How many types of Meditation are there?

Dhyana or Meditation is the constant progression of focus toward a solitary article with no interruption. The entirety of the reflection rehearses is finished by sitting on a yoga mat or a piece of fabric spread on the floor. In the wake of sitting in any agreeable stance or asana like Sukhasana, Swastikasana (crossed legs), Siddhasana, Vajrasana, ArdhaPadmasana or Padmasana one can begin the contemplation.

Hold Chin Mudra or Prana Mudra or some other reasonable mudra for explicit purposes. However, for the most part, Chin Mudra is suggested for all, as Chin mudra disintegrates the sense of self and expands focus. The significant kinds of Meditation is:

1. OM (AUM)- kara Meditation

OM (AUM) is an essential mantra and sacrosanct syllable. This OM-kara contemplation practice is finished with straightforward reciting of OM for nine or 15 rounds or 21 rounds or 27, 54, or multiple times. Reciting OM multiple times is constantly suggested. Then, at that point after reciting multiple times, sit for contemplation for 15, 30, or an hour with your psyche zeroing in on the breath.

Advantages:

• Chanting OM fixes throat issues, voice issues, and so on
• Induces profound rest and deliveries stress and pressure and brings smoothness, quietness, and one-sharpness of the brain appropriate for long time contemplation.

2.  Nadanusandhana meditation

Another variety of OM-kara reciting and reflection is Nadanusandhana. It is OM-kara reciting with fine mindfulness. In this training, OM is recited as a mix of three sounds as A, U, and M. This can be recited first independently and afterward together to bring vibrations of the lower, center, and upper pieces of the body. This sort of reciting and reflection is known as Nadanusandana.

Advantages

• Nadanusandhana is a meditation strategy for youngsters, intellectually occupied individuals, and individuals who have exorbitant body torment (led in Shavasana).

3. Pranayama Meditation

In Pranayama meditation, first, practices any Pranayama for a specific number of cycles and afterward sit for contemplation for quite a while. The most significant pranayama for rehearsing reflection are NadiShuddhi Pranayama, Ujjayi Pranayama, and Brahmari Pranayama. Henceforth we can view everyone as various reflection rehearses as underneath:

(a)  NadiShuddhi (Anuloma-Viloma) Pranayama Meditation: it is a substitute nostril relaxing for a specific number of times and goes into reflection.

Advantages

• This is the best pranayama meditation practice for profound advancement.
• Best for relieving tension, discouragement, sleep deprivation, and stress, as NadiShuddhi pranayama sanitizes 72000 Nadis in our body.

(b)  Brahmari Pranayama Meditation

Brahmari Pranayama is breathing through the two nostrils by holding Shanmukhi mudra and delivering a hummingbird sound from the throat. Practice it 5 or multiple times and afterward go into reflection.

Advantages

• Reduces pressure, outrage, tension, discouragement, a sleeping disorder, and hypertension.
• Best pranayama reflection practice for every psychosomatic issue.

 4. Cyclic Meditation

Cyclic Meditation is rehearsed by extending intentionally and deliberately and afterward loosening up utilizing standing stances like PadaHastasana, ArdhaChakrasana, and ArdhakatiChakrasana and utilizing sitting asanas like Shashankasana and Ushtrasana.

Advantages

• Releases strain and stress.
• Creates smoothness, genuine feelings of serenity, and tranquility.

5. Japa Meditation

Japa implies the recitation of any Bija Mantra (implies Seed or fundamental mantra, which is OM), Mantra, Name of God, Name of Guru, and so on Japan typically begins by fixing the last number before beginning. One can pick the number, similar to multiple times, 21, 27, 54, or 108 or 1008. These are significant explicit numbers. On the off chance that you miss any number, you need to begin again all along. Reciting any Mantra multiple times is considered promising and profoundly incredible. For tallying one can utilize their fingers or Japa mala with dots. After reciting for specific numbers quit reciting and think about the vibration or breath which prompts contemplation. This is Japa’s contemplation.

Advantages

• Japa contemplation offers wellbeing to the Manomayakosha (Mental body)
• Releases mental pressure and gives significant serenity.

6.    Shambhavi Meditation

Shambhavi meditation is practiced by embracing ShambhaviMaha Mudra. Shambhavi Maha Mudra is adopted by internally gazing at the middle of the eyebrows. Shambhavi Mahamudra meditation starts with pranayama (controlled yogic breathing) called Sukha Pranayama or NadiShuddhi which is another nostril breathing procedure (ie, moderate-paced pranayama) to support balance in the psyche for 6 to 7 minutes, trailed by 21 long reiterations of the Bija mantra (root syllable), OM reciting.

