People who strive to improve spiritually, intellectually, physically are interested in various practices that can realize these tasks. Meditation is the most famous and widespread practice that can help a person achieve peace of mind, learn to detach from stress, improve emotional and physical health, and bring many other positive changes into their lives.

Why does a person need meditation?

A person's life is rarely simple and carefree. Most often, people have to overcome various trials and difficulties. Overcoming them, a person often experiences conditions such as: stress, anxiety, anxiety, irritability. In this state, it is difficult to enjoy life, cope effectively with daily tasks, and achieve success in various aspects of life. The practice of meditation allows a person to achieve a state of consciousness in which he becomes able to take complete control of his thoughts, emotions, and sensations. The ability at the right time to put aside unnecessary emotions that prevent you from achieving a goal, to control yourself in any situation, to lead a normal life without stress and anxiety - this is an incomplete list of what meditation gives a person.

How to learn meditation?

You can learn meditation in several ways: with the help of books, a teacher, or on your own. The most important condition for you to learn this practice is regularity.

Having decided to master the practice of meditation, you need to schedule a time when you can be left to your own devices, and no one or nothing will distract you. The ideal time for meditation is considered to be the time of sunrise and sunset. The temperature in the room should be comfortable as well as your clothes; you should not experience any discomfort during meditation. Think about a position in which it will be comfortable for you to meditate; it’s good if you train yourself to meditate while sitting on a chair with a straight back or in. It is not entirely recommended to meditate while lying down, as there is a risk of falling asleep during it. The optimal duration of meditation is 20 minutes.

The essence of any meditation is to bring your mind to a state of peace, but they lead to this state in their own ways. We will look at two meditation techniques, concentration and mindfulness.

Concentration meditation

The purpose of this meditation, as mentioned above, is to bring the mind to a state of peace. Your task while performing this technique is not to be distracted by thoughts and sensations that arise. Thoughts cannot be turned off, they will appear, there is no need to resist it. Let them appear, let them go. Images and sensations may also arise, the meaning of which you want to understand and appreciate. If we talk in simple words: you need to learn to stop thinking during meditation, learn to achieve internal and external “silence”. The main sign that you have succeeded in this practice will be the ability to turn off your active mind for at least a few seconds. How to achieve such a state?

Choosing an object to focus your attention on

By concentrating your attention on something, it is easier to disconnect from thoughts. You can start your meditation by focusing on your breathing. Fix your attention on the sensations of inhalation/exhalation. Breathe deeply, evenly and calmly. Record the feeling of air entering your lungs and coming out again. As you concentrate on your physical sensations, you will begin to relax.

You can also choose other objects to concentrate your attention, for example:

• Image, think about which image is right for you. It could be fire, a candle flame, sea waves, etc.
• Point between the eyebrows. Close your eyes and imagine this point. Concentrate on it.
• Darkness, black screen.
• Breathing, you can continue to concentrate your attention on breathing throughout the meditation.

When thoughts or sensations come during meditation and distract you from the object of concentration, do not resist them, just let them go. Of course, it will not be easy to achieve a state where you can turn off your thoughts and still remain conscious, even for a short time. But when you manage to do this, even for a few seconds or a minute, you can consider that you have succeeded. With each workout this time will increase.

Conscious meditation teaches one to perceive reality as it is, helps a person get rid of suffering through awareness and understanding of the reasons for its occurrence. As a result of the practice of conscious meditation, a person’s sensitivity and intuition increases, the mind becomes calm and balanced, a person becomes able to make correct decisions, act correctly, find harmony and happiness, this is a list of what meditation gives on a psychological level. At the physical level, conscious meditation has a beneficial effect on a person’s psychosomatic state: it relieves depression, sleep disorders and appetite; normalizes blood pressure; helps get rid of alcohol and tobacco addiction; helps fight chronic pain.

