Mindful Educators

Meditation is known to have been around for over 5,000 years. Meditation involves turning the attention inwards with focus. It is well known by researchers that people who meditate experience tremendous benefits. Is meditation really worth your time? Probably. The person practicing meditation doesn’t need to meditate 24/7 to receive all of the benefits. A simple 20 minute daily meditation session will have profound impact on health and longevity if continued for awhile. What does meditation do?

Meditation allows you to cultivate powerful focus, get in touch with yourself (know yourself better), become more aware of the world, helps promote relaxation and has tons of health benefits. It is probably the single best exercise that anyone could do for their mind and body. Meditation can also deepen your religious connections and make you more spiritual. In the context of this article I will discuss many benefits of meditation and explain why meditation is such a great thing to do.

The profound health benefits

There have been an insane number of documented health benefits that are induced though meditation. Today, no matter what religion or denomination, many people include meditation as part of their lifestyle because they would like to be healthier. Meditation literally “supercharges” the immune system and increases the baseline activity level of natural “killer cells” which help destroy cancer cells and bacteria. By practicing meditation, your body will be able to fight off viruses faster than the average person and you just won’t be as prone to getting sick as the average person! (It even helps to alleviate allergies!)

Another great benefit from meditation is a happier mood! Meditation has been known to help balance mood and make people more emotionally stable. It increases the amount of the neurotransmitter “serotonin” which is involved in relaxation and happiness. By increasing the amount of serotonin, you will be less prone to insomnia, anxiety, and depression!

If you want to lower your high blood pressure, meditation is the answer. Meditation is great for people with high blood pressure because it quickly brings it back down to a normal level. It also slows heart rate and increases the amount of oxygen in the blood and brain.

Brainwaves prove that meditation is healthy

Meditation shifts brainwaves from the right (stress-promoting) hemisphere to the calmer, happy, left-hemisphere. A study was done by the University Of Massachusetts Medical School where they went to a high-tech business firm in Madison, Wisconsin.

They found stressed out employees and split them into two groups: 25 people that were required to learn and practice meditation over an eight week period, and 16 people that served as a control group. Researchers found that the brains from the meditation group showed increased activity in the left frontal lobe – an area of the brain that promotes positive emotion and calmness.

The people involved in meditation were found to be calmer and happier than before and more able to deal with stressful situations. Meditation increases overall activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in higher thought, focus, and helps us control our responses to anxiety and anger. Another cool thing is that even if you meditate for awhile, then stop meditating, the increased activity in the left-hemisphere lingers, which will keep you calmer than most even though you stopped meditating.

The amount of gamma brainwave activity significantly increases in the prefrontal region of the brain. Gamma activity is involved in higher thought, problem solving, and advanced brain functioning. This brainwave helps improve focus and planning in a major way! Relaxation is increased throughout the body and mind by increased Alpha activity.

Alpha waves are found in calm, relaxed people. Alpha waves increase when a person drinks alcohol or smokes marijuana, which is a large reason as to why alcoholics and potheads keep doing it; they enjoy the relaxation. If they only knew that meditation would be healthier for them in the long-run and have profound relaxation effects without the dizziness, puking, or hallucinations.

Build a bigger brain

People who meditate grow bigger brains than people who don’t. Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found the first evidence that meditation can alter the physical structure of our brains. Brain scans they conducted reveal that experienced meditators boasted increased thickness in parts of the brain that deal with attention and processing sensory input.

The gray matter in older, more experienced meditators is thicker than younger meditators and remains thick even in old age. Non-meditators’ gray matter normally gets thinner as ageing occurs. It has also been found that people who meditate have greater plasticity throughout their brains. What is plasticity? Plasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways after new experiences. By meditating, new neural pathways are formed and old neural connections are strengthened.

Enhance your self-control

By increasing activity in the left hemisphere and prefrontal cortex, meditation will give you greater self-control. With some practice, you will be able to regulate your thoughts, emotions, and have complete control over your impulsive actions. The problem is, most people that get involved with meditation, already have high amounts of self-control.

Tell your friends about meditation and get them involved. Maybe go meditate together so you can both enjoy the increased amount of self-control. You will have more control over yourself and be more inclined to notice and control unconscious urges like eating candy or drinking soda.

Explore the depths of consciousness

Meditation is a great way to explore your consciousness and help your brain be more aware of different brainwave patterns. Most people are constantly in the brainwave state of “BETA” which is involved in outward focus, fear, anxiety and stress. By practicing meditation, you can learn the ability to consciously access the “ALPHA” brainwave state.

The alpha brainwave state enhances relaxation, makes it easier to absorb information passively, and helps promote calmness. After enough practice, you may even be able to consciously access the “THETA” brainwave state. In the “THETA” state of mind, strong emotions will arise and some people report having profound religious experiences. The “THETA” brainwave is involved in tapping the unconscious mind. Through meditation, you can become aware of the unconscious with enough practice.