Advantages

• Increases mental clearness and mental readiness.
• Deepen the mindfulness and extends the cognizance.                  

7.   Trataka Meditation

Trataka (Sanskrit, Trāṭak: "look, look") is a yogic purging (a Shat karma) and a tantric strategy for contemplation that includes gazing at a solitary point like a little item, the image of OM, dark dab, or light fire. It animates the "third eye" (Ajna chakra) and advances different mystic capacities.

Advantages

• Improves vision.
• Cure headache, mental pressure, and strain.
• Stimulation and actuation of the third eye (Ajna Chakra).

     8. Transcendental  Meditation

Transcendental meditation is a high-level contemplation strategy that includes quietly rehashing a mantra for 15–20 minutes per day and is ordinarily done sitting with the eyes shut. The method isn't new in the way of yoga, as "rise above" signifies going past your physical and mental nature and consolidating yourSelf with the Supreme Self.

Advantages

• Improved rest quality and fixes a sleeping disorder.
• Increased mental clearness, mental center, and sharpness.  

9.  Vipassana Meditation

Vipassana is a delicate yet significant strategy for contemplation. It is a perception-based excursion for self-investigation that spotlights the profound interconnection between the brain and body, which is acknowledged through focused regard for the actual sensations with the principle center around the impressions of breathing at the nostrils. This is the Anapana contemplation, which is the consciousness of the normal breath coming in and going out.

Advantages

• Developmental clearness and mental readiness.
• Get freed of Raga-dvesha (different preferences) which is the underlying driver of karmic subjugation.

9

Chakra meditation, a powerful way to balance your energies

The antiquated yogic writings say that there are 72,000 Nadis (Nadi=energy channel) in the clairvoyant body. These are noticeable as flows of light to an individual who has created clairvoyant vision. Nadis are the unpretentious channels through which the pranic power streams. Out of these 72000 Nadis in the mystic body, ten are major and of these, three are generally huge. These are Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. The most significant of these three is Sushumna. All the Nadis in the mystic body are subordinate to Sushumna, even Ida, and Pingala.

Ida, Pingala and Sushumna

Sushumna Nadi is the profound channel situated at the focal point of the spinal rope. It starts from the Mooladhara chakra at the perineum and ends at the Sahasrara, at the crown of the head. Ida Nadi radiates from the left half of Mooladhara and twists up the spinal line, going through each chakra thus, shaping a confusing pathway that ends at the left half of the Ajna chakra.

Pingala Nadi exudes from the correct side of Mooladhara and passes oppositely to that of Ida, ending at the correct side of Ajna chakra. Ida and Pingala are two inverse powers streaming inside us. Ida is aloof, contemplative, and ladylike, it is otherwise called the Chandra or moon Nadi. Pingala, then again, is dynamic, outgoing, and manly and is called Surya or Sun Nadi.

Chakras

Chakras are inconspicuous, unique energy vortexes and are as much a piece of our bodies as arms or legs. Chakras are energy focuses where Ida and Pingala meet at the spine. Six chakras focus on the spine. You can't see power, however, when you turn on the light, you see its impact. The chakras can correspondingly be perceived by their belongings. Actual organs and diseases in the space of a chakra can be treated with stones of the shading identifying with that chakra. It isn't astounding that our unpretentious energy habitats are particularly associated with the actual body in their area. A fundamental illustration of this would utilize green stones to treat heart or chest conditions, as that organ is affected by the heart chakra.

The rationale is that as gross matter shows from unobtrusive energy, so fortifying the chakras in the trouble spot would be a decent beginning. Another point is that while the organ might be recuperated routinely if the basic vivacious lopsidedness isn't tended to, the condition may return. A man may have a coronary failure and blood thinners make all the difference for him, yet if the causes are not tended to, stress, for instance, there's a decent possibility of more heart issues.

Chakra meditation

Chakra meditation is a comprehensive term for contemplation that means to enact any chakra or clear hindered chakras or to saddle the force of these energy places situated all through the body. The guidelines will assist with strolling you through each of your chakras, enumerating how to zero in on and saddle the force of every single one of the chakras.

The technique for Chakra contemplation is basic. Rests on your back on a yoga mat and carry yourself to a cheerful spot. Then, at that point imagine a heart favoring or a bloom opening for each of your chakras. From that point onward, with expectation, profound and cognizant breaths can reestablish your chakras too. Then, at that point, each breath in guides energy to your particular chakra, while each breath out permits attention to sink into your chakras.

