What is Meditation?

A mind that is in the present moment is meditation. A mind that is calm, without hesitation and anticipation is meditation. Meditation offers innumerable benefits. The rest you gain in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep. The deeper your rest, the more dynamic your activity is.

Total relaxation with Meditation

Are you curious to know the steps/actions that lead to meditation? The good news is that, you need not do anything – meditation is not an action, it is an art of letting go without any effort.

• Step 1: Relax

• Step 2: Relax more

• Step 3: Relax more and more

Meditation happens with effortlessness.

There are numerous meditation techniques that exist in the world, The Art of Living offers a course which teaches one how to meditate with complete ease, in just 20 minutes, one can sink into deep meditation. It is called the ‘Sahaj Samadhi’ meditation, meaning ‘an easy and effortless way to reach the highest state of meditation’. Once learnt, it can be used anywhere, while sitting at home or travelling on train or airplane.

Benefits of Meditation

Are you seeking calmness, peace of mind, joy, vibrant health, greater energy, positive relationships and fulfillment in life? Do you wish to be stress-free and worry-free? You can enjoy all these benefits and much more, with meditation. Meditation offers innumerable benefits for your body, mind and spirit. The rest you gain in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep. The deeper your rest, the more dynamic your activity is.

De-stress with Meditation

Meditation has two important benefits:

• Meditation prevents stress from getting into the system

• Meditation releases accumulated stress that is in the system

Both of these happen simultaneously, leaving one refreshed and joyful.

Physical Benefits of Meditation

With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in thebody increases.

On a physical level, meditation:

• Lowers high blood pressure

• Lowers the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks

• Decreases any tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint problems

• Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior

• Improves the immune system

• Increases the energy level, as you gainan inner source of energy

Mental Benefits of Meditation

Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into an Alpha state that promotes healing. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and beautiful. With regular practice of meditation:

• Anxiety decreases

• Emotional stability improves

• Creativity increases

• Happiness increases

• Intuition develops

• Gain clarity and peace of mind

• Problems become smaller

• Meditation sharpens the mind by gaining focus and expands through relaxation

• A sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration

• An expanded consciousness without sharpness can lead to lack of action/progress

• The balance of a sharp mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection

Meditation makes you aware - that your inner attitude determines your happiness.

Other Benefits of Meditation

Emotional steadiness and harmony: It cleanses and nourishes you from within and calms you, whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down.

Meditation brings harmony in creation: when you meditate, you are in the space of vastness, calmness and joy and this is what you emit into the environment, bringing harmony to the Creation/planet.

Consciousness evolves: with the assimilation of meditation into daily life, your consciousness evolves and in time, is able to experience the higher and refined states of consciousness. When your consciousness evolves and expands, the disturbances in your life become negligible. Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish. You start living in 'the moment' and let go of 'the past'.

Personal Transformation: meditation can bring about a true personal transformation. As you learn more about yourself, you’ll naturally want to discover more about the mystery of life, this universe, etc. Then the questions that arise in the mind are - What is the meaning of Life? What is its purpose? What is this world, what is love, what is knowledge? Once these questions arise, know that you are very fortunate. These questions need to be understood; you cannot find the answers in books. As you live through answering them you’ll witness that life transformation to a richer level.

How to get the benefits

To experience the benefits of meditation, regular practice is necessary. It takes only a few minutes every day. Once imbibed into the daily routine, meditation becomes the best part of your day! Meditation is like a seed. When you cultivate a seed with love, the more it blossoms. Similarly, the sapling of consciousness is within you. It needs to be nurtured with simple meditation techniques. Some palm trees yield in three years, some in ten years. And those that aren’t nurtured - never yield! They simply exist. Busy people from all backgrounds are grateful to pause and enjoy a refreshing few minutes of meditation each day. Dive deep into yourself and enrich your life.

States of consciousness

We lead life through three states of consciousness - waking, dreaming and sleeping. In the waking state of consciousness, we experience the world through the five senses - sight, smell, touch, hearing, or taste. The other extreme is the sleeping state, where one is completely cut off and dull. The more one sleeps, the duller one feels since a lot of energy is expended in sleep. The fourth (or the higher) state of consciousness is somewhere in between the waking, sleeping and dreaming states. This state gives the deepest possible rest that one can experience. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and beautiful. Hence, the fourth state, where we are awake and yet at complete rest, is worth knowing. We enter this state only during meditation. The fifth state of consciousness is called cosmic consciousness. The experience of cosmic consciousness is that one can perceive the whole cosmos as part of oneself.

