How to Get the Best out of Meditation
Meditation is the act of calming the mind and achieving inner peace. It gives you better control over your mind and body and brings you closer to your true self. This is not all; meditation enhances your capacity to love and accept the world with all its warts and pimples. That is why meditation is considered a tonic for your mind, nerves and the body. However, you can achieve all this only if you know how to get the best out of meditation.
For beginners, meditation may take some hard work and loads of patience, but the end result is well worth the wait. It is most important to follow a regular routine. With regularity comes self-discipline, which is the foundation of meditation. Be regular in the time that you practice, and if possible, the place.
The place of meditation is quite important, especially for a beginner. You must seek a fixed spot, ideally an isolated room to meditate. As you get along in your meditation, that special room will develop an atmosphere of peace and purity, to the extent that you will be physically able to feel the positive vibes when you enter that space.
The timing is also an important consideration. The best time to meditate is early morning or sunset hours. You should choose a time when you will remain undisturbed by the everyday activities in your home and life. The main purpose of meditation is to calm your mind, and this will only happen with uninterrupted solitude.
People often wonder how long one meditation session ought to last. While there is no fixed time as such, half an hour a day is fine for beginners. Later, you can remain in a mode of meditation for, however, long your body and mind desire -- the longer, the better.
The posture you adopt is also crucial. Ideally, you should sit cross-legged with your neck and spine erect in a comfortable posture. You should begin by allowing the chatter in your mind to die down. Force never works; so don't command your mind to become blank as soon as you start meditating. Begin with deep abdominal breathing and then regulate your breathing by following a simple inhale-retain-exhale routine. Use a chant or ‘mantra' or simply mouth the word ‘Om' along with your breaths.
Once you are successful in establishing a calm, empty mind and a fixed focal point (most commonly between the eyebrows), you are ready to move up the meditation ladder. At the peak of this ladder is ‘samadhi'- the super conscious state of bliss in which the Knower, the Knowledge, and the Known become one.