How Mindfulness Meditation Works

All these positive changes will occur due to the fact that the mind will be cleared of the “dirt” that is formed when we evaluate and react to external and internal stimuli in the form of events, thoughts, feelings, images, etc. For example, an event occurred that we do not like, then we develop a reaction to this event in the form of negative feelings (anger, fear, resentment, etc.). As a result, we suffer and think about how to avoid it. Even positive reactions can cause suffering. For example, as a result of not being able to access our attachments. Attachments are something or someone to which we feel a strong attraction.

There are a lot of situations in life that cause negative feelings in us (situations at work, problems in the family, etc.), as well as attachments (comfort, food, sex, alcohol, cigarettes, the person we love, etc.). d.). Our main attachment is our ego, the image of our “I” and God forbid, if someone encroaches on what belongs to our “I”, a storm of emotions and feelings arises in us and will cause the most severe suffering.

Often this all happens to us on an unconscious level. That is, a person may not realize why he feels bad, where these feelings come from. The reasons that caused these conditions remain at the subconscious level and poison our lives, affecting our feelings, mind, and health. Therefore, it is very important to keep our mind balanced.

So, conscious meditation allows you to learn how to get rid of this mental trash and prevent it from reappearing. This is achieved through impartial observation of one’s feelings and lack of reaction to stimuli from the internal and external world.

You need to start mastering mindful meditation by choosing a method of doing it, there are only three of them:

The first way is awareness of the actions of the body, mind, heart. Awareness of the actions of the body means focusing your attention on its movements. When we make any movements, we are not aware of them, we do them purely mechanically. When performing your daily actions, record your movements, what does this mean? For example, when moving your hand, try to be aware of this movement. When you take a shower or bath, feel and be aware of the contact of the water with your body. Awareness of the action of the mind simply means observing the thoughts that appear in our head. Pay attention to them without judgment. Also with emotions, there is no need to judge what is good or bad, this is not the purpose of this practice. To simply be a witness to what is happening around, to accept currently just the way he is, that's the point. Dedicate 40-60 minutes daily to awareness of the above actions. Over time, such training will bring tangible benefits in everyday life.

The second way is awareness of breathing. Observe the rise and fall of your abdomen as you inhale and exhale. Watch how the inhalation raises the stomach and the exhalation lowers it. As you become aware of these movements, your mind and heart become calm and emotions disappear.

The third method is also based on awareness of breathing, but unlike the second, attention is fixed on the point of entry of air. Feel the air entering your nostrils, feel the coolness at the point where the air enters.

Choose from these three methods the most suitable one for yourself, i.e. the one that is easiest for you to do.

Mindfulness meditation can be done while sitting or while walking.

Performing the practice while sitting: Find a comfortable position in which you can remain for 40–60 minutes without changing it. Keep your back straight and your breathing should be even. The position can be changed only in case of urgent need. Observe how, at the point above your navel, inhalation and exhalation raise and lower your belly. If during practice any interference arises, in the form of a feeling, thought, irritant from the outside world, switch your attention to this interference, then switch back to breathing.

Walking: You will need to be aware of the movement of your feet as they touch the ground. You can walk in a straight line or in a circle. Lower your eyes and look at the ground, a few steps ahead. Direct your attention to how each foot touches the ground in turn. If an obstacle appears, become aware of it, and then turn your attention back to your legs. Completion time 20-30 minutes.

As we see, there are many reasons that can prompt a person to begin mastering the practice of meditation. But each person still has their own, albeit similar ones. Why he needs meditation, he will answer for himself as a result of regular training.

Over time, people noticed that almost all meditators live long lives and have extraordinary health. This fact has greatly interested the modern world. Through many scientific studies, it has been proven that regular meditation actually has a positive effect on health and emotional well-being. In addition, meditation allows you to detach yourself from the realities of life, temporarily forget about problems and losses, and become a simple impartial contemplator, which helps you understand yourself and solve seemingly insoluble life problems.

What does meditation give?

Nowadays it is very difficult for a person to completely relax. Even in your sleep you feel tense and anxious. Meditation classes provide complete relaxation, immersion in a state of peace and tranquility. Due to this, the emotional background quickly levels out, meditation gives a powerful surge of strength and joy.

During this time, breathing slows down, and the blood begins to become more saturated with oxygen. Thanks to this, blood pressure is stabilized, the heart muscle is strengthened, and the airways are cleared, which helps prevent and even treat many diseases.

