What is Meditation?

We have sufficient evidence to prove that Indian Saints and Spiritualists used meditation as a form of mind-body medicine. For centuries the modern science only believed in the physical self but now it is finally catching on. It has started recognizing the power of mind and meditation as a way to relax the mind but it still has a little knowledge about consciousness. Mind of a self-realized Saint or Spiritual person is always focused and in control. For others who suffer mentally and physically because of worldly problems created by mind, meditation is the best tool to calm the mind and encourage self-realization.

Many scientific researches have been done to study the effect of meditation on human beings. This is where it gets really interesting when modern technologies like MRI are used by scientists to understand the effect of meditation on our brains. The results of these studies clearly reflect that there is significant decrease in beta waves while meditating and regular meditation not only alters the brain activity but also contributes to the psychological and physiological well-being.

Various methods of meditation have been developed by Indian Saints and Spiritualists. Since meditation is a very personal experience, there may be many more methods which we don’t know. Few methods which feature prominently in scientific researches include focused-attention where the person has to focus all his attention on a specific object, idea, sound, breathing or sensation. It is also call mindful meditation as the basic idea is to concentrate on one focal point and not let the mind to wander here and there.

Now a days open monitoring meditation which has been practised by Indian Spiritualists since centuries is also being used by scientists for research purposes. This type of meditation is just the opposite of focused attention meditation in which the person is paying attention to all the activities around him without reacting. He is simply noticing everything as a witness.

Health Benefits of Meditation

Human body is a wonderful machine. From birth till death it performs various functions without taking any rest. The main organs like heart, lungs, kidney, liver, skeleton, brain each carry out a unique task. In fact man is the greatest of all creations. It is the greatest of all machines. God has made man precise, efficient and self sufficient. Man made machines are lubricated from outside but all the joints in human beings are automatically lubricated from inside. Body itself manufactures the lubricating material. Our body changes food into living tissue which causes growth of flesh, blood and bones. If a part of a machine is broken, it has to be replaced by another part from outside but human body is unique. If a bone is broken, body heals it itself. I would mention here that bone is considered to be the toughest part of human body. If the toughest part can heal itself, why can’t other parts heal themselves?

Brain is core of this complex super computer. It computes billions of bits of information and controls all the actions of the body. Human brain probably has more complex wirings and circuits than all man made super computers put together. It is the control center of human body. When any part is damaged accidentally or due to some disease, it affects the signals coming and going from the brain. Mechanism of body is such that it starts healing automatically and if one is able to increase his consciousness level, healing can be very fast.

Here comes the role of meditation as it encourages and improves the level consciousness that promotes a state of healing. It has been scientifically proven that the brainwave pattern moves into alpha-wave brain state when the mind is in rest. A relaxed autonomic nervous system promotes healing. Automatic nervous system regulates glands and organs in our body. It consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Sympathetic nervous system gets our body in action and parasympathetic nervous system calms down the body.

Meditation is only way to stop the mind from playing its self generated vicious games. This will let the outgoing chattering mind to relax and rest in Self, become your slave and instead of enslaving you. It will be under control, letting you enjoy the day to day activity and in turn increase productivity, peace, health and intelligence.

Meditation stimulates parasympathetic nervous system and as a result symptoms of stress are reduced. There is a greater sense of well-being. By applying right techniques and regular meditation, the autonomous nervous system of our body can be trained permanently to keep the body in a relaxed physical and mental state to promote healing. In my next column I will try to place before you the proven benefits of meditation. Till then Live Naturally, Meditate and stay fit.