Healing Power of Meditation

Only a healthy bud can blossom. In the same way, only a healthy being can succeed.

So, what is it to be healthy?

To attain a perfect state of health, one has to remain mentally calm, steady and emotionally stable. ‘Swasthya’ means health. It also means being in one's self. Swasthya or health is not just confined to the body and the mind but it is also connected with the consciousness. The clearer the consciousness is, the more well-being is gained.

Meditation increases prana (life energy)

Prana (the vital life energy) is the very basis of health and well being, for both body and mind. You can gain prana through meditation. When your body is alive with more prana, you feel alert, energetic, and full of good humor. A lack of prana results in lethargy, dullness and poor enthusiasm.

Dealing with illness - through meditation

It is said that the root of an illness is in the mind/consciousness. So, by attending to the mind, clearing it of any disturbances, the recovery speeds up. Illnesses can develop from:

• Violation of natural law, such as over-eating

• It can be imposed by nature, such as common cold, an epidemic

• Release of past impressions or Karma

Nature itself provides a cure for these illnesses. Health and illness are a part of physical nature. By practicing meditation, the stresses, worries, anxieties drop off andgives rise to a positive state of mind, which has a positive impact on the physical body, brain and nervous system, then illnesses change.

• Heal the mind – through meditation

• Meditation prevents stresses from entering the body system and also releases accumulated stress. Health, happiness and a positive state of Being wells up

• The practice of meditation brings acoolness to the brain, it’s like servicing the whole body-mind complex

Heal the world through meditation

Meditation purifies the environment. Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya have transformed aggression and violence in people - to compassion, love and care. For example, notice how you feel when you enter a room where someone is really angry?It leaves you feeling the same!

Similarly, when there is a harmonious or a happy activity, you feel good. You may wonder why. Feelings are not isolated in one's body - they are all around. It is in the whole environment, because the mind is subtler than the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether). If there is a fire somewhere, the heat is not just in the fire, it is also radiating throughout the place. Note: If you are unhappy or depressed, you are not the only one who is feeling it; you are spreading it to the whole environment.

In the current global situation of conflicts and disease, it's important to meditates a little every day. Through meditation, you can nullify the negative vibrations in the environment, thereby creating a more harmonious environment.

The Healing Breath and Meditation

A jewel in The Art of Living is the healing breath, known as the Sudarshan Kriya. This unique breathing practice is a potent energizer:

• Every cell becomes fully oxygenated and flooded with new life

• It flushes out negative emotions fromthe body

• It releases tensions, frustrations and anger

• It clears anxiety, depression and lethargy

• It gives relief to both the mind and body

After the practice, one is left calm and centered with a clearer mind. A sense of joy in the moment prevails, and you're able to smile from your heart.

Meditation In Daily Life

Meditation is like taking a bath to wash the mind. You can take a shower in the morning to clean your body and after that you go about your daily activities. You don’t have to keep on taking shower throughout the day. Similarly, you meditate and calm your mind, then go on with other activities. It is not easy to keep yourself undisturbed, but with the regular practice of meditation, it becomes easy. - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Explore your full potential - with meditation

Every cell in your body has the capacity to hold infinity.

While a worm also eats, sleeps, wakes and performs its daily activities, there is no point for us in living like that. You must tap into the full potential that nature has bestowed on you.

What does meditation do to our body?

Our physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with ’prana’. As the level of ‘prana’ in the body rises, we bubble with joy.

The culturing of meditation into our system is normal, just a few minutes of meditation boosts our entire human system.

Meditating everyday helps in two ways — it prevents stress from getting into the system and simultaneously helps release already accumulated stress.

Benefits of daily practice of meditation:

• Prevents stress from getting into the system and simultaneously helps release already accumulated stress

• Happiness and fulfillment

• Sensory organs become more enhanced (eg. a musician hears finer notes easily, write music more easily etc)

• Greater intuitiveness

• Reduced anger

• Better decision making ability

With the assimilation of meditation into daily life,

• The fifth state of consciousness,called cosmic consciousness, dawns. Cosmic consciousness means perceiving the whole cosmos as part of oneself

• When we perceive the world as a part of us, love flows strongly between the world and us

(Love, again, is not an emotion, but a state of being. It is not a melodrama expressed by endearments, but our very existence.)

