Wellness Calendar: Tuesday 18 November

Meditation

Defining meditation can be a little tricky because there are so many approaches to it throughout the world and across cultures. But let’s take it slowly and try to unpick it nonetheless…

It’s a technique or a practice where the mind is focused, concentrated or attuned to something, whether that be internally or externally, such as a train of thought, a bodily sensation, an image, an action or an object.

The aim of meditation can be to achieve a calmness, an equilibrium, a self-regulation, a clearing of the mind, a deeper level of thinking, a place beyond the everyday pathways of your mind.

There are many ways in which people can achieve their meditative goals. It may be through repetition, repeating a type of breathing or voicing a set of words that may make sense or may not; through silence; through inactivity; through visualisation; through the senses; through being receptive to what’s going on internally and externally at any moment in time. Finding the postures and the movements that serve you best is also something to consider. Doing meditation on a regular basis is another plus-point.

For it to work effectively, it will need to be self-induced – that’s to say you need to be the one engaging and engaged in the process. Yet how on earth might we know when we are doing it properly, or to good effect? Perhaps the answer lies in what you’re hoping to get out of it or if you’re merely open to having an experience, without any expectations.

Some people who have practised meditation for a long time speak of periods of thoughtlessness, of letting go of everything, being without need to respond to things that you’re aware of; oneness; having a sense of control (as opposed to being out of control); a sense of lightness. Others recount improvements to their mood, their concentration, their sleep or their relationships; that it lowers their blood pressure, their stress or their anxiety.

What do you make of meditation?
What could you make of meditation?

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