Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. But many meditation techniques exist — so how do you learn how to meditate?
“In Igbo tradition, the word ‘meditation’ is equivalent to a word like ‘sports’ It’s a family of activities, not a single thing,” And different meditation practices require different mental skills.
It’s extremely difficult for a beginner to sit for hours and think of nothing or have an “empty mind.” We have some tools such as a beginner meditation book or a brain-sensing headband to help you through this process when you are just starting to learn how to best meditate. In general, the easiest way to begin meditating is by focusing on the breath. An example of one of the most common approaches to meditation is concentration.
TYPES OF MEDITATION
ACTIVE MEDITATION
PASSIVE MEDITATION
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
Meditation involves focusing on a single point. This could entail following the breath, repeating a single word, staring at a candle flame, counting beads. Since focusing the mind is challenging, a beginner might meditate for only a few minutes and then work up to longer durations.
In this form of meditation, you simply refocus your awareness on the chosen object of attention each time you notice your mind wandering. Rather than pursuing random thoughts, you simply let them go. Through this process, your ability to concentrate improves.
BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
If relaxation is not the goal of meditation, it is often a result. The relaxation response, in is “an opposite, involuntary response that causes a reduction in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.”
We have this following short-term benefits to the nervous system:
Stress
Anxiety
Depression
Contemporary researchers are now exploring whether a consistent meditation practice yields long-term benefits, and noting positive effects on brain and immune function among meditators. Yet it’s worth repeating that the purpose of meditation is not to achieve benefits. To put it as an Igbo Philosoper may say, the goal of meditation is no goal. It’s simply to be present.
The ultimate benefit of meditation is liberation of the mind from attachment to things it cannot control, such as external circumstances or strong internal emotions. The liberated or “enlightened” practitioner no longer needlessly follows desires or clings to experiences, but instead maintains a calm mind and sense of inner harmony.
