“Your goal is not to Battle with the Mind, but to witness the mind”

– Swami Muktananda

The mind is another word related to affirming one’s finitude. Meditation is a tool that allows us to control our mind and thought processes through a spiritual path called Sadhana. The matured form of meditation is attaining spirituality.

In Today’s Era and changing times, we face many situations and experiences in our daily lives. Life is increasingly getting cumbersome. To gain peace of mind, meditation is an effective measure. Meditation can arouse consciousness and show us a path of awareness to who we are. When we practice meditation we realise our true consciousness which opens the door of spirituality and we can visualise our inner strength and inner state of mind and soul.

 

How Can One Practice Spirituality?

Firstly, it may be tough to practice meditation and to concentrate as we need to do it in natural and peaceful surroundings. Many thoughts and diversions may occur around us that tend to constantly allure our mind, more so, distract it. But, with regular practice of meditation, you will gain momentum and the strength to concentrate thoroughly and with increasing the duration.

To improve your daily practice of meditation, you are required to learn stillness of body and mind. When you allow your body and mind to be still for extended periods of time, your essence shines through and will help regularise your meditation capability. One can adapt numerous methods to achieve this stillness of mind, but by far, the most simple and accessible way is through meditation only.

Meditation not only silences the mind but also helps us contemplate. When we meditate, we concentrate on ourselves completely, without any overlapping thoughts and escaping the outside world completely. We attain consciousness of the spirit called the Soul or Atma, which is our real identity.

Though we are divine manifestations in this universe, we are perpetually lost in our body-mind complex situations under stress. Meditation can be practised wherever you are– one is out for a walk, riding the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office or even in the middle of a difficult business meeting. Meditation cures the transcending ego; it helps us reach beyond the cravings of our body as it helps us seek the divine the truth and establish a connection with God.

The ultimate goal of liberation is by Meditation. It helps you reach the highest level of the Spirituality called ‘Samadhi’ where one concentrates on one’s soul and body. The person becomes unaware of the outside world. In this state, the soul meets the Super Soul Param-Atma or Parmatma.

In the olden Era Tretayug, Ramayana scripted the importance of Meditation and it was followed religiously. The biggest secret depicted in the Ramayana was the achievement of freedom in life through control of mind called Jivanmukti. Killing the ten-headed monster Ravana of Lanka signified the annihilation of the ten evil Vrittis of the mind namely– Raga (love), Dvesha (hatred), Kama (lust), Krodha (anger), Lobha (miserliness), Moha (infatuation, delusion), Mada (pride), Ahamkara (egoism), Matsarya (Jealousy) and Dambha (ostentation).

It has been stated that the pronunciation of the Ram mantra, a combination of Panchakshara and Ashtakshara, or any God’s name as per your religion, can lead you closer to Paramatma or God.

By the continual practice of (Abhyasa), the mind becomes full of the object and the exclusion of everything else leads to steady in purity and strays out impurity. The constant rhythmic utterance of mantras during meditation in sanctity leads to doubtlessness and freedom from the wheel of births and deaths. Certainly one can have Darshan of God as it’s famously quoted that Saint Rama Das performed his Tapasya in the form of Meditation at Takli village on the banks of the Godavari with chanting of Rama Mantra thirteen crores of times and eventually got Darshan of Rama.  

 

10 Ways You Can Enhance Your Spirituality?

Let’s take a look at some of the ways meditation can help you enhance your spirituality:

1. Searching for Inner Happiness

Many incidents that we come across might be too absurd to offer any form of understanding or comprehension. As an individual, we also have a lot of unanswered questions that can leave us confused and wanting to know more.

Through meditation, a person can achieve spiritual health and enlightenment that can provide a sound understanding of the ideas and notions concerning God, humanity, and nature itself.

2. Noting and Visualising Yourself

Whether you are focusing on the breath or just sitting quietly, this technique involves specifically “noting” what’s distracting the mind to the extent that we are so caught up in a thought or emotion that we lose our awareness of the breath (or whatever the object of focus is). We “note” the thought or feeling to restore awareness create a bit of space as a way of letting go, and to learn more about our thought patterns, tendencies, and conditioning. By conjuring a specific visualisation, we not only get to observe the mind, but we also get to focus on any physical sensations.

3. Connecting with Nature

Since we are living in the concrete jungle, the number of stress and pressures of life can bog us down leading to psychological effects on our mind and deteriorating our health status leading to various diseases. In the present scenario where covid is very prevalent has bought scare upon our minds narrowing our space and life causing more negativity, depression, feeling malaise, being sedentary, idle mind and homebound. Meditation has now been greatly emphasized and highlighted to practice in today’s era which plays a pivotal role.

4. To Act wisely

Mindfulness meditations that enable you to maintain a moment by moment awareness of bodily sensations, feelings, and thoughts.

