Meditation

Why it is now more important than ever to meditate

By Martina Reinbold

When we are in midst of challenging situations like a worldwide pandemic with lots of fears and uncertainties, it may seem counterintuitive to press the pause button and commit to a regular meditation practice. We might experience racing thoughts, worries about our future and impatience to stay focused in our meditation. Yet the tool of meditation can become an anchor to manoeuvre through tough times.

How do we define meditation?

When you ask different teachers and practitioners, you will get various answers about what meditation actually is, the different tools and techniques used, how each person experiences meditation and the reasons for committing to a regular meditation practice.

Let’s look at the definition of Wikipedia first to get an overview of what meditation actually is: “Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.”

As meditation has been practiced since thousands of years in different cultures and traditions, it may seem almost impossible to define meditation precisely. Meditation can be a religious/spiritual practice but it can also be used in a secular context without any attachments to a certain tradition. It is valuable to have an overview about different methods and practices from all over the world. It is also great to have an experienced teacher who shares techniques and experiences with you, who guides and supports you, so you get an better idea of where and how you are going in your practice. But the most valuable knowing comes from own experience.

Why meditate?

The reasons to meditate can be very personal. It may be to release stress, to focus the mind, to balance emotions, to reach higher states of awareness or to connect to the Divine.

As meditation has become much more mainstream since the sixties of the last century, so has science shown more interest in researching the benefits of meditation. From reduced muscle tension to lower blood pressure, improved brain function to relaxation of the nervous system, the actual physical benefits of meditation can also be a great motivator for us to stay healthy and in balance with the practice of meditation in our toolkit.

Being clear about your intentions why you actually want to meditation will help you immensely to stay on track.

How to meditate?

The reaping of the fruits of your meditation practice will probably not happen overnight. For some people it might seem easy to sit down and meditate in stillness while others might need a different approach with a movement meditation. In today’s world we have access to a huge variety of practices, so we can try different forms of meditation. From the classical focused meditation or open awareness meditation in which you sit down in stillness, to Osho Kundalini meditations with movement and music or mantra meditations, there is so much to try out and experience for yourself. At Udara we offer free community meditations where you can experience different meditations in a group setting. Starting the day with a meditation practice at Udara with the ocean sounds in the background will make a difference in your day! Check out our monthly schedule here. Especially for beginners it is recommended to try different techniques and feel what suits you. It is also valuable to commit to a regular meditation practice to experience the actual benefits that may take a little while to reveal themselves.

Meditation in our modern times

The practice of meditation is more relevant than ever in order to cope with the challenges of daily life. Hectic schedules, pressure and tension, ongoing stress, an ego-driven and consumer oriented western society, isolation, distraction through social media – does all this really help us feel happy and content? Does our lifestyle contribute to our quest to really know ourselves?

Especially in these times, we are challenged to take care of our own wellbeing and inner balance. We need to find out what we truly need to live in harmony with ourselves and our environment. Many people live in a constant mode of stress and don’t allow enough time to rest and contemplate. We need tools to recover, to nourish ourselves, to regain mental clarity and reset the over-active nervous system. With regular meditation practice, we can help ourselves to stay physically and mentally healthy. Meditation can change our brain waves in such a way that the parasympathetic nervous system becomes more active which promotes relaxation, digestion and renewal. As long as we are in stress mode (fight, flight or freeze), all these functions are compromised and our immune system is weakened. When stress is ongoing over an extended period of time, we are likely to feel nervous, tense, exhausted and may experience digestive issues and sleep disorders.

Studies have shown that the frontal cortex of the brain, which is associated with conscious thinking and appropriate decisions suited to the situation, has grown in size in experienced meditators. Meditation can actually change the structure and functioning of our brain.

We cannot avoid challenges in our lives, but we can become more conscious about how we react, we can learn to control an overly worrying and negative mind and we can use our clear and discriminative mind to search for creative solutions and transform ourselves instead of complaining and being trapped in limiting beliefs and patterns. Meditation can be a helpful tool on this journey to gain more relaxation, clarity and awareness. We can create more space around our thoughts and emotions, we witness and note whatever is present in the moment.

You are invited to find your very own approach to meditation, whether it is simply to take a time-out from your daily life tasks or whether it is to find ultimate freedom and liberation. It is an exciting journey that may take you to places that you haven’t imagined when you first started your meditation practice. It may actually become a practice that you don’t want to miss and that changed your life.