Methods of Meditation

Everyone has heard about meditation and its manifold benefits. Various researches conducted worldwide have proved that nothing else benefits the soul and the body like meditation does.

As a novice meditation can seem quite intimidating especially because it has strong ties to some religions. But meditations can benefit your cognitive as well as your corporal systems. If this sounds good than? go for it.

To get you moving with meditation, here are some tips that you can use as a beginner:

1. Zen Buddhist Meditation Technique or Zazen- This method is most regularly linked with religion. Nevertheless, this technique, as put forth by Lord Buddha, has shown itself to be a most effective one. Zazen is at the core of the Zen Buddhist rites- this entails a focus on breath, sitting up and being quiet.

Instructions- As a novice, begin by sitting up, and counting to 10, and letting out your breath after each number. After counting your breaths in and out go back to 1 and begin once more. If you are unable to maintain your focus while counting, redirect your focus onto your breaths and begin once more. As you become more skilled in this method, you can cease counting and focus solely on your breaths. It may take years to come to this point as focusing without counting is quite difficult to do. The Zen meditation method can lift your heart and soul, and increase your consciousness, and sensitivity.

2. Mantra Meditation Method- This is a method at the center of the Hindu faith, and because of its efficaciousness, it is a favorite method. The name reveals the system- you select a mantra that you can repeat either mentally or out loud with ease. This can aid you in a focus of your energy and thus you may more easily increase your ability to concentrate.

One you might try is the So Hum mantra meditation. As you inhale you say in your mind, Sooo, and then Hummm as you let your breath out. 'So Hum" translates as 'I am That', meaning you are one with deity. This method opens up your emotion center and lets you give love without reserve.

3. The Chakra Meditation Method- To begin, Chakra are whirlpools of energy that must be balanced to gain the many benefits by this method and it's many versions. You may find this very interesting method of meditation interesting. As you attain balance in your energies your emotional and physical aspects can be greatly benefited. Free and stabilize your energies by following these guidelines-

a. Arrange your Chakra upon your body and concentrate on it. Gradually you will be mindful of the placement of your Chakra and the energy it contains will begin to open up.

b. The Chakras are in direct relation to the 'Beej mantra' or the 'seed sound'. As you say the Chakra again and again, the target area is opened up and balances. Care is used in this method to prevent opening these areas too fast.

If you want to find out how your life can be benefited from meditation just give it a try and find out!

A chakra is an axis point in the human body that receives, connects to and conveys life force energy. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means a continuously spinning wheel or sphere of man's aural energy. Although traditional Hindu writings assert that there are more than 88,000 chakra points in the entire human body, the most important of these chakras are the seven energy axis from the base of the spinal column to the top of the head.

Although there is no common denominator between the ancient Hindu and Chinese cultures, they are very similar in their interpretation and explanation about the role of these energy points in our health and lives in general. Both the Hindus and the Chinese look at the body's major energy points as playing important roles in our conscious and subconscious experiences. And that these seven energy points are the keys to a healthy and successful life.

Chakras are defined in various ways but there is one common thread among all of the definitions and explanations whether from the Chinese medicine point of view, the Hindu's mystical understanding of an individual's internal and external experience or modern psychology's explanation of human our consciousness and thought processes.

The chakras' unceasing interaction with our body and the environment even during our sleep gives them a direct influence over our physical structure and appearance including our bodily processes, health and our emotions. A glitch of any one of the major chakras is an indicator that something is wrong with our physical/emotional health which may directly or indirectly be noticeable.

The reason for this is because each of the seven major chakras is linked to a corresponding endocrine gland in our body. Any imbalance in the function of a chakra affects our physical and emotional processes and manifests a disturbance in the usual pattern of activity or behavior through the endocrine gland linked to it.

Taking Proper Care of our Chakras From the preceding point of view- promoted by the ancient Hindus and Chinese traditional medicine practitioners alike, we can conclude that a good number of our illnesses are in one way or another related to a malfunctioning chakra. Although physical symptoms may be absent or minimal at the very least, they are signs that something is wrong with us- physically, spiritually or emotionally.

Forgotten or repressed emotional baggage due to traumatic experiences in the past is one of the major causes of chakra imbalance. Since most people have a habit of burying bad memories in their subconscious, we are unaware that these buried emotional toxins have an effect on our bodies at the cellular level. It is therefore necessary to come to terms with our emotional baggage and resolve them in order to maintain the proper balance of our chakra and heal our physical self in the process.

Chakra Healing is Good for Our Body We can directly influence our chakras and their functions and through them our health and lives by employing techniques such as Reiki healing, aromatherapy, color therapy, chakra balancing with the aid of a pendulum, crystals or gemstones.

There are a number of ways through which we can directly influence the functions of our body's major chakras. From simple techniques such as aromatherapy, breathing exercises, physical fitness, or with the use of crystals and gemstones we can achieve balance and harmony.

For example, the practice of Yoga and directed meditation are but two of the commonly used healing methods to align and enhance our energy points in order for us to achieve total relaxation and concentration regardless of where we are. This is very helpful in relieving stress and enhances the body's natural healing processes.

Despite the fact that we can not physically see or touch our chakras, they can work independently to sustain our body.

The human body has to be healthy and fed properly in order for us to have balanced chakras. There are foods that help maintain the balance of each of the seven primary chakras.

Root-type vegetables, protein-rich foods and spices nourish our root chakra. The sexual and creativity (sacral) chakra needs sweet fruits, nuts and cinnamon, vanilla, sesame and caraway seeds; the stomach/solar plexus chakra which is responsible for enhancing our self-confidence and self-love are can be nourished by eating breads, pastas, cereal, dairy products, yogurt and minty spices.

The heart chakra thrives on our intake of green leafy vegetables and green tea. Our throat chakra needs lots of liquid like water and fruit juices and tangy fruits including apples and peaches.

By eating blueberries, grapes and drinking wine or grape juice, we help nourish our brow/third eye chakra which is responsible for making our third eye senses sharper and more attuned to our psychical abilities.

The spiritual and emotional center (our crown chakra) of the human body however does not need nutrients but requires detoxification by means of fasting.

With these simple methods of influencing our body's energy points (chakras), we are at the same time also influencing our physical wellness towards a more responsive way of life completely with our body and our environment. They are very simple ways but very effective at the same time in order for us to achieve a goal of physical and emotional wellness.