Meditation in nature
This type of experience awakens a certain spiritual side and helps maintain a natural rhythm of daily life. Nature lovers are those who have discovered this secret even without meditation practice.
During this type of meditation, you must acknowledge more focused attention and the whole experience of nature – landscape, sound, tactile side, perfume (and maybe even taste).
Basic version – With eyes closed
Find a comfortable position, either standing or seated stand. Start with a few deep breaths, which help you relax and feel these sensations. Now you can close your eyes and pay attention to all aspects that surround you. Be aware of your body and how it feels, aware of your emotions and thoughts. Do not fight this and not try to change it. Do that for about two minutes.
Then realize what is happening around you – feel the air temperature, the breeze or the warmth of the sun. Listen to sounds – birds, insects, rivers. Let yourself be engulfed in the harmony of nature. You decide the time.
Alternative version – with eyes open
One can accomplish it even while walking. Time spent in nature can be a form of meditation when you focus your attention on the surrounding elements.
To enhance the experience, allow yourself to get lost in the beauty of the scenery, sounds, and perfumes – without trying to label them without mentally getting involved. You tend to notice the name or evaluate things. When this happens, try to get over it – stay only at the stage of experimentation with colors, shapes, and sounds, without a purpose name.
The importance of meditation
Although long meditation was seen as an esoteric subject, nowadays more and more people resort to this method desire to relax their mind and body to improve concentration, eliminate stress and to reach an inner equilibrium.
Of course, meditation is not an easy job when you are barely initiated in its mysteries. You need the patience to get to your “empty” mind of thoughts that do not give you peace. If you persevere, over time you will be able to practice meditation and to get to know better your mind and body, and most importantly – to know how to control them.
To enjoy the benefits of meditation, you must be persevering!
Because we live a hectic life, being stressed, tired and very unhappy, we need a little push to help us change our entire view. This is why meditation is a simple and effective method of introspection that aims to soothe your mind, relax your body, and to help you acquire inner peace. If meditation has drawn your attention at a time but never had the courage or patience to try it so far, not knowing exactly what to do, we present to you the basic steps when you start practicing it. Remember that if you want to really feel the benefits of meditation, you must be persevering and to do it daily. It will not come out at first, but eventually you will succeed!
7 Steps of Meditation for Beginners
- Sit in a meditation position. The most accessible are the position you sit upright on the floor, in a chair or on a stool. Sitting on the floor is the most comfortable position on a cushion with legs crossed. It is very important to stay comfortable. Keep your neck, shoulders, and back straight. A good posture will help you breathe better.
- Relax your body. Close your eyes and visualize every part of the body, starting with your fingers, feet, and ankles and climb your mind’s eye throughout the body up to the head. Relax your shoulders, neck, eyes, face, jaw and tongue as these are the most common areas that collect blood.
- Sit still and start to be aware of the area around you, your body, and the sounds that surround you. Do not react and not try to change anything. Just be aware of the outside.
- Breathe. Focus your attention on your breathing. Breathe slowly but deeply, so you can feel your lungs. Do not force your breathing. Notice how breathing feels into the nostrils, throat, chest and stomach when you inhale and exhale.
- Choose a mantra: a word, sound or phrase to repeat during meditation. Mantras are meant to help you concentrate better. You utter the mantra aloud or silently. A simple mantra for beginners can be “breath in, breath out.”
- Relax your mind. Try to focus on your mantra, although there is a risk for your thoughts to run by everyday problems. If this happens, do not fight it, it is normal. Some days you will see that your mind will be more relaxed and you will concentrate more easily and other times, it will be a little harder to relax. But nothing is forbidden, let yourself indulge the senses.
- Practice meditation as often as possible. Start with an interval of 5-10 minutes a day of meditation and expand it as you feel more comfortable.
Three different meditation techniques
Ways to relax the mind
When you say meditation automatically you think about that image in which a person sits on a cushion with legs crossed and hands on knees. In reality, there are different techniques of meditation.
