Steps to get started with meditation: How to meditate?

NEW DELHI: Despite its immense health benefits, getting started with meditation can be challenging.

According to Sarvesh Shashi, Founder, SARVA and Diva Yoga, the big question of 'How to meditate?' can be answered in so many ways really because it has no single answer and is so subjective in nature.

He says: If you are new to meditation, choose one technique of meditation which is easy or suits you and try bringing it into your daily routine. There are many guided meditations available online to choose from, however this technique is one of the most simple one to follow, especially if you are a beginner.

Choose the same time of the day if possible and try to find that silent corner of the house where you sit to meditate

You can keep some plants around you and a soft pillow at this place and can choose to come back to this place every time you want to meditate

Set a time of two minutes to start with, which you can slowly increase as per your comfort

Start simple. Find an anchor or a point of focus, it can be your breath, it can be the sounds around you, it can be the eyebrow center or simply focusing on your pulse or heartbeat

Bring your attention to your anchor and try to keep the attention there. Every timeyour mind wanders into future past thoughts bring your attention back to your anchor

It may sound and even be difficult to focus attention if one is a beginner, but keep at it, says the yoga master, adding that with regularity and daily practice, onewill be able to increase the time for which they sit for meditation and slowly, they will notice themselves getting better at it.

SOME MOST-PRACTICED MEDITATIONS

* Focus or concentrative meditation, where you will have a point of focus for your meditation. It could be your breath, or any such anchor.

* Mindfulness meditation is somewhat similar to focus meditation, in that we look at our thoughts from an objective point of view, without judging them. We just observe the thoughts and let it pass by without holding on to one thought obsessively.

* Movement bases meditation, where one is active from the body and the entire focus is on the movement and nothing else, you are deeply focused and this can bring you to the stated Dharana (one-point concentration).

* Mantra Meditation is also one very effective and active form of meditation where one can chant some of the Sanskrit mantras. One begins with a simple or short mantra like 'Om Shanti Shanti Shanti' and repeats this mantra for a few times. This helps bring the vibration of the mantra subconsciously in the mind and body and get deeply engulfed in the state of concentration on the mantra.

* Visualisation is also a very effective way to meditate. One draws a mental picture in the mind - anything visual which will calm the mind down, like a beautiful scenery or recalling some good memories or visualizing healing of the body etc.

Research has proven that meditation helps to reduce stress and anxiety improving the emotional health over all. It helps oneself introspect and look at things from other people's perspective and hence bring calm and peace in the mind in general. It's also an excellent tool to increase the level of concentration and hence is a useful tool for people who are working, studying or playing sports. (IANSlife)

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