Thus it deviates from rewinding the past or reimagining the future by focusing on the present moment. It enhances your spirituality by allowing us to be more aware of our actions, the happenings in present around our vicinity. Consequently, we learn how to act in a proper manner towards changes happening in our environment.

Through meditation, a person can increase their state of mindfulness to increasingly sense the surroundings. And this allows them to supersede their previous performances in a given situation.

5. To delete negativity all round: With many past events and the pressures of life at work home front responsibilities, health issues and financial problems, marriage and many more issues lead to negative thoughts and with no solutions. Meditation is the tool which can gain sanctity and positivity and to deal with situations in the right way.

6. To create Positive vibes and happiness around: Many of the people whom we are surrounded with maybe at home, work, relatives, family make an impact on our life too who can bring positivity as well as negativity too. We should surround ourselves more towards positive happy and smiling who can uplift and motivate us. When we spread positivity it will attract only positivity which can, in turn, grow our healthy lifestyle relationship and growth towards life which can be effectively done with meditation.

7. To improve health and wellness: Meditation not only renews our mind but helps detoxify our body and health. It creates good hormones release and eventually relief us from any form of disease too. Stress which is a major factor for many diseases can be rectified through meditation. Overall there can be a change in the health and wellbeing realised by people and ourself too.

8. To decrease the stress and its factors: Whatever difficult may the situation seem one can practice meditation and gain patience and find solutions to it rather stress over it. Anger is one form which is like a sharp sword when spoken. Eventually, with the practice of meditation, this can also be decreased gradually. The situation which may have seemed very tough would be solved easily being calm and by thinking in the right way and direction opening to new insights and opportunities.

9. To trust yourself and your own actions: Meditation brings the sanctity of mind, calmness and patience. When we are confused and stressed about any situation we need to close our eyes and try to answer and find the solution positively by trusting our instincts and our actions.

10.  To venture and embrace new possibilities: Many new ventures opportunities come our way but we get thoughtful and worried about what to do next. With meditation, we can calm our mind and get answers and how to act upon it whether it’s the right venture or not. We get new opportunities only when we see the world with positivity and happiness.

To be successful and achiever one can only bring a positive change in oneself by the art of meditation.

Various types of mediations can be followed & can be practised at home or by joining a class to teach us meditation.

Simple Techniques That Can Be followed

1. Relaxation: By calming the mind, depleting the thought process and diversions on mind is utmost important to start with. At times there may be difficulty in concentrating but it can gain by the daily practice of meditation.

2. Concentration: One can focus on the thought like God, Nature, or any Positive thought which calms and soothes the mind without deviating to another thought.

3. Contemplation: Reflecting deeply on oneself’s inner world and values.

4. Realisation: The combination of understanding and feelings conclude the reality of oneself consciously.

5. Meditation: Focus of mind on a thought process or breaths and creation of happiness with positivity and wonderful state of wellbeing.

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation has immense benefits on one’s mind and soul– it helps us understand our pains and problems, lowers down stress and pressure of our work, home and finances, helps us connect with God and oneself leading to inner happiness, strength and positivity. It also helps improves one’s focus, achieve your goal towards life and reduces brain-mind games and thought processes.

Other positive benefits our overall health include:

• Lowering of blood pressure
• Improves blood circulation
• Lowers heart rate
• Less of perspiration
• Slowers respiratory rate
• Less anxiety and depression
• Lowers blood cortisol levels
• More feelings of well-being
• Lessens stress
• Insomnia, Migraine, Abdominal Migraine
• Recovers diseases related to URTI
• The cognitive decline of Aging and Alzheimer’s disease
• Reduces cell ageing improves immunity and decreases psychological pains
• Deeper relaxation and calms the mind and enhances wellbeing and many more 

Types of Meditation Practices

There are different types of meditation practises that one can use while trying to be in-sync with their spiritual being. Some of these include–

1. Mindfulness meditation

2. Spiritual meditation

3. Focused meditation

4. Movement meditation

5. Mantra meditation

6. Transcendental meditation

7. Progressive relaxation

8. Loving-kindness meditation

9. Visualization meditation

Wrapping it Up!

With help of Meditation, we can stall absurd feelings and negative emotions stress upon our mind. Meditation gives us the chance to step outside of our Ego, Detach from the Pressures, Stress and Obligations of our life, and become aligned within ourselves that is never without anything that we need. Whatever our spiritual practice & meditation offers it is the same benefit to all, a source of connection to tap into self-love and develop compassionate love for everyone and everything. Meditation brings a new change overall in oneself and outlook towards life and connection gets us close towards God. 

Meditation isn’t a panacea, but there’s certainly a lot of evidence that it may do some good for those who practice it regularly and it has only positive effects so why not try and start with?