What do you think of when you hear the word meditation? Is it Nepalese monks in orange robes sitting cross-legged in mountain temples? You aren’t alone. While the image of meditation has been heavily influenced by pop culture, meditation is an important practice that should be practiced by people of all ages and sizes.
Meditation is simply the process of clearing your thoughts and spending some time at peace with yourself and your environment. And, believe it or not, it actually can have profound mental and physical health benefits. Read on to learn the meditation definition and more about the practice of meditation.
Meditation Definition
There are a few different definitions of meditation, but the one we are talking about is the following:
Meditation is an individual practice or technique of clearing the mind to focus on a particular thought or activity. Meditation trains awareness and better emotional stability by spending time quieting one’s thoughts and focusing on the present.
As you can see, nowhere in the definition does it mention devoting your life to Buddha, nor does it mention sitting cross-legged in a temple. Meditation, in practice, can be anything that clears your mind and enhances your focus, and the type of meditation that works best for you can vary from person to person.
What is Meditation?
Meditation can look different for everyone. Some people with attention issues find it easier to meditate while their feet are moving or their hands are doing something like painting or knitting. This is called meditative exercise or moving meditation.
Meditation can also be just sitting somewhere in silence for a few minutes each day. It doesn’t have to include a certain pose, and you can even do it while you lie down in bed. Yoga, Tai Chi, and other forms of exercise which have a mental aspect can also be considered forms of meditation.
There is even a new practice called meditative reading, where you read a book or prompts that help relax your mind. Many people also consider daily journaling of their thoughts to be a form of meditation for those who tend to fall asleep in situations where their eyes are closed.
The point is that meditation can be any form of mind relaxation, and it can be practiced by individuals of any age and any physical ability.
What is the Purpose of Meditation?
You may be wondering why you should practice meditation, and the truth is, there are so many reasons you should practice meditation that we can’t even list them all here! Below, we have picked some of the most important reasons and broken them down for you.
1. Relaxation
Life is stressful, and it will only become more stressful as you age and worry about the next steps to take. Meditation relaxes the mind and the body, helping lower the stress levels in your body.
Many people find that once they begin meditating, they sleep better, have fewer health issues, and can breathe easier as they go about their day.
2. Building Emotional Acuity
It can be difficult to manage emotions, especially if you tend to feel yours strongly. Meditation puts you in contact with your emotions, helping you to learn about your triggers and how you feel in response to certain things.
While you won’t build emotional strength overnight, you will likely notice that the more you meditate, the more in tune you become with your body and feelings. This can further reduce stress and help increase your overall satisfaction with your life.
3. Reducing Physical Ailments
Many people don’t realize this, but there are several physical illnesses that can be aggravated by negative thought patterns. Negative thought patterns include victimization, spiraling, and mean self-talk.
Meditation helps to stop negative thought patterns, especially spiraling, which can have a huge effect on your mental well-being. Many people have even reported that stopping these negative thought patterns actually improves their physical health. While more studies are needed, meditation, which focuses on stopping negative thought patterns, could be the first step in bettering your physical health.
4. Increased Concentration/Brain Health
Meditation can help thicken the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that controls awareness and concentration. As you age, this part of your brain can thin, making it difficult for you to stay aware of your surroundings and concentrate on tasks.
Additionally, daily meditation can lower grey matter in the brain. Grey matter isn’t yet well understood, but it does play a factor in your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
This means that engaging in meditation can help you not only feel better, but it can also help preserve your mind–something that many seniors are afraid they will lose as time goes on.
5. Increases Mindfulness
It can be easy to worry about the future so much that you actually forget to live in the present. Many seniors report that they are so worried about getting older that they miss out on all the things they can do in the present while they are still relatively young.
Regular meditation helps increase mindfulness, which is also known as the practice of enjoying the here and the now. As you reduce your stress and improve your emotional acuity, you will find yourself more able to enjoy the present, something which is critical to enjoying life, after all, we only get one life!
Ready to Start Meditating?
As you can see, there are so many benefits to engaging in regular meditation. It can be challenging, however, to know just how to get started with meditation.
We are here to help! Check out our guide, How to Meditate, and feel free to drop your meditation concerns, tips, and experiences in the comments!
You can also take a look at YouTube videos for guided meditation sessions, as well as apps like the Calm App, which can help teach you to meditate until you get the hang of it on your own. Just remember that meditation is highly individualistic, so if one type of meditation doesn’t work for you, try another!