By accessing the unconscious, your intuition will improve, visualization will be enhanced and your creativity be intensely boosted. The lowest brainwave state is “DELTA” and most people are never able to access this state consciously in their lifetime. Delta is involved in deep sleep, healing, and restoration of the body. I have read reports and studies where a few extremely advanced meditators have been able to consciously access this state, but it is extremely difficult.

Improve your spiritual life

Meditation is also a great way to improve your spiritual life. In fact, people sometimes have their most profound spiritual experiences, sometimes referred to as “awakenings,” through meditation. People report feeling more connected with “God” or their religion. They also learn more about their spiritual life than they ever imagined. Meditation is a tool that helps people to discover insights about life that would remain unknown to them if they had never meditated.

Meditation helps you to understand your “purpose” here on Earth and be more connected with your spirit. You don’t need to belong to a certain religion to connect religiously through meditation. Christians meditate, Hindus meditate, Muslims meditate, it doesn’t matter what religion one belongs to. You don’t even need to belong to a religion to have an enhanced spiritual life through meditation!

How to meditate

You can meditate anywhere at anytime, however, it helps to be in a quiet place without distractions and external stimuli. Next, you need to have a type of meditation in mind. There are many different types of meditation. Google “types of meditation” and pick one that you find interesting. Stick with it for awhile and you will begin to learn a lot about yourself and be able to enjoy the infinite amount of benefits. Below, I will describe three common types of meditation that you can start practicing.

Three well-known types of meditation

Concentration Meditation – this type of meditation involves focusing your attention on your breathing, a specific mental image, or a mantra (a specific repeated sound). The point of this type of meditation is to quiet the thoughts and the mind by allowing greater awareness and focus to emerge. The easiest way to do this type of meditation is to sit quietly and focus on your breathing.

There is a direct relationship between breathing and the state of consciousness that you are in. Breathing is usually quick and shallow when a person is stressed out. When breathing is slow and deep, the person enjoys a nice warm, relaxed, focused state of mind. Let yourself primarily focus on inhaling and exhaling. By just focusing on your inhalation and exhalation pattern, your mind will become more relaxed and focused.

Transcendental Meditation – This is a Hindu form of meditation. This type of meditation is supposed to promote relaxation through the usage of a “mantra.” A mantra can be any sound that you choose that will be effective in meditation. It is used to promote relaxation, with some focus. A mantra is basically a sound repeated over with the idea of connecting with your soul and freeing your mind.

Mindfulness Meditation – This type of meditation works by heightening your attention to become aware of your sensations, feelings, thoughts, etc. Begin this type of meditation by sitting quietly. Just observe everything that goes through your mind without judging it.

The whole idea is to just witness whatever goes through your mind without reacting. By not reacting, you are training your mind to be more peaceful. By practicing this type of meditation, your ability to think logically and not be influenced by emotion will increase. By training yourself to not become as emotionally affected and attached, your problem solving abilities will be greatly enhanced as well as your ability to make good decisions. Deepen Meditation With Binaural Beats?

There are programs out like Holosync and Hemi-Sync that use binaural beats, isochronic tones, or monaural beats to supposedly “deepen” the meditation experience. I recommend checking into these programs and experiencing them for yourself if you are interested.

I personally find that my customized sessions that I make in Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional help deepen my meditation so I have no need for Holosync. I have tried a Holosync sample program that was free to sign up for on their website. They sent me a CD with a couple of sample tracks on it and explained the program via some intense marketing.

I liked the sample disc, thought that it helped, and that it sounded nice. Why didn’t I continue and buy the program? Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional allows me to design my own custom sessions with whatever background noise I choose. Bill Harris is the founder of the Holosync program and really hypes up his program.

I’ve read cases where people really enjoy and think the program helps, while other people don’t think that it has much effect. I think that since the program is so expensive, it is better to just use Neuro-Programmer 2 Professional or not use any beats / tones at all. If you are going to use this technology or already have, please share your experience with others.

Start meditating

After reading this article, I hope that you now will include meditation as part of your daily routine (if it isn’t already). Just plan that at some time throughout the day, you will take 20 minutes to find a quiet place to meditate. Everyone has 20 minutes to spare. You may even like meditation so much that you will set aside 30 minutes of your day to meditate.

The great thing about meditation is that you will become healthier, get to enjoy all the benefits of slowed aging, and you will learn a lot about yourself! I highly recommend that you try meditating everyday for at least a month. If you like it, naturally you will want to continue, and if you don’t, well at least you can say you gave it a valid chance. Meditation is free! Can you really afford not to meditate?