 To re-empower, each chakra envisions the chakra as plates or lotus blossoms. Then, at that point take in and picture light streaming into the chakra, making it shine with energy. Then, at that point gradually inhale out and envision all your worry streaming of the particular chakra. Rehash more than once, assuming fundamental, proceed onward to the following chakra. Continue to do it for any remaining chakras, whenever required.

Chakra contemplation is an amazing method to upgrade the physical, mental, and profound wellbeing of an individual and to stir the Kundalini Sakti (power).

How do we get rid of our stress?

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is the overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is the natural state of how one can think, feel and act in normal conditions of life.

It also indicates our capacity to handle difficult situations of life like stress, agitation, and our capacity to make decisions and choices. The basic necessity for any human being to complete his life is a stress-free mind or peace of mind.

Stress is the uneasiness of the mind, making it difficult to conduct our normal routines of life or any task or daily peaceful life activities. Due to excessive indulgence in psychological drama, one gets stressed out. It is overthinking and over imagination that leads to stress. People are suffering from a fantastic sense of imagination and a beautiful sense of memory. This is the cause of stress. We need to learn how to handle our memory and imagination.

Peace of mind is a natural character of any human being. It is not that we have to aim for our life. To enjoy our daily tasty meal or friendly conversation with our parents or friends we need a minimum requirement of peace of mind. So peace of mind is a natural requirement.

Does any one manage his stress?! 

That’s what in the west people call stress management. We normally manage our precious things like money or property, but we need not manage our stress. This idea of stress management comes from the deep-frozen reality of today’s over-stressed life of people around the world. 

So let us healthily handle our mind and body so that we can never get stressed. So to stay away from stress, one needs to exercise daily. Yoga and fitness are the best methods to do that. Among these two, a wise will choose yoga, as it has direct applications to control and manage your mental activities in a most joyful manner.

Daily routines of SukshmaVyayama (loosening exercises), yoga breathing exercises, yoga warm-up exercises, Yoga asanas, Surya Namaskara are very good physical plus mind-based practices that deepen the awareness and consciousness. This daily practice to connect with yourself can connect you with your healthy life. This connection with the self is what makes yoga the only powerful technique for getting rid of the stress out of your life.

Meditation for knowledge and wisdom

Pranayama and Meditation are the most advanced techniques of yoga that have the most powerful methods to control your mind and cure any type of stress, anxiety, and depression. Both of these methods keep your mind in your present moment providing mindfulness in your daily life that is very busy and distracted. 

Meditation or Dhyana is the ultimate method to make your mind still or calm. Daily practice of meditation can make any person energized, young, calm, composed, joyful, and blissful. Meditation is a simple way to get rid of stress from your life.

Practice daily 15 minutes or 30 minutes meditation after pranayama or without pranayama. NadiShuddhi Pranayama Meditation, Brahmari Pranayama meditation,  OM meditation, Vipassana meditation, and Nadanusandhana are the most powerful meditation for purifying the mind and attaining stillness and calmness of the mind. Also, there are many other methods of meditation all of which make your mind calm, empty and peaceful.

Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama

Our sorrow and happiness are due to our karma (past action), as said by Shirdi Sai Baba, an Enlightened master of India. Hence all our stress, anxiety, or depression are arising from our past unconscious actions. Meditation can dissolve this karmic baggage of sorrows or stress. Therefore the wise way to handle your stress is to meditate daily throughout your life to make your life joyful, and blissful.

Shirdi Sai Baba

Mindfulness Meditation, a Modified Ancient Technique

 Mindfulness is an ancient practice in India, though not mentioned by this name, that is more than 2000 years old. It is a practical method of developing self-awareness while keeping our attention to the present moment and maintaining an attitude of non-judgemental of any feelings or thoughts that may arise from the body and mind. Since the time Buddha or even before that mindfulness meditation has been practiced by many, as the natural method of meditation was of that nature, though the name was not mentioned. 

The very practice of mindfulness meditation is to self-learn how the mind functions and help us to self-learn our state of mind in different situations of anger, hatred, jealousy, empathy, happiness, or joy. This will equip us to stay away from the mental states which are understood as the delusions of our psychological drama. 

Mindfulness meditation derived its root from sati, an essential element of the Buddhist tradition. Sati is mindfulness or awareness.  It is a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that forms an essential part of Buddhist practice. It is considered the first factor of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. The "Correct" or "right" mindfulness is the seventh element of the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhist meditation practice. Hence the origin of modern mindfulness meditation is linked to Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan meditation practices. 

The definitions and methods of mindfulness meditation are varied and wide-ranging, but the traditional Buddhistic methods explain how past, present and future moments arise and disappear as momentary sense impressions and psychological phenomena. 

