is preoccupied with everyone but himself?

When you focus only on the external world, you get so immersed in this reality, that you forget what matters above all else, which is your spiritual evolution. The eternal, infinite universal spirit that transcends the universe, is the reason you’re here, and it’s who you are, and if you forget this, then you have forgotten the essence of who you are.

When you shut your eyes in meditation, you’re looking inward rather than outward. You quiet your mind, and you stop focusing merely on physicality and things, and you begin to focus on the evolution of your soul. You can not grow spiritually if you’re concerned only with matters of a physical nature. The only way to grow spiritually is to go inward and what better way then to quiet your mind and focus on your evolution and God.

If you’re focused too much on the external world, reasoning and analyzing, then how do you explain what has no scientific explanation? Do you have a scientific explanation as to why you have a soul?

How do you follow your intuition if you don’t quiet your mind and cut out distractions? Have you ever heard of someone who’s always busy and always needs to be around others, and the minute he’s alone with himself he feels uneasy? Is that because he thinks too much when he is alone? Maybe, or is it his way of avoiding the thoughts that have been troubling him all these years? Never acknowledging one’s spiritual evolution may be the reason we break down after a while, and then we don’t realize what happened.

Would we breakdown if we learned to quiet our mind, and face what we have been trying to avoid all these years? Maybe we would, but meditation and reflection allows us to quiet our mind enough to think clearly, and to access our intuition, and receive the answers we seek. When we’re in this space we know how to handle the breakdown.

Why is anyone stressed? Because we have too much on our mind, and we don’t know how to deal with a situation. What better way to clear the mind then to meditate and reflect? When we’re in this relaxed space, it’s much easier to find a solution, isn’t it? Maybe meditation won’t solve all of our problems, but it will release the resistance that’s been accumulating all these years.

So next time you feel uneasy or you’re searching for meaning, or maybe you’re just looking for an escape from physicality, why not try to meditate?