Devotees know that meditation can be practiced anytime, anywhere. For beginners, however, it is a little harder because many people find out that it is not so easy for them to reach that state of equilibrium and releasing of the mind. In time, however, if it is practiced by some well-established rules, meditation can become a pleasure, and above all, a deep relaxation method.
Choose the type of meditation that suits you best!
As we can contemplate the book, practitioners recommend trying several types of meditation and to choose the one that suits us best. Although meditation techniques are different, the ultimate goal is the same: relaxation and release negative thoughts. I give you further three types of meditation. Discover them on each and see which suits you best!
- Careful meditation. It is the best-known type of meditation and refers to the power of being aware of sounds and activities that are going on around you. Careful meditation implies to let your mind go from one thought to another, without necessarily focusing on something in particular. For example, if you live in a noisy city should not block the ambulances sirens or screaming children. You have to let your mind be aware of the sounds around you, without you focus too hard on them.
- Spiritual meditation. This type of meditation is recommended especially to people believing and rely on communication with God. Spiritual meditation supposed to be calm and quiet and focus on your breathing. Breathe deeply from the abdomen, and with each inhalation visualize a white light that enters your nostrils and which gradually fills your whole body. You reach a deep state of calm and relaxation!
- Focused meditation. If you are stressed by the idea of emptying your mind of thoughts, then you can try focused meditation. That means you can focus on a sound, object or positive thought. The key is to concentrate only on one direction and to banish other thoughts. Music can help you relax even more in this type of meditation.
Meditation offers many advantages. Meditation is a powerful practice, whether it’s about a normal frame or spiritual. The list that follows is a brief summary of benefits.
There are many forms of meditation, from contemplative prayer to Buddhist meditation. All are very important for what you are trying to achieve. The list below shows the side effects of types of meditation mostly positive, but not necessarily the sole purpose of meditation practice. While we appreciate these benefits, the main purpose of meditation is to clear your mind. Everything we do becomes meditation; therefore the results of meditation practice are ultimately a peaceful and meditative lifestyle.
It is important to note that the effects of meditation will increase proportionally with its intensity. In other words, occasional meditation can produce relatively few of these benefits, while regular meditation, especially under the guidance of a tutor, will produce most if not all of these benefits.
Physical benefits of meditation
- Decreases consumption (needs) of oxygen;
- Decreases respiratory rate;
- Increases blood flow;
- Slows heart rate;
- Increases effort tolerance;
- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation;
- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering blood lactose;
- Decreases muscle tension;
- Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis;
- Prevents, slows or keeps under control the pain of chronic diseases;
- Reduces pre-menstrual symptoms;
- Helps post-surgical intervention healing;
- Decreases respiratory rate;
- Improves your immune system;
- Reduces virus activity;
- Improves body energy;
- Helps lose extra pounds;
- Reduces free radicals, reduces tissue damage;
- Increases skin resistance;
- Helps lower cholesterol;
- Decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease;
- Balances the airflow in the lungs resulting in an easier breathing;
- Decreases the aging process;
- Stimulates the secretion of dehydroepiandrosterone (increased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone can help you look younger, you feel younger, delays aging and can even prolong life);
- You sweat less;
- Helps cure headaches and migraines;
- Greater accuracy in brain function;
- Reduces the need for care;
- Increases the energy level of the body;
- Increases the inclination towards sports activities;
- Significantly improved asthma;
- Improves performance in sporting events;
- Normalizing for ideal weight;
- Harmonizes endocrine system;
- Relaxes the nervous system;
- Increases and balances the strength and vigor of the body;
- Produces lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity;
