May 31st marks World Meditation Day, a day devoted to both practice and celebration of this powerful practice.
We use the word meditation as an umbrella term to describe different techniques that have to do with focusing on and digging deeper into our body/mind/heart, and with some process of transformation. But, what are we trying to transform and what is the goal of this transformation? The answer to this question is something we need to find out for ourselves, but if we look at different spiritual practices which have used meditation for centuries, and from which most of these techniques come from, we see that the ultimate goal is awakening and liberation. What is our chosen path to reach this goal is an individual choice.
I personally like to use different tools on my path depending on what I feel needs to be balanced or stimulated, just as when I practice asana or pranayama for example. Different techniques will stimulate different energies and qualities of our body/mind/heart field, and it is my intention to give you many to choose from. They all come from, or are inspired by different traditions, and different parts of the world. I also do this to demystify meditation as something hard or requiring a certain set of skills. Anyone can meditate, anytime and anywhere.
If you google scholarly articles on meditation benefits, you will find thousands of different studies about the amazing benefits of meditation as a daily practice. But, they all agree that it works wonders on our brain and nervous system in general, reducing stress and with it the huge impact stress has on our health and wellbeing Meditation helps reduce anxiety, sleep disorders, promotes self-awareness, emotional intelligence, increases mental clarity and focus etc.
HERE is a Yoga Nidra recording
Namaste!