The important practices for effective mindfulness meditation include:

• Focus on your breath going in and out
• Pay attention: attention to everything in and out to deepen the awareness.
• Live in this moment: The past is gone and the future is uncertain, hence have mental clarity with the focus of the mind to this moment.
• Accept yourself:   Accept yourself the way you would accept a good friend. 

These important practices are used in modern mindfulness practices to stay from the distractions and hallucinations of the mind and derive sound health both mentally and physically. 

People who have popularized mindfulness meditation in the modern Western context include ThíchNhấtHạnh,  Jon Kabat-Zinn, Richard Davidson, Herbert Benson, and Sam Harris. The modern method of mindfulness meditation practice is known to have been popularized by Jon Kabat-Zin, an MIT-trained Molecular Biologist. He has developed a program popularly known as Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that mainly combines meditation with medicine which claims to have the benefits of mindfulness of the ancient concept of nonjudgmental meditation technique.

The reality is that Kabat-Zinn developed MBSR after he learned meditation from his spiritual leader Thich-Nhat-Hanh, who is a traditional Zen monk. This proves very well that the modern mindfulness practice is nothing but a little extension of the ancient Buddhist or Zen version of mindful meditation like Vipassana or Zen meditation.

Modern medical practitioners of research continue to favor mindfulness as an adjunct therapy in patients with depression and anxiety, and it is going to increase as group mindfulness meditation therapy shortly. Modern clinical trials have illustrated the brain’s plasticity and have very well proven that mindfulness meditation has a positive effect on managing mental issues like anxiety, depression, and pain.

Have you ever Meditated with Singing Bowls?

Dhyana or Meditation is the focus of the mind on a particular point or object for a long period without wavering the concentration. It is the power of concentration of the mind that makes meditation happen.

There are various meditation methods. Some use sound as a mechanism to empty the mind from thoughts. Chanting mantras like OM, NamaShivaya, etc are widely used. Modern techniques involve classical instrumental music or playing instruments like Tibetan Bowl.

Tibetan singing bowl is a type of bell which vibrates and can produce a metallic, rich, deep tone when played. It is known as singing bowls or Himalayan bowls. These Tibetan singing bowls are used to promote relaxation and offer powerful healing properties. It is Tibetan Buddhist monks who have long used Tibetan singing bowls in their daily meditation practice.

If you strike the Tibetan singing bowl or circle the rim with a mallet it will produce very unique sounds. It can sound like “OM” with a metallic tone. The 'around the rim' technique will produce a sustained, angelic tone, while the 'striking' technique will create a sound more akin to the ringing of a bell.

It is proved that singing bowls create the sound of void or emptiness which is the expression of the vast universe that has healing properties for the meditator. The sound healing properties of singing bowls have been used effectively to empty the mind which leads to meditation.

The singing bowl can be placed on top of any area of the meditator's body while lying down in Yoga Nidra or Savasana. It is the resonance created with the energy body of the practitioner with that of the bowl's harmonic vibrations that create the necessary relaxation and effective balance.

For activating the individual energy chakras practitioners use very effective singing bowls. This is done by placing the bowl near the specific chakras of the body and creating the vibrations necessary for the sound vibrations.

Traditionally Buddhist meditation uses singing bowls as part of the temple rituals and for their attainment of deep meditative states. Tibetan monks use singing bowls for religious prayers and also for yogic meditation purposes.

 Singing bowls also are used during Buddhist meditation as a way to facilitate entry into deep meditative states. If you play a singing bowl before meditation that allows synchronization of the brain with the sound frequencies produced by the bowl and that will support to get relaxation and focus. We can also fill water into the bowl and the sound will be of the unique nature of that of Jalatharangam of classical music. The sound creates a deep resonance that will dissolve with that of our thought waves.

 The recent research studies found that people expressed reduced amounts of stress, anger, and depressed condition when they have undergone singing bowl meditation. The middle-aged and above middle-aged people expressed these experiences more than the younger ones.

As we all know that our body is made of five elements like earth, water, fire, air, and ether. The use of vibrations of sound especially from a metallic instrument like singing bowls has a similar affinity for the resonance of these bodily elements that make our very body and mind. So the metallic sound vibrations in resonance with that of our thoughts or emotions or blood flow or mind activities are naturally synchronizing by natural affinity.

How Vedas and Upanishads explain meditation?

Dhyana or Meditation in Vedas and Upanishads is essentially described as contemplation and meditation. In Yoga Sutras of Patanjali meditation is taken into account because the seventh step that results in Samadhi, which is that the eighth and final step of Ashtanga Yoga that results in Self Realisation.

