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Meditation Experiences: Meditation is one of the most used reflective tools. When you meditate, it’s hard to figure out what is happening. You ask questions about it. What is it supposed to be like? Are you sure you are doing it right? What is the meditation experience you look forward to?
Meditators (including both old and new) still struggle with the meditation experience they have. What should be their feelings before, during, and after meditation? Is the meditation working or you are just doing it?
What is meditation?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines meditation as a discourse intended to express its author’s reflection or guide others in contemplation. To meditate means to engage in some mental exercises to reach a heightened level of spiritual awareness.
According to Wikipedia, it is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness or focusing the mind on an object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear emotionally calm, and stable state.
Meditation is practiced in different religions and traditions. This practice can be traced back to the Hindus and Buddhists. While some think meditation makes you a better person, some feel it only improves perspective and focus. Some people think it is about getting a better perspective on things.
Whether or not it makes you a better person is not the primary focus of this article. However, the critical assessment shows us that meditation increases our awareness and mental soundness. You improve not only in some areas, but you become a better person overall.
Meditation is said to be a set of techniques that should heighten the state of awareness and focus attention.
Types of Meditation
Following are some handpicked types of meditation.
Concentrative Meditation
Involves focusing your attention on a specific thing while turning other things around you. The goal is to get all awareness about what you are concentrating on. It could be your breath, words, or some natural factors.
Mindfulness Meditation
Involves focusing your attention on various things. Mindfulness meditation involves the state of being “aware of” and involved in the “present moment”. It is making yourself open, aware, and accepting.
What is Meditation Experiences?
Meditation is a skill and can be learned like other skills. Meditation experiences are the feelings and occurrences that accompany meditation. Experience follows every activity we are involved in. In physics, the third law of motion states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
Experiences during meditation are important and vary with individuals. One of the major reasons is that some do it the right way while some others don’t get it. Though it takes some time to be comfortable with meditation, consistent practice makes you better. Just think of it like you are exercising your muscles, over time you achieve what you want.
Meditation becomes easy when you have a coach. The coach profitably gives guidelines on how to do it properly to you. Many people lose focus during meditation – which is normal and an important part of the exercise. There is no such thing as perfect meditation. We wander away from our focus, such as our breath. That’s part of the experience.
What is important is consistency. The more you practice, the better you become. During meditation, some people find it hard to maintain focus. Maintaining focus can be improved with consistent practicing.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the proficiency to be “aware and present”. Mindfulness also means being fully concentrated on whatever you are doing at the moment.
How to Practice Meditation
There are several forms of meditation and ways to practice them. The basic meditation practices are still the same. Learning the basics is a good way to start from.
Choose a quiet place
Before you meditate, your location matters. You need to choose a quiet place that is free of distractions. And also you need to do away with things that can distract you – such as phones and other gadgets. Music aids meditation, choose a calm one and make it repetitive. For nursing mothers, you can choose a time when their child is sleeping or in the care of a trusted person.
Set a time limit
For beginners, a short time limit is okay. As you do it consistently, you can increase the time limit. Beginners can go for 5-10 minutes.
Get comfortable and pay attention to your body
Choose a sitting position you can manage unchanged for a long. You can sit cross-legged on the floor or in a comfortable chair.
Focus on your breathing
Take deep breaths to expand your belly and slowly exhale it. Focus on how each breath feels.
Focus on your thoughts
Do not analyze or judge your thoughts. You might lose focus and slowly draw back your attention to your initial focus.
Important Meditation Experiences
Meditation doesn’t feel strange or absurd. Experiences will come. Your goal is not to react or manipulate your experience. Maintaining focus is key, and this is one of the major problems we face. When meditating, it is hard not to remember some things which could serve as a distraction.
We set targets before meditation, a purpose, a direction, something concrete behind our intention. Meditation doesn’t work that way. In reality, meditation trains us to let go of things and remain still. The blessing of meditation is in the stillness.
Below are some experiences you will have as you observe your meditation experiences:
Dullness and confusion
Dullness and confusion are common in meditation. Sometimes, the road is smooth and also bumpy. Just observe it and accept it the way it is.
Grogginess
Trying to fall asleep during meditation is normal. Don’t be discouraged, it is a part of the experience you will have while meditating. Beginners often struggle with this.
Boredom
Boredom is another experience during meditation. When you meditate for a short time feels like you have been there for a long time. It looks like the time has slowed down.
Agitation
Agitation happens. It is common to everyone. It is hard to focus when these things happen. If you can be still and concentrate, you will be happy when you are done. You will feel like a champion when you overcome agitations.
Inspiration
Inspiration flows in when you are meditating. Meditation opens your eyes to see things differently. New patterns are created in your mind and new ideas are birthed. Seasoned scriptwriters and songwriters get inspiration while meditating. They often generate inspiration in a quiet place.
Peacefulness
Meditation helps to let go of things that distract you and increase awareness. You can enjoy an incredible state of relaxation when you meditate. All worry, anxiety, fear, or wound will wash away in a time of meditation beside a “calm river” – while still focused on the present.
Calmness
Meditation brings about calmness. This is related to peacefulness. Genuine calmness feels like you have no worries at all. It is a beautiful feeling. Calmness also brings about peace of mind.
Impact of Meditation
Part of the impact of meditation is the experience. We have described meditation as an effective tool to change the way to perceive and respond to the world around you. Research shows that meditation can have both psychological and physiological effects. Some of the importance include:
Increased awareness and focus
Meditation helps to increase awareness because it trains to let go of distractions. Consistency in trying to overcome distractions increases our level of awareness and focus.
Stress management
Having some time to rest and meditate helps to reduce stress. You can set aside some time for meditation. Part of the experience of meditation is relaxation. You feel relaxed and free of work.
Improved emotional well-being
We forget about worries and anxiety when we meditate. When this is done consistently, we have an improved emotional state. Which is not always filled with worry or anxiety.
Better management of health deviating issues
Health deviating issues such as depression, anxiety disorder, insomnia, high blood pressure can be managed with meditation. Most of these issues are caused when the mind is not at rest. A patient can manage all of this with necessary medications combined with a time for meditation.
Improve fluid intelligence
Meditation helps to see things differently. We generate ideas during meditation, which improves our intelligence level. By and by, we come across ideas that need further research. Our knowledge is further broadened.
Signs that you went deep into meditation
During meditation, it’s best not to find out if you are meditating or not. Trying to find out makes you lose focus. Some people might want to know if they are meditating. These are a few signs to note:
You forgot you are meditating
If you are conscious of yourself during meditation, this means that you didn’t fall deep into meditation. Meditation implies a loss of consciousness of the fact that you are meditating.
You are lost in thought
Another sign is if you are lost in thought. This shows that you have fallen into deep meditation.
You experience time-lapses
Time lapses often occur when you have meditated for a long time but feel like it has happened within a short time.
Your entire body is relaxed
A relaxed state can mean you went into deep meditation.
In conclusion, experiences during meditation are not exactly the same all the time. We grow into self-awareness and consciousness. Having a coach helps when meditating. Do you need a coach? Reach to us at The Black Sheep Community today.