Many experiments were carried out, during which it was scientifically confirmed that with the help of meditation, people were cured of many diseases, even such terrible ones as oncology.

It has been noted that meditation strengthens the immune system; even special antibodies are produced that fight viruses and infected cells. Under maximum loads, which sometimes cannot be avoided, meditation gives the fastest positive result relaxation and rest. Hormones of joy and happiness are produced inside the body, this state is remembered and preserved for a long time. Therefore, people who meditate are much more resistant to stress and react more adequately to all situations.

Everyone sooner or later thinks about the meaning of life. Meditation allows you to know your own “I” and feel connected to the Universe. Helps you recognize your own mysterious inner world and understand your purpose.

With the help of meditation, you can find answers to many questions, find harmony and joy in life.

These are just a few answers to the question of what meditation gives, in fact there are many more. But only through practice can one appreciate and understand the full power of the magic of meditation.

Inner peace and tranquility

Imagine what happens when you don’t clean your apartment for a very long time - dirt, dust and debris accumulate everywhere. Now imagine your body as your home, every day a lot of garbage appears in your mind, soul and body. These can be negative emotions, thoughts and energies. When you do not practice regular meditation techniques, this debris can accumulate to toxic levels that will poison you.

If left unaddressed, feelings of stress, anxiety and depression can escalate to incredible proportions, greatly impacting your quality of life. Regular meditation can combat this toxicity and create the opposite effect - a deep sense of peace and peace of mind. This is an incredibly rewarding experience!

Living consciously in the present moment

Very often people ignore the present moment; they are mentally either in the future or in the past. The meditation technique brings you back to the present, thanks to which a person becomes calmer and more balanced. Your self-awareness will begin to awaken, you will be aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations without reacting to them, and, therefore, will not become emotionally immersed in them. As a result, you will feel a taste for life and will live in the present moment, without succumbing to illusory desires and emotions.

A mind that is tuned into the present is less likely to be overwhelmed by negative, anxious, or stressful thoughts about the past or future. Research shows that mindfulness meditation does have an effect on our brain—the parts of the brain associated with anxiety, depression, and poor concentration shrink, while the areas associated with cognition, happiness, and calmness become larger.

Well-being and satisfaction

We all want our lives to be happy and fulfilling. To do this, some people turn to external sources of happiness - relationships, money, power, fame, recognition, etc. But the world is quite changeable, and money can turn into bankruptcy, relationships into betrayal, power into prison, health into illness.

According to highly revered meditation teacher and philosopher Trinlai Rinpoche, our minds are the only true and lasting source of happiness. Meditation gives us the means to access the inner richness of the mind so that we do not need to depend on external circumstances to achieve well-being and satisfaction. Agree, this is an important advantage!

Goodwill

Buddhists have long believed that meditation and compassion go hand in hand, and modern research confirms this. One reason is that mindfulness deepens our connection with all living things, which naturally creates empathy.

In an article published in Atlantic Magazine, psychology professor David DeSteno writes about the benefits of meditation: “In Lately Mindfulness meditation is heavily promoted for its positive effects on brain function and its ability to heal the body, but many experienced meditation practitioners claim that it fundamental goal– this is the involvement of the soul. Tibetan tradition and meditation teacher Tungram Gyalwa noted that the effects of meditation on memory, health and cognitive skills, although positive, were considered secondary benefits by Buddhist sages. The main purpose of meditation is considered to be to calm the mind and increase the level of attention to achieve enlightenment, which will lead to deep feelings of compassion, generosity and goodwill.

These are not all the positive effects that meditation brings, here are a few more points you should know.