Yoga and meditation really originated about 15000 years back when Lord Shiva, the Adiyogi (the first yogi), taught yoga to the seven sages popularly referred to as Saptha rishis, who became the disciples of Lord Shiva later, as mentioned in his classical book, Adiyogi, by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation, India. meaning it's pre-Vedic in origin. Since then meditation has been practiced and taught by Saptharishis to people around the world.

                                                           Adiyogi at Isha Foundation, India

In the word Dhyana (meditation) the basis of the word is Dhi, which in Vedas refers to "imaginative vision" and is related to Goddess Saraswati with the powers of data, wisdom, and poetic eloquence. This word developed into the variant dhya- and dhyana, or "meditation". Nididhyasana may be a related term, mentioned in Upanishadic statements, maybe a composite of three terms, namely dhyai, Upasana ("dwelling upon"), and Bhavana ("cultivating").

In Hinduism, the term Dhyana (meditation) first appears within the Upanishads. The techniques of concentration or meditation are a Vedic tradition because these are found within the early Upanishads as dhyana or abhidhyana.

The concept of Dhyana started within the Sramanic movement of ancient India, which is really before the 6th Century BCE, that's somewhere before Buddha and Mahavira, where people started practicing Dhyana as means for self-awareness. In Hinduism, the practice of meditation was very profound and influential.

In the path of Hinduism meditation is employed to understand the Self, one’s relationship with other living beings, and therefore the Ultimate Reality. Other religions like Buddhism and Jainism also follow the practice of meditation in similar or variations of an equivalent, albeit the meanings are slightly different.

In both Aranyaka and Brahmana of Vedas, the practice of Dhyana or meditation is well described. While Upanishads considered meditation as contemplation, meditation may be a part of the self-knowledge process.

In Buddhism, Dhyana is that the training of the mind widely translated as meditation, to withdraw the mind from the automated responses to sense-impressions, and resulting in a "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhā-sati-parisuddhi)." Meditation has been the core practice of Buddhism with several other related practices together resulting in mindfulness and detachment and totally related with the practice of dhyana.

Hymn 4.36.2 of the Rigveda and verse 10.11.1 of the TaittiriyaAranyaka, the word Dhyanam has noted alright and Kaushitaki Upanishad describes the character of mind and meditation in verses 3.2 to 3.6. Verse 3.2. proclaims “With mind, meditate on me as being prana.”

According to Vedas, one must meditate daily twice, a minimum of 20 minutes whenever, by sitting down anywhere comfortable with closed eyes. One must relax by breathing deeply a couple of times and repeat a mantra like OM or OM Nama Shivaya or the other short mantra by chanting in your mind silently.

 As a neighborhood of “interiorization”, the meditation within the Vedic era replaced the social external yajna fire rituals (Agnihotra) with meditative internalized rituals (prana-agnihotra). The Brahma sutras which is one among the three foundational texts of the Vedanta school of Hinduism states that meditation isn't one for every Veda, but belongs to all or any Vedic schools.

Vedic meditation may be a system of isometric exercises during which the effect of the change of tone of muscles on thinking and actions is studied. The findings are recorded allegorically as hymns, which were later compiled into Rig Veda.

 

Central to Vedic meditation is Purusha. The tone of all the muscles is often synchronized, equalized, and unified. The unified muscle in Rig Veda is understood as Purusha. Next in importance to Purusha is Agni and therefore the first Sukta of Rig Veda is about Agni. Agni symbolizes a force, which is controllable, small in magnitude, and short in duration. This force is ideally fitted to practicing Vedic meditation. The most important Sukta of Rig Veda is PurushaSukta, which is really about the practice of Vedic meditation.

 

Apart from the first Upanishads composed before 5th-century BCE, the term Dhyana and therefore the related terms like Dhyai (Sanskrit: deeply meditate) appears in numerous Upanishads composed after the 5th-century BCE, like chapter 1 of Shvetashvatara Upanishad, chapters 2 and three of Mundaka Upanishad, chapter 3 of Aitareya Upanishad, chapter 11 of Mahanarayana Upanishad, and in various verses of Kaivalya Upanishad, Chulika Upanishad, Brahma Upanishad, Brahmabindu Upanishad, Amritabindu Upanishad, Dhyana-Bindu Upanishad, Atharvasiras Upanishad, Kathasruti Upanishad, Maha Upanishad, Yogatattva Upanishad, VasudevaUpanishad, Hamsa Upanishad, Atmaprabodha Upanishad, etc.