- It can help cure infertility (infertility stress can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation);
- Reduces stress;
- Strengthens the immune system;
- Decreases the speed of reaction to stimuli;
- Increases the energy level of the body;
- Treats eating disorders;
- Improves cardiovascular disease;
- Lowers blood pressure;
Mental health benefits of meditation
- Lays the foundation of self-confidence;
- Increases serotonin levels;
- Influences mood;
- Eliminates phobias;
- Fears disappear;
- Helps to a better control of their own thoughts;
- Promotes better concentration;
- Increases creativity;
- Increases brainwave coherence;
- Improves learning ability;
- Improves memory;
- Helps to increase feelings of vitality and rejuvenation;
- Increases emotional stability;
- Improves family relationships;
- Improves friendship relations;
- Reduces interpersonal conflicts;
- Improves human relations;
- Improves the intimate relationships with the loved ones;
- Slows down the aging process, both neurological and mental;
- Eliminates bad habits easily;
- Develops and improves intuition;
- Increases productivity;
- Increases the ability to see the big picture in a given situation;
- Helps to ignore small problems;
- Increases the ability to solve complex problems;
- Promotes purification of character;
- Develops the will;
- Influences positive behavior;
- Develops better communication between the two hemispheres of the brain;
- Manages promptly stressful situations, faster and more efficiently;
- Increases the quickness of perception and the motor performance;
- Increases the rate of information accumulation;
- Increases job satisfaction;
- It reduces the risk of mental diseases and disorders;
- Develops a more sociable behavior;
- Decreases aggression;
- Helps you quit smoking;
- Helps in the fight against alcohol dependence;
- Reduces the need and dependence on drugs, medicines, and other pharmaceutical products;
- Helps cure insomnia;
- Reduces sleep time required to recover after periods of insomnia;
- Reduces the time taken to fall asleep;
- Cures sleep disorders;
- Increases the sense of responsibility;
- Reduces feelings of anger;
- Decrease uncertainty;
- Eliminates the fear of old age;
- Eliminates the fear of death;
- Diminishes agitated thinking;
- Decreases the tendency to be worried;
- Increases listening skills;
- Increases empathy;
- Helps in making accurate decisions;
- Increases the tolerance capacity;
- Develops patience;
- Determines a balanced, prudent and efficient behavior;
- Develops a stable, more balanced personality;
- Treats Personality Disorders;
- Develops emotional maturity;
- Strengthens cognitive flexibility;
- Expands the level of self-conscious;
- Treats Depression;
- Increases conscientiousness;
- Fosters creativity;
- Reduces ruminative;
- Increases openness to experience;
- It improves logical thinking;
- Perfects critical thinking;
- Increases decisional capacity;
- Develops and improves attention;
The benefits of meditation on emotional health
- Helps keep things in perspective;
- It brings happiness and peace of mind;
- Helps to reveal their goal in life;
- Showcases their development skills and talents;
- Increases compassion;
- Accelerates spiritual development;
- A deeper understanding of themselves;
- Brings body, mind, and spirit into harmony;
- Deeper level of spiritual relaxation;
- Increases self-acceptance;
- It helps you learn how to forgive;
- Changes the attitude towards life;
- Creates a deeper relationship with your divine power;
- It helps to achieve a state of enlightenment;
- Proceeds to obtain inner peace;
- Shareholders of increasingly frequent in harmony with their own conscience and guide values;
- It supports anchoring in the present;
- Increases the capacity to love more and more deeply;
- Increases the speed to adapt to change;
- Helps discover the power and consciousness beyond ego;
- Experiences an inner sense of safety;
- Reduces emotional stress
- Experiences a sense of unity;
- Grows synchronistic occurrences in his own life;
- Interrupts destructive behavior type;
- Boosts the state of joy;
- Decreases aggression;
- Decreases emotional hypersensitivity;
- Increases daily quality of life;
- Improves communication;
- Develops environmental adaptability;
- Decreases fear of the future;
- It alleviates problems created by the past.
Meditation is completely free. It does not require any special equipment and is not complicated to learn. It can be practiced anywhere, at any time and it is not time-consuming (15 minutes for beginners 15 minutes morning and evening are sufficient). The best thing of all is that meditation has no negative side effects. There are only positive things to gain by practicing meditation.