• This love empowers us to bear with the opposing forces and the disturbances in our lives

• Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish

Be happy and fulfilled 
The confluence of knowledge, understanding and practice makes life complete. When you grow into higher states of consciousness, you find that you are no longer thrown off balance by different situations and disturbances.

You become beautiful yet strong - a soft, delicate and beautiful blossom - capable of accommodating different values in life without any conditions.

For the spiritual seeker in you, meditation is a way to transcend the body and mind, in order to experience deeper aspects of your self.

Q: Meditation calms the mind. It feels good. But in our daily life we have to handle paying bills, parking tickets and other mundane things. How can we do this with the same calm mind, without getting irritated or perturbed? 

A: You take a shower in the morning to clean your body. After that you do all the daily activities. You don't have to keep on taking a shower throughout the day. It’s like that.

You meditate and calm your mind, then go on with other activities. It’s not easy to keep yourself 
undisturbed, but it’ll happen as you keep doing the practices regularly. Then it’ll become easy.

Meditation is accepting this moment and living every moment totally with depth. Just this understanding and few days of continuous practice of meditation, can change the quality of our life.

 

Healing Power of Meditation

“In meditation, healing can happen. When the mind is calm, alert and totally contented, then it is like a laser beam – it is very powerful and healing can happen.” 

Only a healthy bud can blossom. In the same way, only a healthy being can succeed.

So,what is it to be healthy?

To attain a perfect state of health, one has to remain mentally calm, steady and emotionally stable. ‘Swasthya’ means health. It also means being in one's self. Swasthya or health is not just confined to the body and the mind but it is also connected with the consciousness. The clearer the consciousness is, the more well-being is gained.

Meditation increases prana (life energy)

Prana (the vital life energy) is the very basis of health and well being, for both body and mind. You can gain prana through meditation. When your body is alive with more prana, you feel alert, energetic, and full of good humor. A lack of prana results in lethargy, dullness and poor enthusiasm.

Dealing with illness - through meditation

It is said that the root of an illness is in the mind/consciousness. So, by attending to the mind, clearing it of any disturbances, the recovery speeds up. Illnesses can develop from:

• Violation of natural law: such as over-eating

• Imposed by nature: such as common cold, an epidemic

• Release of past impressions or Karma

Nature itself provides a cure for these illnesses. Health and illness are a part of physical nature. By practicing meditation, the stresses, worries, anxieties drop off and gives rise to a positive state of mind, which has a positive impact on the physical body, brain and nervous system, then illnesses change.

Health and illness are a part of physical nature. You should not worry too much about it. When you worry about illness, you are giving more power to the illness. You are a combination of health and illness. When you keep that in mind and have a positive state of mind, then illnesses change.

• Heal the mind – through meditation

• Meditation prevents stresses from entering the body system and also releases accumulated stress.Health,happiness and a positive state of Being wells up

• The practice of meditation brings a coolness to the brain, it’s like servicing the whole body-mind complex

Clear emotional pollution - with meditation

A time may come in the future, when people will be fined for being depressed, because they are creating emotional pollution! The words that you hear from people around you, affect your state of mind. They either give you peace and joy, or create disturbance (such as jealously, anger, frustration or sadness). You’re affected because the mind is not in its Self; it is not centered. Meditation is the key to control 'emotional pollution'.

Blossom with meditation

Meditation can bring about a spiritual transformation. As you learn more about life, the mystery of the whole Creation unfolds. Then the questions that arise in the mind are - What is the meaning of Life? What is its purpose? What is this world, what is love, what is knowledge...?

Once these questions arise in you, know that you are very fortunate. These questions need to be understood; you cannot find the answers in books. You have to live through them and witness the transformation. That is perfect health; you are transformed from within. And the bud becomes a totally blossomed flower.

Heal the world through meditation

Meditation purifies the environment. Meditation and Sudarshan Kriya have transformed aggression and violence in people - to compassion, love and care. For example, notice how you feel when you enter a room where someone is really angry ? It leaves you feeling the same!

Similarly, when there is a harmonious or a happy activity, you feel good. You may wonder why. Feelings are not isolated in one's body - they are all around. It is in the whole environment, because the mind is subtler than the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether). If there is a fire somewhere, the heat is not just in the fire, it is also radiating throughout the place.

Note: If you are unhappy or depressed, you are not the only one who is feeling it; you are spreading it to the whole environment.

