How Does Meditation Help You Stay Calm?
Category: Benefits of Meditation | Types of Meditation
How To Stay Calm – How Does Meditation Help?
For many of those looking to “keep calm” and de-stress, meditation might just be the ideal solution. Meditation practices vary widely around the globe, and among them are calming meditation techniques that can effectively help body and spirit relax.
Today’s busy lifestyles not only tend to make it hard for us to do things that are meaningful – like spend time with those we cherish – but they also distance us from our own emotions. “Calm-down meditation” helps us rekindle our awareness and stay in touch with our feelings.
Calming Meditation Techniques
Certain body calm meditation techniques can be used to keep the mind focused and the body relaxed. For instance, we may choose to use a chant, a prayer or even another person’s voice as the object of our meditation. Guided visualization meditation is another interesting method that helps us focus our thoughts more constructively.
Here’s a sampling of methods that help calm the body and soul:
- Progressive muscle relaxation
This is a simple body calm meditation technique that works effectively to relax different muscle groups around the body. Here, the meditator tenses and relaxes each muscle in a progressive manner. You could either commence at the feet and proceed upward or begin with your head and progress downward. You ought to make every muscle group tense for at least 5 seconds, release this tension, then move on to another muscle group. Most importantly, ensure you sit in a comfortable position and concentrate on your breathing technique as you perform this calm down meditation technique.
- Mantra meditation
With a mantra meditation technique, you repeat a chosen calming word, phrase or sentence that helps you relax and calm down. You can think of the phrase as a “mantra.” According to researchers, meditation and relaxation go hand in hand. Repeating a mantra creates a buffer between uninvited thoughts and your mind. This buffer allows you to recognize and let go of anxiety-producing thought patterns and reinforces positive thoughts and feelings. Some of the positive affirmations you can repeat include:
- My life is love
- I am calm and relaxed
- I believe in myself and my world
- Ommmmm
- Mindful meditation
Mindfulness is the art of remaining non-judgmentally aware in the here and now. It uses techniques such as focusing on the breath to give the mind free rein to discover its inherent spaciousness and freedom. Many meditators find this freedom very calming, since they discover that they can actually have thoughts and emotions without having to do anything about them. A mind that is content to simply settle on the breath is likened to a pristine mountain lake in which everything that happens on the lakeside or in the sky is reflected, but nothing ruffles the water’s surface for long. How calming is that!
Guided Meditation to Calm the Mind
Some guided meditations are specifically designed to calm the mind. This relaxing effect comes from the fact that you just listen, remain focused, and let the meditation do the rest. So simple! Calming guided meditations may lead you through body relaxation, give you soothing visualizations to focus on, or support your calm meditation session with pleasant background music or sounds. The only thing you have to do is… stay awake long enough to reap the benefits.
Guided breathing meditations help you stay focused and calm. You’ll learn to pay close attention to your breathing cycles and remain aware of the present.
Mindfulness, guided meditation and relaxation techniques are often used by therapists, and also by businesspeople and athletes to calm their nerves. Consistent meditation teaches us that we can be more actively involved in the present moment. Consequently, we learn that we can let go of difficulties and anxieties that we may have experienced in the past s well as concerns about the future. It’s so effective that meditation has become a widely recognized calming technique worldwide.
