What one year of Meditation taught me.

“When you are not doing anything at all – bodily, mentally, on no level – when all activity has ceased and you simply are, just being, that’s what meditation is. You cannot do it, you cannot practice it; you have only to understand it.” Osho

There are a lot of articles on the benefits of Meditation and how it is good for our whole well being. Almost one year back I decided to give it a go, to know how it can help me. At that time I was going through a lot of changes in life and some healthy shifts in my lifestyle were needed. I started practicing meditation. Ah, taking those deep breaths in fresh early morning air, is a great joy in addition to the other benefits of meditation.

Most of us suffer in our imagination than in reality. Fear, negative thoughts, negative emotions all take a toll on us. Through meditation, you can develop a calmer and undisturbed mindset. When we identify ourselves with a certain emotion, being mindful that it is nothing but a fleeting emotion or if you can have an objective glimpse at that emotion, it loses its power on us. For example, Your colleague is getting promoted and to a post, for which you were also working by putting heart and soul . In this situation, you may feel jealous disappointment, and it is ok to feel those emotions. But none of these emotions are going to make you feel better or going to help you in any way to be promoted. So instead of this default response, what if you could feel good or unaffected by this particular event, or what if you could think like this is not the end of the world I can still try for something better? This way being aware of your own emotions can help you to bring forth a positive shift in perspective.

Meditation helps in this mindset shift. You become aware of the transient nature of your emotions. You begin to observe more. Hence as life unravels, you may not jump on every small thing and let it take you down.

You will be more peaceful and cheerful as you are simply allowing these negative emotions to pass through you.
These are the few things I have learned through my brief experience,

• There is no correct way of doing it, let’s be creative and authentic. Find a way that resonates with you. That makes you feel lighter and present. Experiment and modify.
• Awareness is meditation. The key is to be mindful ie.to be present. I understood that if I am fully being present in the now, half of the problems in life are solved. It is all ok.
• Equanimity-This is the most wonderful benefit of meditation. You come to a point that you become more grounded and stable and hence have clarity of thought. All the emotions just sweep through and you learn to watch it with a smile.
• It reflects in everything that you do. The increased quality and clarity in your mind will be reflected even in the smallest chore that you do.
• You stop taking everything personally.
  

Again these experiences can be different for everyone. Experiment with it in your way and conclude.

Hope your days may be more beautiful.