In the current global situation of conflicts and disease, it's important to meditates a little every day. Through meditation, you can nullify the negative vibrations in the environment, thereby creating a more harmonious environment.

The Healing Breath and Meditation

A jewel in The Art of Living is the healing breath, known as the Sudarshan Kriya.

This unique breathing practice is a potent energizer:

• Every cell becomes fully oxygenated and flooded with new life

• It flushes out negative emotions from the body

• It releases tensions, frustrations and anger

• It clears anxiety, depression and lethargy

• It gives relief to both the mind and body

After the practice, one is left calm and centered with a clearer mind. A sense of joy in the moment prevails, and you're able to smile from your heart.

'Do the Healing Breath and meditate. These practices completely transform you, and kindle the love deep inside.'

 

 

Benefits of Meditation

Are you seeking calmness, peace of mind, joy, vibrant health, greater energy, positive relationships and fulfillment in life? Do you wish to be stress-free and worry-free?

You can enjoy all these benefits and much more, with meditation.Meditation offers innumerable benefits for your body, mind and spirit. The rest you gain in meditation is deeper than the deepest sleep. The deeper your rest, the more dynamic your activity is.

De-stress with Meditation

Meditation has two important benefits:

• Meditation prevents stress from getting into the system

• Meditation releases accumulated stress that is in the system

Both of these happen simultaneously, leaving one refreshed and joyful.

Physical Benefits of Meditation

With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.

On a physical level, meditation:

• Lowers high blood pressure

• Lowers the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks

• Decreases any tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint problems

• Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior

• Improves the immune system

• Increases the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

Mental Benefits of Meditation

Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into an Alpha state that promotes healing. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and beautiful. With regular practice of meditation:

• Anxiety decreases

• Emotional stability improves

• Creativity increases

• Happiness increases

• Intuition develops

• Gain clarity and peace of mind

• Problems become smaller

• Meditation sharpens the mind by gaining focus and expands through relaxation

• A sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration

• An expanded consciousness without sharpness can lead to lack of action/progress

• The balance of a sharp mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection

Meditation makes you aware - that your inner attitude determines your happiness.

Other Benefits of Meditation

Emotional steadiness and harmony: it cleanses and nourishes you from within and calms you, whenever you feel overwhelmed, unstable, or emotionally shut down.

Meditation brings harmony in creation: when you meditate, you are in the space of vastness, calmness and joy and this is what you emit into the environment, bringing harmony to the Creation/planet.

Consciousness evolves: with the assimilation of meditation into daily life, your consciousness evolves and in time, is able to experience the higher and refined states of consciousness.

When your consciousness evolves and expands, the disturbances in your life become negligible. Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish. You start living in 'the moment' and let go of 'the past'.

Personal Transformation: meditation can bring about a true personal transformation. As you learn more about yourself, you’ll naturally want to discover more about the mystery of life, this universe, etc. Then the questions that arise in the mind are - What is the meaning of Life? What is its purpose? What is this world, what is love, what is knowledge...?

Once these questions arise, know that you are very fortunate. These questions need to be understood; you cannot find the answers in books. As you live through answering them you’ll witness that life transformation to a richer level.

Cosmic consciousness dawns in you

With the assimilation of meditation into daily life, the fifth state of consciousness*, called cosmic consciousness, dawns. Cosmic consciousness - is to perceive the whole cosmos as part of oneself.

When you perceive the world as a part of yourself, love flows strongly between the world and you. This love empowers you to bear the opposing forces and the disturbances in your life. Anger and disappointments become fleeting emotions that occur momentarily and then vanish. You start living in 'the moment' and let go of 'the past'.

The confluence of knowledge, understanding and practice makes life complete. When you grow into higher states of consciousness, you become beautiful yet strong - a soft, delicate and beautiful blossom capable of accommodating different values in life without any conditions.

How to get the benefits

To experience the benefits of meditation, regular practice is necessary. It takes only a few minutes every day. Once imbibed into the daily routine, meditation becomes the best part of your day!

Meditation is like a seed. When you cultivate a seed with love, the more it blossoms. Similarly, the sapling of consciousness is within you. It needs to be nurtured with simple meditation techniques. Some palm trees yield in three years, some in ten years. And those that aren’t nurtured - never yield! They simply exist.

Busy people from all backgrounds are grateful to pause and enjoy a refreshing few minutes of meditation each day. Dive deep into yourself and enrich your life