• Improves brain function, alertness, self-awareness and self-control.
• Reduces the production of cortisol, a stress hormone that suppresses the immune system and causes feelings of anxiety and unsettledness for no real reason.
• Reduces blood pressure and heart rate, which relieves excess pressure on the heart and arteries.
• Increases the production of good neurotransmitters including serotonin and dopamine, which play a huge role in controlling our mood.
• Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which allows us to recover faster from stress.
• Reduces stress, resulting in increased immunity and overall well-being.
• Promotes muscle relaxation. Muscle tension is usually caused by stress and, if further aggravated, can lead to problems such as misaligned vertebrae, spinal problems and lack of mobility.
• Slows down the aging process. Meditation significantly increases melatonin and decreases cortisol, which has a significant effect on slowing down the aging process.
• Reduces stress, depression and anxiety. Increases stress resistance.
• Gives you an understanding of the meaning of life and your purpose.

I hope that now that you have learned about meditation and its benefits and effects, you will be inspired to practice regularly!

IN modern world It is difficult to find a person who has not heard of meditation.

But it can be no less difficult to find someone who could explain what is meditation.

People who do not practice it do not know what meditation can reveal in them and what it gives.

But the paradox is that even people who practice have difficulty describing what this state is.

After all, meditation is beyond words and definitions - it is a state when the mind is silent, but we describe what is happening with the help of the mind.

And after “coming out” of meditation, something that masters practically do not do even during ordinary life and communication, it is difficult to explain what meditation is, simply because it is broader than meager logical explanations.

What happens?

No one is able to explain what meditation is, it can only be practiced to be felt, but not described? Not certainly in that way.

In the history of mankind there are people who have been on both sides of the mind and talked about the connection of both worlds - the spiritual and the material.

Who are they? Masters of meditation, spiritual teachers, to whom we will turn for clarification.

Sri Chinmoy: the heart is limitless in any direction

Meditation speaks silently, it reveals that spirit and matter are one, quantity and quality are one, the permanent and the temporary are one.

Meditation reveals that 70 or 80 years of life from birth to death is not just existence, but Eternity. After birth, life lives in the body, and after death - in the spirit.

Meditation:

• helps to discover your true “I”;
• leads to conscious identification with the Higher Self;
• helps to leave limitations and addictions in the past;
• leads to changes on the internal planes of consciousness;
• brings to the surface riches that were previously stored in a deeply hidden part of our being;
• teaches you to strive for something and, at the same time, achieve it.

Meditation leads the practitioner upward - to the Highest, to the divine, and at the same time inwards - into the depths of oneself, one’s own being.

Both directions lead to God.

When enough has been covered, they merge into one path: by knowing ourselves, we know the world, and by knowing the world, we know ourselves, because there is no depth without height, just as there is no height without depth.

And everything is part of a single whole - Infinite Reality, Absolute Reality, Divine Reality.

But in order to understand that everything in the world is one, you need to go beyond the mind and enter the sphere of your spiritual heart, because it is what connects us with everything in the world.

The heart is limitless in any direction, so within it there is both the deepest depth and the highest height.

The secret of meditation is in conscious and constant unity with God, with the Divine within us and with everything that exists.

And the more we practice meditation, the longer we are able to feel the presence of God in our lives, until this feeling becomes permanent and inseparable from us.

Meditation teaches us to live moment to moment, and the more we meditate, the more present we are in the here and now.

We begin to live in the Eternal Now, and our heart leads us to understand that every moment of life is Eternity.

Worry and vanity disappear, and our human “I”, our personality merges with the Higher “I” - we come to know our true nature, and our life becomes happier and more fulfilling.

Osho: Meditation is centering, it is wholeness

Osho calls meditation the greatest adventure of which the human mind is capable.

To meditate means to simply be, without generating anything - neither actions, nor thoughts, nor emotions. You simply are, and this is pure delight.

Where does the excitement of meditation come from? The master claims that it comes from nowhere. Or - from everywhere! Because existence is made of joy.

And the inner essence of a person is the sky itself, through which clouds float, stars are born and die, but no matter what happens in the inner sky, it is unchangeable, unblemished and eternal.

The sky within a person is a witness, and entering the inner sky and becoming an observer is the goal of meditation.

Gradually, the “clouds” - thoughts, desires, emotions, memories, ideas will disappear and only the essence itself will remain - the meditator will completely turn into an observer, into a witness, and will no longer identify with himself anything that is not actually him.

