One of the most amazing things about us as human beings is how unique each of us is, while at our core, how fundamentally the same we are. The meditative or contemplative lifestyle can be seen as a way of life, a way to connect to that fundamental core of what makes us human. Having said that, I would say…
Meditation is recommended for everyone, however it particularly benefits those who occasionally suffer from anxiety, depression, chronic pain and a general lack of focus. Those who have a passion for self-realisation and personal growth will find meditation an invaluable tool for cultivating their relationship with themselves and the world around them.
In times of uncertainty and large-scale change, we all need some tools to help us deal with the vicissitudes of life. While everyone has their own way of dealing with uncertainty, some practices offer different types of relief than others. Let’s explore how these practices can help anyone lead a happy and fulfilling life.
Who Benefits From Meditation?
Meditation was originally discovered as a way to transcend the mundane suffering of the world and reach a state of enlightenment, where one is liberated from the shackles of endless material desire. It was a form of introspection and self-discovery, a way to experience the truth of the human condition, and hence be free from its hold over us.
All the greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Thoreau to the Buddha, used the meditative lifestyle to develop and preach wisdom that is still relevant in today’s fast-paced world.
Today, meditation is commonly seen as a relaxation and stress-relief tool, particularly in the West. While this can be seen as an underutilisation of what meditation can ultimately do for us, there is nothing inherently wrong with this. Meditation has been shown to:
- Reduce suffering associated with chronic pain;
- Lower blood pressure;
- Reduce anxiety and depression;
- Improve sleep and reduce insomnia;
- Reduce stress-induced inflammation and improve immune function;
- Slow the aging process, increasing longevity; and
- Improve cognitive function and memory.
| Visualisation practices, (which are a form of meditation), have long been used by athletes to help them be the world’s best. By mentally simulating competition conditions, and visualising themselves achieving their targets, many studies have shown that imagery can help athletes improve their performance and results. Olympians such as Michael Phelps (swimming), Katie Ledecky (swimming) and Kayla Harrison (Judo) have all spoken about how important mental preparation and visualisation have been to their success. Even Phil Jackson’s infamous Chicago Bulls team used meditation to help them fine-tune their game. The brain has a hard time distinguishing between an event actually happening, and the imagining of this event. Studies have shown that those who imagine themselves practicing on a piano not only improve, but improve by almost as much as those actually practicing. Mindfulness meditation has also been shown to enhance athletic performance through its anxiety-reducing effects. These are examples of how meditation has been used as an incredible tool by many of the world’s greatest to become the best at what they do. And it might even be this, that makes all the difference. |
It is without a doubt that, while meditation helps those who are suffering most, we can all benefit from the effects meditation produces on the body and the mind. The productivity-obsessed and attention-hungry culture we live in today is having a detrimental effect on our health, both mental and physical. I have talked about the mechanisms through which meditation can be seen as antidote to these stresses in this article, but I will expound briefly here.
Most of the effects of meditation that the average person would benefit from stem from the therapeutic and stress-relieving properties that the practice induces. The central concept of most types of meditation is that of awareness of the present moment with an accepting and non-judgmental attitude. It is this non-reactive attitude that relaxes the body and the mind – it realises it doesn’t have to be constantly alert to external (and even internal) threats.
The body then switches from being dominated by the sympathetic nervous system, (think action), to being dominated by the parasympathetic nervous system, (think rest and digest). This latter system is responsible for bringing the body back into balance or homeostasis – a state where it has the opportunity to start healing itself. Our heart rate and blood pressure decrease, blood flows more effectively to the gut (largely responsible for our immune function) and the brain, muscles start unwinding stored tensions, and the production of the ‘stress’ chemicals, cortisol and adrenaline, is reduced.
In this state, the body can function optimally – it has evolved over millions of years and knows how to heal itself – if we just let it. We can then sleep better, relax more, get less heart attacks, get sick less often, have fewer depressing thoughts and experience some level of calm and serenity.
In the self-realisation world, this sense of peace and tranquillity is then used to explore the deepest recesses of the mind, and uproot our unhelpful habitual tendencies (such as the compulsive tendency to constantly seek external validation) so we are free of them.
Whatever your goals, a bit of meditation and self-reflection is going to help you in some form or another. It might not always be comfortable, but it might be exactly what you need.
What Kind of Meditation Should I Do?
You might then naturally ask yourself the question, what kind of meditation should I practice? What’s going to work for me?
The truth is, there are all different kinds of meditation one can practice and answering this question is going to be matter of trial and error. Only you can know this. The best advice is to go out and give a fair trial to several practices that interest you, and then choose what suits you best. Different kinds of meditation suit different kinds of people.
Keep in mind, that your preferences may also change over time, and it is very common to be switching between practices in the first few years of meditation practice.
