People have been practicing meditation for thousands of years. For many people it’s a way of stress relief and to get in touch with the universal mind. Meditation cleans the mental house of troubles and meaningless, unconstructive thoughts. One of the best ways to meditate is by using music to set the mood and provide a focus point on which to concentrate. Meditation is pure quiet inner concentration.
There are basically two ways to meditate to using music: guided and unguided. Guided means that there is a person that verbally guides you through the process of mediating and unguided means that there is no guide and it’s just music and soothing sounds. If you are a beginner, the guided method may be helpful in learning how to properly get your body and mind in harmony to enter the state of meditation. You must first relax your entire body, and then clear your mind of all thought. For some people this takes a bit of practice and for others it is quite easy. Once you can master your physical body by sitting completely still for a period of time (10-15 minutes) without moving at all and when you can do this along with having no thoughts you are well on your way to a useful and satisfying mediation.
Meditation music is very relaxing. There are many great mediation cds available. Some contain peaceful sounds of birds chirping, the breeze through the trees, water flowing through a stream or waves gently washing on the shore. Some also utilize vibrations. This is a fairly new concept that blends modern technology with ancient instruments including Crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, bells, drums and synthesizers which result in an extremely relaxing experience.
This use of vibrations makes sense since everything, including our bodies, is made up of vibrations. I think this is why music is such a pleasure for us. Do you ever “feel” the music? When you can feel it, it is in harmony with you. When you are feeling aggressive, aggressive music feels good. Music sets the mood and the reason is because everything operates on vibration.
Once you have mastered the physical body and your thoughts, you can then move to the stage of using visualization during your meditation. This is a wonderful enhancement to meditation. Through visualization you can create a place in your mind that is your “secret garden” of peace and tranquility. This is an important part of mediation. It can be anything you want! For instance it can be a garden, in the woods or on the beach. Whatever works for you. The point is that this is your place that nothing can interfere, where you find peace, no worries, and no interruptions. Your personal heaven. You can also imagine yourself floating which is very relaxing and peaceful. This is a very powerful benefit to meditation. Create a place that is 100% yours, it is your private place for peace and rejuvenation.
When you decide to start meditating, pick a place where you can be totally un-interrupted for at least 10-15 minutes. It should be dark and quite. Try to meditate in the same place every time. You can either sit in a comfortable chair or on the floor. Start by taking some very deep, slow breaths using your diaphragm on inhalation and exhalation. Then think about your body and how your legs are heavy, then your midsection, your arms, etc. all the way up to your head. Concentrate on these things. Your first few sessions should be all about not moving the body for a period of time like 10-15 minutes. Just concentrate on being perfectly still. Once you have mastered this, you can combine this with mastering your thoughts. You can do this by concentrating on a sound or word such as quiet that you repeat either in your mind or aloud. This is called a mantra. It is a useful way to focus concentration and clear your mind of all thoughts as well as resist new thoughts. After you can do both for a period of time, then you can begin to allow only good thoughts and feelings in. Think about everything you are grateful for. Then you can create your own special place in your mind where you go to meditate, your “secret garden”. You’ll find that meditation will be something that you can’t go without. That’s a good thing!
This will take practice but once you achieve it, you will be able to reach the “universal mind”. This is when real progress is made. You will find that when you are through meditating, you will feel refreshed and have a clear mind.
There is a new way to meditate now and that is walking meditation. Some people find that walking with their headphones extremely beneficial. Not only are you exercising the body which releases stress, you are also able to clear the mind and concentrate on the rhythm of your steps and the music. To me, however, I find that the best way is in a very dark and quite room with music playing down low. But everyone is different.
Whatever way you decide to go, the best decision is to just start! The benefits of meditation are unbeatable. You can find some awesome meditation cd's and other resources at www.easy-meditation-cd.com.
Meditation takes practice. Be patient and remember that the more you practice meditation the easier it will become. Meditation is natures high and it’s totally good for you!
People have been practicing meditation for thousands of years. For many people it’s a way of stress relief and to get in touch with the universal mind. Meditation cleans the mental house of troubles and meaningless, unconstructive thoughts. One of the best ways to meditate is by using music to set the mood and provide a focus point on which to concentrate. Meditation is pure quiet inner concentration.
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