Osho believes that meditation cannot be learned, but it can be developed.

Meditation is growth that arises from being itself. Meditation is not something that is learned, it is already in everyone!

To learn meditation, you need to go through change, through transformation.

Meditation is like love. Meditation is wholeness, centering. This is not adding something to a person, it is extracting truth from his nature.

When you understand, feel, after making countless attempts, what meditation is, you “find” a state when your essence, your nature, simply remains in being, gradually you will be able to stretch your meditation, even for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week !

This requires awareness. And then you will be able to perform any simple action while remaining meditative: washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, taking a shower.

…meditation is not against action. It doesn't require you to run for your life. It only teaches a new way of life: you become the center of the cyclone.

When meditation appears in your life, life does not stop, does not freeze, on the contrary, it becomes more alive, clear, bright, joyful and creative.

During meditation, the consciousness is cleared of debris, superficial and unnecessary thoughts, desires, beliefs, empty worries, like a mirror from which a thick layer of dust is erased.

With the advent of meditation in your life, you will be able to more fully feel and sense everything that is happening, but at the same time you will remain in the state of an observer: as if you were standing on a hill and observing events and your reactions to them from the outside.

At the same time, you can operate at any level, do what is necessary for life and communication, but at the same time remain centered, holistic,

You meditate when you shift your attention from the outer world to the inner world. You meditate every time when you do something with awareness.

If you are alert and observant, if you are aware of what is happening, even listening to the noise of your own mind, you are meditating!

This is what makes up the awareness that leads to meditation:

• Attentive, vigilant attitude towards your body

A person gradually learns to pay attention to his every movement, every gesture. Over time, restless, fussy movements disappear, the body becomes more harmonious and relaxed.

A deep calm settles in him. The conscious body knows pleasure.

• Awareness of your thoughts

Once you become aware of your thoughts, you will discover the mind chattering incessantly inside you.

Gradually, thanks to your attention and increasing awareness, your thoughts will no longer be chaotic, they will become more coherent, smooth, and harmonious.

You will begin to notice stretches of thoughtlessness between the ideas that excite you and the responsibilities that used to constantly swirl in your head.

When your thoughts become calm, you will notice consistency between your body and mind - now they will work together, in a single rhythm, and not jump in different directions, as was before. The conscious mind experiences happiness.

• Awareness of your feelings, emotions and moods

A little more awareness, and your feelings, emotions and moods will become subject to you.

No, you don’t need to suppress them - just notice them and manifest them or let them go.

A little training - and you will become an observer of your feelings, you will be able to manage them, and not be driven and subject to momentary mood changes or “explosive” emotions.

A conscious heart radiates joy.

• Ultimate awareness - awareness of your awareness

The fourth stage of awareness comes as a gift, as a gift for working on the previous ones.

By merging awareness of the body, thoughts, as well as feelings, emotions and moods, one becomes aware of one's awareness. In this state a person experiences bliss.

Now you are observing yourself - the observer.

Unconditional love and bliss will become the atmosphere surrounding you. It will not be directed at anyone in particular, love will become your fragrance, you yourself will become love.

Some effects of meditation practice are noticeable after just a few minutes of practice. This is what meditation gives a person immediately after practice:

• Feeling better
• Calms the mind
• Thoughts become clear
• The mood is lifted

But many of the benefits of meditation are not so obvious, and appear in the long term after regular daily practice. As is the case with diet or exercise, the result is not visible after the first run or one day without sweets. But we know that after some time of persistent practice, we will definitely get the desired effect.

We no longer doubt the benefits of a low-carb diet and jogging for improving physical fitness. Their effects have been studied by scientists and confirmed by many people. Scientific approach meditation is not yet so popular in Russia. And yet not many people know that the effects of meditation have also been studied by science.

Therefore, in this article I have collected various scientific discoveries about the benefits of meditation and the effects of the practice.

I have collected information (mostly from the English-speaking Internet) about hundreds of scientific research, some of which are analyzes of hundreds of other studies.

Well, below I will list the most interesting things that I managed to find. You will be surprised to learn about some of the benefits of meditation practice.