My general advice would be to practice a method for at least a month and see how it works out for you. While you may experience benefits in the first few days, it often takes a few weeks for the more tangible lasting benefits to start manifesting themselves. That’s also when the more difficult parts start emerging. On top of that, you need to see which methods you’re willing to stick to, because you are trying to build healthy life-long habits here!
Here are just a few of the more common practices to get you started.
| Mindfulness | Training the skill of non-judgmental awareness (i.e. acceptance) of whatever arises in the present moment |
| Breath meditation | Observing the natural flow of your respiration and the physical sensations associated with the breath |
| Insight meditation (Vipassana) | The development of insight into the nature of the mind and body by observing the arising and passing of every experience |
| Loving-kindness | The generation of feelings of love, happiness and compassion, which are then wished on yourself and others |
| Mantra | Silent or out-loud repetition of a meaningful word or phrase which calms the mind and brings out a level of peace. Transcendental meditation falls into this category |
| Calm-abiding meditation (Samatha) | A form a breath meditation, Samatha involves using an awareness of the breath along with the whole body to calm the body and the mind |
| Zazen | Most commonly involves open present-moment awareness, noticing everything non-judgmentally, very similar to mindfulness |
Which meditation(s) you ultimately choose depends entirely on your goal.
- Do you want to simply relax and find some stability in your life?
- Or do you want to explore the depths of your mind and work through all those tensions and limiting beliefs holding you back from achieving your full potential?
Generally, the practices above fall into one of these two categories:
| Techniques that use natural objects of awareness (great for exploring the mind-body connection) | Techniques that use created objects of awareness (great for relaxing the body and mind) |
| Meditations designed to aid the mind and body in relaxing and improving concentration by using the natural breath. (Usually used as an aide in self-exploration). Examples: Samatha, Anapana or breath awareness meditation. | Mantra meditation involving the use of mental or vocal words to pacify the mind. Examples: Mantra, Transcendental Meditation, Kundalini, Third eye. |
| Meditations designed to penetrate and observe reality as it really is, by using an object such as the sensations of the body. Examples: Vipassana, Mindfulness Meditation. | Visualisation practices. Examples: Loving-kindness, Goals visualisation, Kundalini, Third eye |
| Free flow or open present-moment awareness practices like Zazen. |
The use of created objects of awareness are extremely effective at bringing your body and mind back into alignment, and producing a sense of stability and calm. They work generally by forcing the mind to focus on a created object such as a mantra, thereby pushing away any negative thoughts or feelings, and generating a sense of peace on the surface of the mind.
The use of natural objects of awareness for meditation can sometimes be difficult to practice as these objects may be, at times, extremely uncomfortable, such as shallow breathing or painful sensations on our body. However, when we practice the skill of non-judgmental observation of these experiences, we learn to be comfortable with ourselves, completely as we are in any situation. This can be extremely helpful in everyday life when the proverbial hits the fan.
As discussed, neither is better than the other, it just depends on your goals. Mantra meditation is great for beginners and can be used as a stepping stone to generate high levels of concentration needed to explore the mind-body connection via insight meditation. In addition, some meditations like yoga nidra expand across both areas, and some that use natural objects of attention such as Samatha are designed to both relax the mind and at the same time explore the self.
So whatever your goal – whether it be to get more focussed at work, get higher grades, treat your partner better, have more patience for your kids, improve that backhand, move forward on your spiritual journey to nirvana, or even just stress less, the most important thing is that you start exploring.
How Do I Start Meditating?
The simplest and easiest place to start is with your breath. Start by simply observing your in-breath and your out-breath wherever you feel it most easily – at the belly, rib cage, chest, shoulders or even the nostrils. Follow it with a keen interest noticing its characteristics – is it long or short? Deep or shallow?
As long as you are consciously aware of the breath and these characteristics, you are meditating. Even if you are just aware of the fact that it is coming in, or going out. That’s all there is to it.
It seems very simple, but can be extremely hard to do for more than even a few seconds! The second part of the practice involves repeatedly coming back to your object of meditation, the breath, when you notice your mind has wandered away. But you aim to do this with total acceptance and non-judgment. Stay patient and do not be upset when this happens. You are training a set of skills here – patience, resilience and diligence! And as with any skill, it takes practice, time and consistency.
Who Should Avoid Meditation?
Meditation can sometimes worsen symptoms in people with extreme forms of anxiety and depression. Many practices involve placing awareness on difficult emotions and sometimes this can be too much for some people without a base level of equanimity. These individuals can use other support such as counselling and psychiatry as a crutch to aid them with their meditation practice, and vice-versa.
Anyone with an existing mental health condition would be advised to first speak with their health care professional before starting meditation.