Mindfulness meditation reduces depression

Professor Philippe Raes conducted a study among 400 students in five secondary schools in Belgium. As a result, he concluded that rates of anxiety and depression decreased after 6 months in students who practiced meditation.

Some scientists argue that most meditation studies have been poorly designed. To address this issue, Johns Hopkins University researchers carefully reviewed published clinical trials. They found that while the results show a reduction in depression and stress, better work is needed to evaluate the effects of meditation on other illnesses.

Madhav Goyal, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, criticized 47 clinical trials conducted before 2012. He designed a study to fairly compare meditation with other treatments for depression. Participants were randomly assigned to different treatment groups. Some were prescribed meditation, others cognitive behavioral therapy and medication.

Madhav Goyal said his research proved that meditation relieves depression and anxiety to the same extent as drug therapy.

Meditation increases the concentration of gray matter in the brain

A group of Harvard neurologists conducted an experiment in which 16 people completed an 8-week course of meditation.

The study results were presented by Sarah Lazar, Ph.D.

MRI scans showed that gray matter concentrations increased in areas of the brain involved in learning and memory, emotion control, self-esteem and planning for the future.

Other studies have also confirmed increases in hippocampal and frontal gray matter volumes in experienced meditators.

Meditation dramatically increases psychomotor activity and reduces the need for sleep

In a study conducted by the University of Kentucky, participants were divided into four groups with different conditions: control group, sleep reduction, meditation, meditation + sleep deprivation.

The experiment involved people unfamiliar with meditation, novice meditators and experienced practitioners.

The results show that meditation produces at least short-term improvements in performance even in novice meditators. Experienced practitioners experienced a significant reduction in total sleep time compared to people of the same gender and age who did not meditate.

Whether meditation can replace several hours of daily sleep is not yet clear. Research continues.

Long-term meditation increases the brain's ability to generate gamma waves

Neuroscientist Richard Davidson from the University of Wisconsin conducted a study with Tibetan Buddhist monks. He found that most monks showed extremely high gamma wave activity in the brain. This has never been reported before in the neuroscience literature, said Richard Davidson.

Meditation improves attention and ability to work under stress

A study conducted by Catherine McLean from the University of California found that during and after a meditation training course, subjects were more effective at performing repetitive and boring tasks.

In fact, there is evidence that meditators have a thicker prefrontal cortex, and also that meditation can compensate for the loss of cognitive ability with old age.

Twenty participants involved in meditation were recruited for the experiment. The participants were not monks, but rather typical Western meditators who had integrated the practice into their daily life without interruption from career, family, friends.

Two participants were full-time meditation teachers. Three participants were meditation instructors who taught part-time. The rest meditated for an average of 40 minutes once a day.

The experiment also included 15 participants who did not practice meditation.

All experimental subjects were mentally and physically healthy. The experiment took into account gender, age and nationality. Two participants were left-handed. Excluding them from the experimental results did not lead to significant changes.

The present study method used a well-validated computational approach to measure cortical thickness.

The results showed that regular meditation practice was associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions associated with somatosensory, auditory, visual, and interoceptive processing. Additionally, regular meditation practice may slow the deterioration of the frontal cortex as we age.

Meditation relieves pain better than morphine

In an experiment conducted by Wake Forest Medical Center, 15 healthy volunteers who were new to meditation attended four 20-minute sessions to learn mindfulness breathing meditation. Both before and after the meditation training, participants' brain activity was analyzed using ASL fMRI while they were in pain from the burns.

Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., lead author of the study, explains that this is the first experiment to show a reduction in both pain sensation and pain-related brain activity as a result of just an hour of meditation practice. “We found a significant effect - about a 40% reduction in pain intensity. Meditation resulted in greater pain reduction than even morphine or other painkillers, which typically reduce pain by about 25 percent."

Meditation helps control ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder))

In a study of 50 adults diagnosed with ADHD, the group that did mindfulness meditation showed decreased hyperactivity, decreased impulsivity, and increased ability to “act with awareness,” which contributed to an overall improvement in inattentive symptoms.

Nature